Archer says it has closed Phase 3 of the FAA type-certification process for Midnight and is working through Phase 4 compliance activity. The milestone is meaningful, but it is not a type certificate and Archer's 2026 US operating target remains a company target.
Phase 3 of 4 — closed, per Archer's Q1 2026 results ~$1.78B — Archer's cash and short-term investments at end of Q1 2026 -$189M — sequential quarterly cash decrease (flight-test spending, capital equipment) 2026 — Archer's target for US commercial operations via the eIPP
Archer is the first eVTOL developer to close Phase 3 of the FAA's four-phase Type Certification process for a piloted aircraft — a real, disclosed milestone, though closing Phase 3 is not the same as holding a type certificate, which no eVTOL developer has yet received from the FAA.
Archer's progress through Phase 4, and whether its 2026 target for US commercial operations under the White House's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program and its role as LA28 Olympics official air taxi provider stay on schedule.
Archer Aviation reported in its Q1 2026 results that it had closed Phase 3 of the FAA type-certification process for Midnight and was already progressing Phase 4 work. In Archer's four-phase description, Phase 4 is where the company demonstrates compliance through formal testing and analysis.
The distinction matters: closing Phase 3 is a documented program milestone, but it is not equivalent to receiving a type certificate. The FAA still has to accept the required compliance evidence before the aircraft design can be approved. Archer's claim that it was the first eVTOL developer to close Phase 3 is company-reported; the broader comparison is complicated by the fact that other applicants, including Joby, describe their certification work using differently structured stage frameworks.
Archer ended Q1 2026 with about $1.78 billion in cash and short-term investments, according to its results release. The company attributed the sequential reduction in liquidity partly to flight-test activity and capital equipment. That financial runway is relevant to certification because Phase 4 is resource-intensive: conformity hardware, test aircraft, instrumentation, analysis and repeated compliance testing all consume capital before commercial revenue is established.
Archer is targeting initial US operations in 2026 through the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program and has announced a role connected with the LA28 Olympics. Those are forward-looking operating plans, not evidence that FAA type certification has been completed or that a commercial-service date is fixed.
For a direct comparison with Joby's differently structured process, see PropulsionWatch's Joby–Archer FAA certification tracker.
Not investment advice. Certification status here is based on disclosed program milestones and should not be read as a forecast of approval timing.
