Archer Aviation has completed the assembly of its first Midnight eVTOL air taxi and shipped the aircraft to a flight test facility to prepare for its first flight this summer. As the company works toward getting its four-seat air taxi certified and into commercial service by 2025, it also is fortifying its engagement with the U.S. Department of Defense to pursue possible military applications for the eVTOL aircraft. On May 10, Archer announced the formation of a Government Services Advisory Board that will help to oversee and inform its work with the Pentagon. 

Based on technical input from prospective customers and from partners including Safran, Stellantis, and Thales, Aura Aero has redesigned its hybrid-electric ERA 19-seater, which will now have eight electric motors and a pair of turbogenerators. Time spent changing the configuration, which the company says is now frozen, will push back the aircraft's first flight to 2026 and type certification to 2028, but the French start-up believes the resulting performance will deliver greater cost and carbon reductions for operators. Aura Aero is also preparing to start flight testing its Integral E all-electric training aircraft.

Companies in the advanced air mobility sector aim to revolutionize the way people and cargo move around by introducing new modes of air transportation that are more efficient, sustainable, and accessible than ever before. While technological developments and regulatory approval are the focus of these companies’ efforts to get new aircraft to market, those efforts will be futile if they do not successfully engage with the communities in which their aircraft will operate, according to a member of the FAA’s Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee. 

FlightSafety will produce multiple advanced training devices to prepare pilots to fly the Lilium Jet eVTOL aircraft. The training specialist is also making a preliminary eSim device representing the vehicle's cockpit that engineers can use for development and certification work.

Leasing group Monte has become the latest prospective customer for Eviation's electric-powered Alice aircraft, under a letter of intent the manufacturer says takes the total value of sales commitments so far to $4 billion. An early prototype of the fixed-wing aircraft has not flown since September 2022, and Eviation says it will build production-conforming aircraft with a view to beginning test flights in 2025.

Alton Aviation Consultancy sees eVTOL aircraft developers facing significant and costly challenges in the run-up to service launch in 2025 at a time when cash reserves are being rapidly spent. Besides getting new vehicles certified, companies need to step up plans for manufacturing and product support, and convince their prospective customer base why it should care about the new mode of public transportation.

This week, FutureFlight has updates on Merlin's progress toward the certification of its autonomous flight technology and how Eve Air Mobility is using a wind tunnel to test its eVTOL vehicle. Plus: how the design for SkyDrive's SD-05 eVTOL has been praised by industry experts...Jetson is adding a safety parachute to its single-seat eVTOL...VoltAero is building a factory to manufacture its Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft...and Doroni is seeking funds to bring its personal eVTOL to market.

Dufour Aerospace is developing a pair of eVTOL aircraft—the Aero 2 cargo drone and the larger Aero 3 model that will carry passengers. The Swiss company recently released video footage showing an Aero 2 prototype demonstrating its tiltwing capability to enable both vertical and horizontal flight.