SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Archer Aviation has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification to launch its pilot training academy, the company announced. The certification, known as Part 141, formally authorizes Archer as a regulated flight school.
The approval allows Archer to train pilots in preparation for its planned commercial air taxi services using its Midnight aircraft. It marks the third FAA certificate the company has secured toward launching air taxi operations, following its Part 135 Air Carrier & Operator Certificate in June 2024 and its Part 145 certification in February 2024. Archer is now pursuing Part 142 certification, the final approval required before operations can begin.
FAA officials awarded the Part 141 certificate during a ceremony at Archer's flight test facility in Salinas. Attendees included Archer executives and representatives from the FAA's San Jose Flight Standards District Office.
Related: Safran and Archer collaborate on avionics for Archer's Midnight eVTOL
"Thanks to the hard work of the Archer team and the FAA, Archer now has its Part 141 certificate in hand -- yet another step towards our commercial launch," said Tom Anderson, Archer's chief operating officer for urban air mobility.
Archer's Midnight aircraft is a piloted, four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle designed for short urban trips. It features a high-reliability battery system, multiple redundant rotors for safety, and quiet propulsion technology to minimize noise pollution. The aircraft is built to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charging time between operations.
The eVTOL is designed to cruise at approximately 2,000 feet. The design of Midnight is such that the noise that reaches the ground is expected to measure around 45 A-weighted decibels (dBA), which the company says is almost 1,000 times quieter than that of a helicopter. During forward flight, the aircraft's tilt propellers spin on axes that are aligned with the oncoming air flow, rather than edge-wise to the flow, as is the case with traditional helicopters - further decreasing noise levels. Since Archer's aircraft is spinning 12 small propellers rather than one large rotor, it can also spin them at significantly lower tip speeds, resulting in much lower noise levels.