United’s Electric Air Taxis to Fly From O’Hare Airport in 2025

UPDATE 3/24: United and partner Archer Aviation this week confirmed(Opens in a new window) that O’Hare Airport will be the first to support its electric air taxis.

Beginning in 2025, they will carry out 10-minute flights to the Illinois Medical District, landing at Vertiport Chicago, at 1339 S. Wood St. Each taxi can seat four passengers and a pilot, and the price of travel is expected to be comparable to Uber Black, which is the higher-priced luxury service Uber offers.

Original Story 10/7/22:
United Airlines confirmed on Thursday that it’s moving forward with plans to use a fleet of 100 electric planes for short, regional trips by 2030. The first batch of planes will likely fly out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Denver International Airport, CNBC reports(Opens in a new window).

United purchased the propeller planes in 2021 from Heart Aerospace(Opens in a new window), a Swedish startup founded in 2018 with a focus on “electrifying regional travel.” United also invested in Heart, along with Air Canada, which purchased 30 planes(Opens in a new window) that will enter service by 2028.

The aircraft can travel 124 miles on full electricity from a lithium ion battery. After that, they switch to a hybrid mode to complete a maximum 250-mile flight, according to CNBC. In hybrid mode, the plane emits 50% fewer carbon emissions, according to Anders Forslund, founder and chief executive of Heart Aerospace. 

(Credit: Heart Aerospace)

The planes can recharge in as little as 30 minutes, according to Forslund. Between the short flying distances and quick time to “refuel,” the planes could potentially open travel to new routes unserved by typical airlines at lower cost.

United initially planned to have the planes in service as soon as 2026(Opens in a new window). That timeline seems to have been pushed back to 2030. Another change: the planes were initially slated to seat 19 passengers in the “ES-19” model, but now they will seat 30(Opens in a new window) on a new model called the “ES-30.”

At CNBC’s ESG Impact virtual conference(Opens in a new window) on Thursday, Mike Leskinen, United Airlines Ventures president, spoke about the urgency to reduce carbon emissions from air travel, which account for 10%(Opens in a new window) of transportation-related emissions in the US and 4% of total emissions.

2019 US emissions from transportation, showing aviation contributes 10%. It is one of the fastest-growing sources of global carbon emissions.
(Credit: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2019, EPA, 2021)

In 2019, United emitted 34,263,909 tons of greenhouses gases through jet fuel, according to the company’s most recent emissions data(Opens in a new window).

“We cannot continue doing and operating our business the way we do; it is imperative that we change it, and the way we’re going to change it is through investing in technology,” said Leskinen.

The “Maker” air taxi.
(Credit: Archer Aviation)

In 2018, United committed to 100% carbon neutrality by 2050, claiming to be the first airline to do so. “To meet this goal, we’ll continue to invest in fuel efficiency improvements across our fleet and our entire business,” United says(Opens in a new window). “But because fuel efficiency alone won’t be enough to reach this ambitious target, we also intend to invest in new technology, like sustainable aviation fuel that emits far less CO2 than conventional fuel on a lifecycle basis.”

In August, the Chicago-based airline invested (Opens in a new window)$10 million in California-based Archer Aviation, a company making tiny helicopters to transport people to airports and reduce road congestion.