Boeing is selling three electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) subsidiaries to Archer Aviation and will also take a stake in Archer. Aug. 10 (local time).

According to The Verge, the assets are Wisk Aero, which has developed autonomous electric aircraft; SkyGrid, which builds an aerial traffic management system for urban air taxis; and Insitu, a maker of high-altitude drones used by the U.S. Navy.

Under the deal, Boeing and Archer will share technology. Boeing will retain access to Wisk’s autonomous flight system and use it for commercial and defence projects.

The deal allows Boeing to refocus on its core commercial aircraft business. Boeing currently has more than 6,200 undelivered aircraft orders worth $715 billion. It has also been under regulatory scrutiny after multiple safety incidents, including a 2024 Boeing 737 MAX incident in which part of the fuselage fell off mid-flight.

Archer plans to launch pilot air taxi services before year-end in New York, Texas and Florida. It recently unveiled a new eVTOL aircraft it developed with defence technology company Anduril backed by Palmer Luckey.

Brian Yutko (브라이언 유트코), Boeing’s vice president of product development for commercial airplanes, said the deal would help Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu accelerate capability development and market entry. Adam Goldstein (애덤 골드스타인), Archer’s chief executive, called the deal a major step toward diversifying the business and expanding its revenue base.

Wisk was launched in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, a flying taxi startup funded by Larry Page. It later designed, built and flew a sixth-generation eVTOL aircraft and conducted more than 1,700 flight tests.