The transit-focused real estate firm that helped Elon Musk's Boring Co. scout for underground space for potential traffic tunnels in Los Angeles is looking to the sky for its next innovative venture: airports for flying taxis.
Los Angeles-based Commercial Brokers International has lined up eight local sites for vertiports, or terminals for the electric cabs that could lift off in time for the 2028 Olympics.
“You can’t have air taxis without places for them to land,” said brokerage CEO George Pino, who led the site search with Partner Joe Killinger.
Their client, United Kingdom-based Skyports, plans to operate these vertiports much like traditional airports — offering recharging, maintenance and passenger services — while third-party aviation companies oversee the aircraft that resemble large drones due to their size, fuel efficiency and potential to be operated without a pilot. By 2028, Skyports wants its first Los Angeles terminals open for business at rooftops, parking structures and industrial sites across the region.
Such a transit project has the potential to affect how tourists, commuters and other travelers navigate Los Angeles by turning hour-long drives through gridlock into 10-minute flights. It could also introduce a new category of commercial real estate centered on vertiport networks as similar projects are in the planning stages across the country.
With the 2028 Olympics on the horizon, the city faces mounting pressure to expand its transit options, and the global spotlight could rise the profile of this emerging technology that has yet to take hold in the United States.
Even as excitement builds, notable roadblocks remain. Each vertiport must have FAA-approved flight paths, access compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and most critically, up to 4,000 amps of clean electrical power — something that can take years to secure. And competition is heating up across the globe to be the first major city to launch an air taxi program, according to Killinger.
Sci-fi to reality
The idea of airborne city taxis has floated around since the animated and futuristic TV series "The Jetsons," but serious traction came in the 2010s, when advances in battery technology and autonomous systems made electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL aircraft, viable.
These vehicles, powered by multiple small electric rotors, are designed to be quieter, safer and more sustainable than helicopters. Currently, there isn't a commercial helicopter taxi service in Los Angeles; the flying taxis would serve as the first of its kind in the region. The aircraft would likely hold four to six passengers with one pilot, though eVTOL operators are expected to ultimately roll out pilotless drone taxis.
Backed by aerospace giants like Boeing and Airbus as well as deep-pocketed startups like Joby Aviation and Archer, eVTOL companies have raced to build prototypes aimed at short-distance urban trips. Archer’s four-seat “Midnight” aircraft, for instance, is designed to fly up to 150 mph and land with noise no louder than a vacuum cleaner.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared a major regulatory hurdle this year by finalizing operating rules for eVTOLs, including pilot training, minimum altitudes, and safe operating environments. It marked the first entirely new aircraft category since helicopters in the 1940s.
With those rules in place, manufacturers are turning their attention to scaling up. Archer, with $1 billion in funding and partnerships with United Airlines and the Rams’ Hollywood Park district, plans to launch its L.A. air taxi service by 2026. Its Midnight aircraft wants to shuttle passengers from locations like USC and LAX to sites in Orange County, Santa Monica and Burbank in under 20 minutes.
Skyports, which tested its first vertiport in Singapore, is focused on providing the landing infrastructure to support this revolution. Its L.A. plans hinge on modular vertiports that can fit in a range of urban and suburban environments, each capable of handling three to five aircraft. Skyports would lease space from the property owner and in turn charge fees to air taxi operators for landing and takeoff, refueling and other services.
“With aircraft development well underway, it’s the infrastructure that will make or break this model,” said Pino. “That’s where we come in.”
The brokerage declined to offer specifics on the sites it lined up for Skyports, though such locations are expected to be near major transit corridors, including routes connecting LAX to downtown Los Angeles, and in high-density areas like the San Fernando Valley and Orange County. One scouted outpost is in Santa Monica, a location that would provide access to the Malibu coast for tourism-focused flights.
Race for the skies
Los Angeles may be one of the first U.S. cities to bring air taxis to the mainstream, but it’s not the only one headed toward the launchpad. Archer is simultaneously building networks in the New York City and San Francisco Bay Area. Meanwhile, rival Joby Aviation has its sights set on New York City, where it’s working with Delta Airlines to retrofit helipads for passenger drone use.
Similar to New York City, where the emphasis is on cutting time between Manhattan and its major airports, operators in LA want to help tourists and commuters leapfrog some of the country’s worst traffic. Both cities offer dense population centers, entertainment hubs, and international travelers — ideal proving grounds for commercial air mobility.
“LA is known for its horrendous traffic — our goal is to offer a safer, faster, and sustainable alternative travel option,” said Archer CEO Adam Goldstein in a statement. The company is working with USC and the Los Angeles Rams to place vertiports in key destinations like SoFi Stadium.
Commercial Brokers International says all eight Los Angeles-area sites it helped Skyports identify are FAA-vetted and expandable. Routes under consideration include LAX to downtown, Santa Monica to Orange County, and eventually, Los Angeles to Palm Springs and Santa Barbara.
“There’s a real window here,” Killinger said. “If we can build the infrastructure in time, L.A. won’t just have air taxis — it’ll lead the country in how we move through cities.”