Electric air taxi company chooses sleepy Bay Area city for new port

In this week’s news, an electric air taxi company has outlined plans for the first part of its service network in the Bay Area; JetBlue adds an important perk for purchasers of its basic economy fares; the Federal Aviation Administration proceeds with an effort to revise regulations that could impact public charter operators like JSX; a new study says SFO has the world’s fastest performance on airport public Wi-Fi networks; SFO gets new service to Mexico and Canada; Delta adds more flights from Los Angeles to U.S. ski resorts; Spirit Airlines drops an LAX route; and Alaska Airlines starts operations at its new SFO location in Harvey Milk Terminal 1.

Archer Aviation, the Santa Clara-based electric aircraft manufacturer that is partly owned by United Airlines, has announced more steps to build an air taxi service network — including several San Francisco Bay Area routes it plans to fly in a new partnership with a major developer. Archer recently won certification from the Federal Aviation Administration as an air carrier, clearing a major regulatory hurdle as it hopes to start flying four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) as soon as next year.  

With United as an investor, Archer will work to create local and regional air taxi links to United’s hub airports — including SFO — giving customers an option to fly above the traffic as they connect with United flights. But in a separate announcement this week, Archer said it will also work with Kilroy Realty Corporation, a major commercial developer, to create an “air mobility network” linking five Bay Area locations with its electric aircraft: South San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore.

“Archer’s network is anticipated to provide unprecedented connectivity to communities around the region, allowing people to replace one-to-two-hour drives to cities around the bay with flights that take ~10-20 minutes,” Archer said. The “critical hub” in this proposed network will be Kilroy Oyster Point, a 50-acre development on the waterfront in South San Francisco just north of SFO, where the two companies plan to develop a “vertiport” for eVTOL operations, as well as a sea portal — “a waterfront mobility hub providing electric ferry service and eVTOL operations for all companies at Kilroy Oyster Point,” Archer said.

The two companies said they hope to begin operations at Kilroy Oyster Point by the end of 2025. The air taxis from Oyster Point would connect with Archer vertiports at Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore “where Archer has existing relationships with infrastructure and operations partners,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Archer also announced a new agreement with Signature Aviation to gain access to Signature’s large network of private aviation terminals, supporting Archer’s development of air taxi services to United hubs. That pact calls for the installation of rapid charging systems at selected terminals to allow for quick turnaround of electric air taxis in United hub markets including New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Texas. At San Francisco International, Signature has an operations base on North Access Road, across the runways from the main terminals.

JetBlue’s basic economy fares (i.e., the lowest available fares, which JetBlue brands as Blue Basic) are getting a big new perk: Starting Sept. 6, customers who bought Blue Basic tickets will be allowed to carry on one bag to stow in the overhead bin. The change applies to all Blue Basic travelers, including those who purchased their ticket before the changeover date. Previously, anyone who wanted to carry on a bag to stow in the overhead bin had to purchase a higher fare category. Blue Basic purchasers will still be allowed to carry on one smaller item for under-seat storage. The policy change raises a new question: Since these bargain fare customers are the last to be boarded, will they be able to find space for their carry-on?

“While many of JetBlue’s aircraft are outfitted with larger overhead bins to accommodate more customers, in the event of space constraints, customers may be required to check carry-on bags at the gate for no additional charge,” JetBlue said. Other restrictions on Blue Basic fares remain in place; for example, flight changes (including same-day standby) are not allowed, seat selection incurs an additional fee, and cancellations carry a fee of $100 ($200 for transatlantic flights). The Points Guy noted that following JetBlue’s policy change, “the only major U.S. airline that doesn’t allow full-size carry-on bags for basic economy travelers is United.”

For many months, some major airlines (American and Southwest) and pilots unions have been urging the federal government to crack down on operations like JSX, the public charter company that offers regional scheduled flights on spacious 30-seat jets in several parts of the country, including California. And now that pressure is starting to see some results. The Federal Aviation Administration said this week it will move ahead with a rulemaking proceeding that could change the current rules under which those public charters operate. Noting that public charters “have rapidly expanded in frequency and complexity in recent years,” the FAA said some of those services “appear to operate like scheduled airlines but under less-rigorous safety regulations — a fact that oftentimes is not transparent to the flying public.” So its rulemaking proceeding “will explore new ways to integrate charter flights into the airspace in a manner that provides flexibility and safe options for all flyers.” JSX operates without some restraints that apply to regular scheduled airlines, like the ability to use private terminals (and thus employ private security screening rather than TSA) and to hire co-pilots with fewer than the 1,500 flying hours required at major carriers. 

“If a company is effectively operating as a scheduled airline, the FAA needs to determine whether those operations should follow the same stringent rules as scheduled airlines,” said FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker. The agency first suggested last summer that it would explore the issue and has since received 60,000 public comments. The FAA said any upcoming rule changes would come with an effective date “that would allow for industry to adapt to any change in the regulatory environment.”

