In recent news, United Airlines recently announced that they will invest $15 million in a purchase agreement to buy 200 four-seater electric flying taxis. This is in the hopes to move towards a more revolutionized way of commuting between cities, world-wide.
These “taxis,” which are being called eVTOLs – electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle –
have been in development for quite some time. And United believes that they will have incredible potential to truly work when it comes to the transportation market.
United has already invested money in these eVTOL projects in the past, and has signed a contract with Eve Air Mobility for delivery of the first unites by as early as 2026. According to the contract, they may even order an additional 200 units if ever.
The companies also intend to work on additional future projects, under the terms of their agreement, to include more studies on the development, use, and application of the Eve aircraft and the urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem.
Since the skies set above many major cities have already been set to become the next “traffic lanes” of traffic, many aviation authorities already require ideas on ways to manage the possible transportation environment in a world that hopes to see 500 to 1,000 flying taxes in use over every metropolis, while making various trips in a single day.
Working side-by-side with UK Air Mobility, EVE is also working on developing a contingency plan to debut alongside their eVTOLs.
President of United Airlines Ventures, Michael Leskinen, said, “United has made early investments in several cutting-edge technologies at all levels of the supply chain.”
“Today, United is making history again, by becoming the first major airline to publicly invest in two eVTOL companies. Our agreement with Eve highlights our confidence in the urban air mobility market and serves as another important benchmark toward our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without using traditional offsets,” he added.
United happens to be the first major U.S. airline to create a corporate venture fund, namely United Airlines Ventures (UAV). It was designed precisely to support the company’s ‘100% green commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050 without the use of traditional offsets.’
Through UAV, United has also managed to lead the industry in investments via eVTOL and electric aircrafts, hydrogen fuel cell engines, as well as sustainable aviation fuel. And if this plan of flying taxis truly takes off, it will certainly revolutionize the future of commuting all throughout the world.
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