United Airlines Holdings has paid a $10 million deposit for 100 electric flying taxis, a sign that the airline is growing more confident in the nascent technology.
United and a regional airline it partners with last year invested in Archer Aviation and struck a preliminary agreement to buy up to 200 of the flying taxis that the San Francisco Bay Area-based company is developing. Other airlines and leasing companies have announced their own investments in flying-taxi startups and preliminary orders. But the aircraft haven’t yet been approved by regulators to fly passengers, and customers generally haven’t had to put down cash.