Although the final shape of any eventual rule changes is not yet clear, and final FAA action is many months away, some aviation bloggers see the agency’s announcement this week as an ominous portent for JSX and its ability to take advantage of what opponents call a “loophole” in FAA regulations. One Mile at a Time called the FAA’s plan “bad news for JSX,” the Bulkhead Seat suggested that the FAA’s rule changes could “effectively kill JSX and other public charter flights,” and View from the Wing commented that depending on how the FAA proceeds, it could mean that “big airline lobbyists win” in their campaign against JSX and similar operations “largely because they offer a popular, quality product that competitors do not like.” A JSX spokesperson told View from the Wing only that it “applauds” the FAA’s proceeding and suggested that the company could adapt to any rule changes.  

Ookla, a firm specializing in network connectivity, has issued its latest report on Wi-Fi performance at 50 of the world’s largest airports, and San Francisco International ranked No. 1 in both download and upload speeds over airports’ free Wi-Fi services. All of the top seven airports for download speeds were in the U.S. Following SFO’s 173.55 megabits per second came Newark Liberty (166.51), New York JFK (151.59), Phoenix Sky Harbor (151.28), Seattle-Tacoma (137.31), Dallas-Fort Worth (119.92) and Las Vegas Harry Reid (107.84). Trailing SFO in fastest upload speeds were Newark, JFK, Phoenix, Seattle-Tacoma, DFW and Las Vegas. By comparison, the slowest Wi-Fi download speed was recorded at Mexico City International at 5.11 Mbps. Other airports with download speeds of less than 12 Mbps were Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Beijing Capital in China; Cairo International in Egypt; and Tokyo Haneda.

However, the airport’s Wi-Fi system isn’t the only way for travelers to connect; increasing numbers of flyers rely on mobile networks to go online. According to Ookla, its tests showed that “mobile speeds massively outpaced Wi-Fi, with 145 airports showing faster median downloads over mobile than the fastest airport for Wi-Fi.” The fastest mobile download speed it found was 442.49 Mbps at Qatar’s Hamad International Airport. Other airports with download speeds exceeding 250 Mbps were Shanghai Hongqiao, Phoenix, Shanghai Pudong, Chongqing (China) and Istanbul. Mexico City International had the slowest mobile download speed at 8.75 Mbps; others with speeds below 25 Mbps included Barcelona, Orlando, Madrid, Mumbai, and New Delhi. Ookla compiled a chart of major airports with advice on which kind of internet connectivity — Wi-Fi or mobile — is best for each of the airports in its study.

In international route news, United Airlines plans to introduce a new route from San Francisco International to Mexico later this year. The carrier is slated to begin United Express/SkyWest service from SFO to Monterrey on Oct. 27, using Embraer E175s to operate 12 flights a week, increasing to 14 during peak periods. On June 27 and 28, Canada’s Porter Airlines plans to introduce new routes to Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport from both Los Angeles (four flights a week) and San Francisco (three a week), using 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft with 2×2 seating. Porter already flies to Toronto from SFO and LAX. Elsewhere, American Airlines on June 28 plans to inaugurate daily flights from New York JFK to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport, a route already served twice daily by American’s partner Japan Airlines.

On the domestic side, Delta announced its schedule for the winter ski season beginning Dec. 21, including plans to boost seat capacity from Los Angeles International to major U.S. mountain resorts by 25% over last year. The airline said it will add new daily flights from LAX to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as well as new Saturday service from LAX to Sun Valley, Idaho. Delta already operates daily flights year-round from LAX to Aspen, Colorado, and its winter schedule is slated to include daily service to Bozeman, Montana, and Vail, Colorado. The Points Guy reports that Spirit Airlines plans to suspend three West Coast routes later this summer, including Los Angeles-Cleveland, San Diego-Baltimore/Washington, and Portland-Chicago O’Hare. At Portland International, Alaska Airlines plans to introduce the first nonstop service to New Orleans next winter, operating one daily flight from Jan. 6 through May 14 (a period that includes Mardi Gras). Elsewhere, United Airlines on June 27 is slated to move four Pennsylvania spokes from its Newark hub to its Washington Dulles hub, including regional jet flights to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, State College and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. JetBlue pulled out of the New York JFK-Washington Reagan National route in January of this year, but now plans to start flying it again starting Oct. 27 with three flights a day.

In airport news, Alaska Airlines started operations at its new location in San Francisco International’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 this week, close to its Oneworld partner American Airlines, following a two-year relocation process from Terminal 2. Alaska is bringing high-tech check-ins to Terminal 1 and said it will be “the first airline at SFO to offer travelers the use of automated bag drops to process checked bags.” Passengers can scan their boarding pass at bag tag stations to print tags, then leave the tagged luggage at automated bag drop units. Alaska said its new location has “plenty of seating with power outlets” and “access to more gates … with shorter taxi times and faster access to the runways.” In July, the airline said, it will cut the ribbon on a new 11,000-square-foot premium passenger lounge in Terminal 1 with 55% more seating than its old location. “We’ll offer an expanded menu made with fresh local ingredients, a barista-staffed coffee bar and complimentary West Coast wine, spirits and craft brews,” Alaska said.

SFO said it has now completed the final phase of a $2.5 billion overhaul of the Milk Terminal, giving it a new north check-in lobby occupied by Alaska and Delta, new mezzanine-level security checkpoint, two more aircraft gates, five additional baggage claim carousels, more retail concessions, a common-use lounge called the Club at SFO, and a connecting walkway linking all the airport’s terminals post-security.