Archer’s Airport? - The Buzz, The Backlash, The Battle Ahead
SoCalNewswire - Nov. 14, 2025
HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Headlines churned out Nov. 6 after Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR) announced plans to take operational control of Hawthorne Municipal Airport. The $126 million deal, structured through a series of agreements, strengthens the advanced air mobility company as the official air‑taxi provider for the 2028 Olympics—a partnership announced by LA28 in May.
The 80-acre city-owned airport, better known as Jack Northrop Field, is slated to become a hub for Archer’s Los Angeles eVTOL network and a testbed for its AI-based aviation systems. The city has yet to approve the deal, and the announcement has drawn both excitement and scrutiny from aviation observers, community groups, and tribal representatives, who balance enthusiasm for innovation with concerns about transparency, environmental review, airspace congestion and cultural resource protections.
Despite its press release headline — “Archer to Acquire Los Angeles Airport” — and a quip from a Raymond James analyst, “Honey, we bought an airport,” the company is not purchasing Hawthorne Airport. Pending approval, Archer would assume the remaining 30 years of a master lease held by Hawthorne Airport LLC (HAL), along with its subleases. The arrangement would give Archer control of nearly all non-runway land through 2055 — a setup that had previously prompted litigation over monopoly concerns. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals addressed related claims in a memorandum issued on Aug. 4, 2022, which can be viewed on the Court’s website. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds for being filed after the statute of limitations.
(SEC) filings show Archer has signed agreements with HAL, 395 Park Place LLC (“395”), and Advanced Air LLC, linking the transaction to new hangar construction already under environmental review. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) prepared by consultant Watearth lists 395 as developer of 13 hangars. That environmental document, dated Sept. 19, 2025, describes the project now known as the Hawthorne Airport Hangars Project.
Timing and Transparency Questions
The city posted its public notice for the hangar project on Nov. 5 — one day before Archer’s press release. The notice did not identify the applicant and set a Dec. 9 hearing date for possible MND adoption.
In a statement emailed to SoCalNewswire, the local community group Hawthorne Quiet Skies expressed frustration with the lack of transparency. “Several of us have faithfully attended the City of Hawthorne’s Airport Communities Network meetings,” the statement read, “including one last month, and this (acquisition) was never mentioned once."
City officials did not respond to multiple phone and email requests for comment. Archer also did not reply before publication.
Environmental and Community Concerns
The proposed hangars represent only the first phase of what Archer’s Q3 2025 shareholder letter describes a much larger airport redevelopment. The MND evaluates only the 13-hangar project, not the full expansion outlined in Archer’s corporate filings. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents show geotechnical investigations by Bay City Geology in August 2024, but the limited scope has sparked questions among some local groups, given that a broader plan is still pending.
Quiet Skies — which calls itself “a coalition of neighbors for safe, quiet flight paths around Hawthorne Airport” — warned of potential environmental impacts from what it called the “first ever eVTOL hub.” In its statement, the group said, “We’re entering this new era completely unprepared and with no clear pathway to success.”
These concerns were raised further during Wednesday’s LAX/Community Noise Roundtable meeting, a public forum where local residents, officials, and airport representatives address noise and environmental issues. Chair Denny Schneider briefly raised Archer’s proposal, suggesting the panel gather more information for a future agenda on shared South Bay airspace. One member questioned whether evaluating only the first phase was sufficient, given that the full expansion remains undefined.
Tribal Cultural Resource Concerns
In addition to environmental review, the airport’s cultural resources have drawn attention from Tribal Nations. In April, Watearth initiated consultation with relevant tribes under Assembly Bill 52 as part of the CEQA process for the proposed hangars. Hereditary Chief Andrew Salas of the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation responded in letters dated July 8 and July 17, 2025, warning of a “high likelihood” that prehistoric cultural resources, including burials, remain beneath portions of the airport.
“Any excavation, grading, or trenching activity near Hawthorne Airport carries a high likelihood of intersecting unrecorded tribal cultural resources, including ancestral remains and funerary items protected under CEQA,” Salas wrote.
The MND incorporates several of the tribe’s recommendations, including the presence of a Kizh Nation approved monitor during ground-disturbing work and protocols for handling inadvertent discoveries. But in the weeks leading up to the city’s December vote, Kizh leaders disputed that characterization.
In a phone interview, Salas explained that city emails to the Nation’s legal representative suggest key recommendations were brushed aside and that the city treated the initial outreach as a formality. “They’re just checking the box,” he said, adding that despite what the MND says, the city’s interaction has left him skeptical and seeking meaningful cooperation.
A Test Case for Urban Air Mobility
Beyond environmental and cultural reviews, Archer must also navigate federal aviation regulations and certification requirements.
The deal positions Hawthorne to become a proving ground for electric air taxis. Archer’s CEO Adam Goldstein told investors during the company’s Q3 2025 call: “…if if we can prove electric air taxis work in one of the world’s most congested, complex and highly regulated cities, … we can subsequently scale the product across the U.S. and the world.”
Scaling air mobility still poses challenges. A Georgia Institute of Technology press release on Oct. 17, 2025, cited hurdles in certification, air-traffic integration and public acceptance.
“We’ll need to define … safe corridors where these aircraft can operate alongside traditional air traffic,” said Dr. Laurie Garrow, a Georgia Tech professor who co-directs the Center for Urban and Regional Air Mobility. “Aviation certification is a rigorous process. It takes time to earn public trust.”
For nearby communities, the question is whether the hub and AI-aviation test site can safely coexist with the surrounding homes and schools. On Oct. 23, the National Transportation Safety Board posted on X that an unmanned Air Vev Inc. Zero eVTOL crashed in a field and was consumed by fire. That possibility over residential areas concerns the group, which asked in its statement, “Who would want eVTOL AI experiments over their homes?” The group also noted that homes border three sides of the airport.
In the same statement, the group cited Stanford University’s Safe Aviation Autonomy project, which warns that current machine-learning systems may not perform reliably in unfamiliar situations and lack formal safety guarantees.
The statement expressed support for California innovators, saying, “the revolution in autonomous air transportation is exciting,” while emphasizing the need for collaboration among all stakeholders. The group proposed establishing a new Hawthorne Airport noise working group, suggesting that Archer lead the effort to set a precedent for being a good neighbor.
Archer and the sellers can terminate the deal if closing is not completed by December 30, 2025. For now, the city faces growing scrutiny over how it balances innovation, transparency and public trust as the Dec. 9 vote approaches.