Archer Aviation Seen as Distressed Strategic Asset with Stellantis as Top Potential Acquirer

SkyDrive Inc. announced it will launch a feasibility study to repurpose the 146 existing rooftop emergency landing sites in Osaka City as eVTOL vertiports, part of the Cabinet Office's Super City Initiative. The project will be conducted with partners including Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Osaka Metro, Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc., Chodai Co. Ltd., and the Organization of Airport Facilitation, with Osaka Metro serving as leader and SkyDrive handling survey design and Civil Aeronautics Act compliance. The study will verify surrounding airspace and obstacle limitation surfaces, survey wind and noise impacts from surrounding buildings, assess floor load capacities and charging infrastructure for repurposing the sites into alternate vertiports, and draft coexistence rules with authorities including the Osaka Municipal Fire Department. The 146 rooftop sites, marked with an H and required on buildings over 100 meters tall under local fire safety regulations, are currently limited to emergency disaster relief, and securing commercial passenger transport permits for them remains a significant regulatory challenge. SkyDrive and Osaka Metro are working toward commercial launch of eVTOL services by approximately 2028 within Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, areas designated as Super City National Strategic Special Zones.

SkyDrive Inc. has appointed former Toyota executive Taiji Ono as executive vice president and head of global business, and former Airbus executive Gonzalo Ramos as global commercial officer. Ono, who spent nearly 17 years at Toyota Motor Corporation before serving as chief strategy officer at a data platform company, will oversee global business strategy, commercial models and sales strategy, including public-private partnerships in Japan. Ramos, who brings over 22 years of experience in commercial aviation, aircraft leasing and Advanced Air Mobility, including almost 18 years at Airbus, will lead commercial expansion in the United States, Middle East, Europe and Australia, driving aircraft sales contracts and post-delivery maintenance, repair and overhaul support. SkyDrive says it has partnered with airlines, operators, local governments and business partners across 10 countries, and that pre-orders and letters of intent for its SKYDRIVE SD-05 model total 451 aircraft. The company is pursuing type certification with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, with the aim of launching the aircraft into service in 2028.