Archer hires new CCO to lead commercialization efforts, bring Midnight to market

Archer today announced that Nikhil Goel joined as the company’s CCO, leading the execution of Archer’s global commercialization and bringing the Midnight to market in 2025. Goel brings his experience as co-founder of Uber Elevate, Uber’s air taxi division.

In his role as CCO, Goel will be responsible for leading the strategy to commercialize Archer’s aircraft, like the Midnight. The focus will be on bringing New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco online as the initial domestic markets for Archer. The strategy will also focus on gaining international demand and building partnership opportunities in multiple key markets like the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Midnight

Goel joins the team as Archer is continually advancing its commercialization efforts following a $10 million pre-delivery payment from United Airlines for 100 eVTOL aircraft, which it anticipates deploying into various point-to-point routes that have been announced in the U.S.

He has experience in the eVTOL market, co-founding Uber Elevate and jointly authoring its white paper, which is widely credited with the establishment of a vision for the commercial eVTOL aircraft industry. Goel started at Uber as a product leader before co-founding Uber Elevate. He worked alongside NASA and Uber executives, developing a vision for Uber Elevate. In 2020, he helped to spin off the Uber Elevate business in a sale to Joby Aviation. Goel has been the Senior Advisor to Archer since 2020. Before his time at Uber, he held similar roles at McKinsey & Company, Google, Microsoft and NASA. He attended Vanderbilt University, earning his Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a double major in computer engineering and economics.

Archer Midnight in front, Maker in the back

“Having recently traveled around the world to the largest international markets and seen firsthand how strong the demand for our aircraft is outside the U.S., it’s clear that now is the right time to make this strategic hire and bring Nikhil on to capitalize on the sizable market opportunity for domestic and global expansion,” Archer Founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said. “Since day one, we’ve laid out an aggressive goal to be the first to bring an eVTOL aircraft to the UAM market, and adding Nikhil to our senior leadership team significantly bolsters our efforts to reach that goal.”

Archer plans on transforming urban travel. Air taxis will replace 60-90 minute commutes by car with an estimated 10-20 minute ride in an electric air taxi. The new air travel option is safe, sustainable and low noise. Air travel in urban settings can be cost-competitive with ground transportation. Archer’s Midnight has a range of up to 100 miles, is piloted and can have four passengers. The Midnight is designed to perform back-to-back flights with reduced charge time between flights.

RELATED STORIES:

Outgoing FAA leader takes new role at Archer Aviation

Archer completes first Midnight, prepares for flight testing

United and Archer announce first eVTOL air taxi route in Chicago

Component manufacturing is underway for Midnight. Archer is targeting the final assembly of the Midnight aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2023 and expects to begin piloted flight test operations in early 2024. Former acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen recently joined Archer in the role of Chief Safety Officer.

“My career has been focused on transforming the way people move in and around cities and enabling the future of on-demand, urban air transportation,” Goel said. “I’ve been working with Adam and the team for several years, and I believe Archer is the most well-positioned eVTOL aircraft OEM to make this vision a reality with the industry’s leading team and product. It’s an honor to join the company as Chief Commercial Officer and lead our path to market.”