Gridlock could be a thing of the past for New Yorkers — as the metropolitan area has been selected to become a test zone for high-flying air taxies.
The program will allow Big Apple travelers to shuttle via air transport from places like Manhattan to the local airports for the price of a luxury car service — after the Trump administration on Monday named New York and several other cities to be part of the air taxi tests.
The Port Authority will partner with several aerospace companies to run the three-year test — in which helicopter-like air vehicles will ferry users from short runways and heliports to places such as JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports in five to fifteen minutes.
Passengers could book airline tickets bundled with an air taxi leg from a Manhattan skyport, according to Archer, a company based in San Jose, California that was selected for the pilot. The prices will likely be in the $110 — $165 range.
Electra, one of the companies that will participate in the pilot, has developed small electric planes that can take off and land in as little as about 150 feet, allowing them to use short runways at unexpected landing sites, such as fields or parking lots, instead of full sized airports, according to the company.
Archer has already outlined a proposed “air taxi” network linking skyports in lower Manhattan and Midtown to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark using small electric aircraft carrying a handful of passengers at a time.
Archer’s map, developed with United Airlines, also includes potential future connections to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, Westchester County Airport and Long Island’s Republic Airport.
President Trump instructed all federal agencies to prioritize US-made aircraft “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” in his order.
“It’s American innovation at its best,” Marc Allen, CEO of Electra, said. “This Administration is opening the door for an American company to demonstrate how hybrid-electric propulsion works at scale, to reimagine how we use the skies, and to change the way that people get to where they want to go.
Aerospace companies BETA and Joby were also selected to test in the New York and New Jersey area for the pilot.
Port Authority declined to comment to The Post about the program.
Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and New Mexico will also test short electric flights, including some autonomous cargo flights in New Mexico under the program, called the federal Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program.
The rollout is likely to trigger debates over noise and safety in communities near heliports and proposed vertiports.
Noise complaints logged through the FAA’s national portal jumped by about 150% between 2023 and 2024, according to the FAA’s report on aviation noise concerns published last year.
President Donald Trump’s executive order put the FAA on an unusually fast track to establish rules for a brand new class of aircraft. The agency was alloted a little over a year to design the program, select partners and get them flying — far faster than the FAA’s own “optimal rulemaking timeline” of 36 months.
Federal officials said the pilot will test whether the technology is safe, adheres to noise standards and whether the hopper flights meaningfully improve regional mobility.
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