Boeing Is Selling Its Flying Taxi and Drone Companies to Archer Aviation
Boeing has agreed to sell three of its subsidiaries — Wisk Aero, Insitu, and SkyGrid — to Archer Aviation. In exchange, Boeing will receive a near 20% ownership stake in Archer, and both companies have agreed to keep sharing technology and working together. The deal was announced on August 10, 2026. Archer, the company buying these three businesses, has not yet started carrying paying passengers in its air taxis. Reuters
The three companies Boeing is selling each cover a different piece of the emerging air taxi industry. Wisk Aero, created in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk (a flying taxi startup funded by Google cofounder Larry Page), builds a self-flying electric aircraft that carries no pilot. Wisk has built six versions of this aircraft and conducted more than 1,700 test flights. SkyGrid makes software to manage air traffic for city-based air taxis, the digital system that would keep many aircraft from colliding in crowded skies. Insitu, the oldest of the three, builds high-altitude drones used by the US Navy. It is a profitable business with over $200 million in yearly revenue and customers in 35 countries. The Verge
Under the deal, Boeing keeps access to Wisk's self-flying technology for its own commercial and defense projects. Boeing will also invest in Archer and continue collaborating with the company. Boeing vice president Brian Yutko called the transaction "a win-win for Boeing and Archer" and said it allows Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to "accelerate capability development and time to market." The Verge
Archer CEO Adam Goldstein described the deal as "a watershed moment" and "a next big step forward" in becoming a diversified platform. Boeing's press release described the transaction as creating "an end-to-end physical AI platform for aerospace and defense," pointing to the combination of self-flying software, airspace management, and actual aircraft all under one company. The Verge
The relationship between these two companies has not always been friendly. Wisk sued Archer in 2021, accusing Archer of stealing its trade secrets and copying its patents. The lawsuit was settled in August 2023. As part of that settlement, Wisk agreed to become Archer's exclusive supplier of self-flying technology, and Boeing invested $215 million in Archer. Archer's shares jumped 30% in after-hours trading when the settlement was announced. Now, three years later, Archer is buying Wisk outright instead of working with it as a supplier. Reuters
The market responded quickly. Archer's stock surged 20% following the August 10 announcement. Investing.com
For Boeing, the sale simplifies its portfolio. The company currently has a $715 billion backlog of over 6,200 commercial aircraft that customers have ordered but Boeing has not yet built. Selling these three subsidiaries while keeping access to their technology through its ownership stake and collaboration agreement lets Boeing focus its money and engineering teams on its core airplane and defense programs without fully walking away from self-flying aircraft. The Verge
For Archer, the deal changes what kind of company it is. Until now, Archer has been an aircraft maker preparing to launch air taxi services, with plans to start pilot operations in New York, Texas, and Florida before the end of 2026. The company recently unveiled a new aircraft co-developed with Palmer Luckey's defense technology company Anduril, signaling interest in the defense market. The Insitu acquisition now gives Archer an actual, money-making defense business to back that up. Adding a profitable military drone company operating in 35 countries, plus self-flying technology proven through 1,700+ test flights, plus the software to manage air taxi traffic in cities, gives Archer capabilities that would have taken years to build on its own. The Verge
The broader picture for the flying taxi industry is one of consolidation. The field has been crowded with well-funded startups building similar aircraft and chasing similar business plans, but few have shown a clear path to making money. Archer is now positioning itself as more than just an air taxi company. It wants to be a broader aerospace and defense business with revenue from military drone contracts, self-flying technology, and air traffic software alongside its passenger aircraft ambitions. Whether having that many different pursuits helps or distracts the company during the critical phase of getting certified and launching service is an open question. The next 12 to 18 months of pilot launches will start to provide an answer.
The path from lawsuit to partnership to full acquisition is a striking one. Wisk's 2021 lawsuit accused Archer of stealing its intellectual property. The 2023 settlement turned that adversarial relationship into a supplier arrangement. This deal turns it into outright ownership, with the company that once sued now belonging to the company it accused, and the suer's parent company becoming a major shareholder in the accused. In aerospace, as in other technology sectors, the distance between fierce competitors and strategic partners can shrink quickly when saving money and reaching the market faster demand it.
