With a $15 million investment in Eve Air Mobility, a firm supported by the aviation industry’s largest shareholder Embraer SA, United Airlines Holdings Inc. is placing yet another wager on flying cabs.
According to the airline, it has a conditional agreement to purchase 200 of the four-passenger electric aircraft Eve is creating, with the possibility to purchase an additional 200. United stated that it anticipates Eve’s planes to begin arriving as early as 2026.
United said it will require hundreds of the aircraft to serve what it believes to be a flourishing market in the upcoming years. Last month, United put down a $10 million deposit for 100 electric flying taxis being built by Archer Aviation Inc.
The aircraft being built by Eve, Archer, and other firms will hover like a helicopter when taking off and landing.
Regulators have not yet given the airplane the go-ahead to carry passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration has been looking at planes, determining what pilots must know, and figuring out how to incorporate future vehicles into the sky.
In the expectation that the aircraft may one day fly around cities, transporting passengers above crowded freeways to and from major airports while cutting carbon emissions for such excursions, airlines and leasing businesses have begun investing and forging deals for early orders.
According to Michael Leskinen, head of United’s venture-capital fund for early-stage technology, one-way rides are anticipated to cost $100 to $150, comparable to Uber Black service from Manhattan to Newark Liberty International Airport.
A second air-taxi service will supplement its purchase from Archer, according to Mr. Leskinen. The Brazilian maker of regional jets Embraer and Eve’s partnership may make it easier to get approval from authorities and build the necessary infrastructure before the plane can carry passengers.
This year, Eve Holding Inc. went public, and Embraer is the company’s largest stakeholder.