LA Olympics using air taxis to transport VIPs, fans and staff between venues

While traffic is always at the top of minds for commuters in Southern California, gridlock concerns have grown with major events like the Olympics coming to Los Angeles. 

One aviation company is offering a way to ease the congestion with air taxis.

"It's amazingly powerful to think about what the future can be and what this could unlock for us and our daily lives," Eric Lentell, chief legal and strategy officer at Archer Aviation. 

Archer Aviation signed a $126 million deal to take over the master lease at Hawthorne Municipal Airport and transform it into the hub of its new urban air taxi network. 

"We are super excited when we came across Hawthorne as an opportunity," Lentell said. 

Archer Aviation also said it reached a deal to be the official air taxi partner of the LA Olympics and Paralympic Games, as well as Team USA. They plan to fly VIPs, fans and staff between key venues such as SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum. 

"It's about showcasing this for the world," Lentell said. "The takeaway can be, 'LA has done it. I want that in my city, in my country."

The company plans to use electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, known as eVTOLS, that can carry up to four passengers and a pilot. 

"It's something that can take you intra-city in a much shorter time," Lentell said. 

While the idea of hundreds of electric air taxis buzzing over LA raises safety questions in one of the nation's busiest airspaces, Archer said it's working with the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is developing new rules to integrate air taxis safely alongside traditional planes and helicopters with extra safeguards built into how the aircraft fly, land and communicate in crowded skies. 

"This isn't about going from zero to 100,000 aircraft within a month," Lentell said. "This is about ramping safely into that, building community trust."

Archer Aviation expects to start demonstration flights in LA within the new year. 

"You don't get too many opportunities to really shape what the future of aviation could look like and we're just getting started," Lentell said.