Archer Aviation has reported “record progress” toward Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification of its Midnight electric air taxi, while posting another quarter of significant losses as spending on testing and development continues to rise.
The Santa Clara-based eVTOL developer said it ended the first quarter of 2026 with around $1.8 billion in liquidity and spending in line with guidance. However, the company posted a net loss of $217.7 million for the quarter on revenues of $1.6 million.
The widening deficit comes as Archer intensifies flight testing, certification work and investment in defence and autonomous systems. The company’s accumulated deficit rose from roughly $2.3 billion at the end of 2025 to around $2.5 billion by the close of the first quarter.
In April, Archer said it became the first eVTOL company to complete Phase 3 of the FAA’s four-phase type certification process for an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The company has begun work associated with Phase 4, which involves demonstrating compliance with FAA airworthiness requirements through formal testing and analysis.
Archer CEO Adam Goldstein described the quarter as “another banner quarter for Archer”.
“We made tremendous progress towards beginning operations in the US later this year, with record FAA certification progress and our most expansive flight testing to date.”
The company said piloted vertical and conventional take-off flights are now taking place “nearly every day”, often multiple times daily, across its expanding test fleet. Archer expects to have a prototype capable of flying the full certification flight profile before the end of the year.
The eVTOL maker also reiterated plans to begin limited US operations this year through the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), ahead of its planned role as the official air taxi provider for the LA28 Olympic Games.
Archer was selected to participate in three of the programme’s eight approved projects, spanning states including Florida, Texas and New York. Discussions with participating cities are still ongoing and no final decisions have been made on how many aircraft will be allocated to pilot operations versus certification testing.
Alongside its civil aviation ambitions, Archer is continuing work with defence technology company Anduril Industries on a hybrid autonomous aircraft programme and expects phased government awards later this year.
The company is also expanding its technology partnerships, including collaborations with NVIDIA, Palantir Technologies and Starlink as it develops onboard computing, connectivity and autonomy systems for future aircraft operations.
