Archer Aviation, BETA Technologies and Macquarie Capital are partnering to launch America's Consortium for Electric Skyways (ACES), with a goal to electrify up to 250 air taxi sites across America's largest airports and metro areas over the next decade.
The consortium will deploy BETA's electric aviation chargers built on the Combined Charging Standard ("CCS") - the open charging standard endorsed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association ("GAMA") and broadly adopted across the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) industry.
As selected participants in the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program ("eIPP"), the consortium will prioritize deploying charging infrastructure in markets where Archer and BETA plan to operate, positioning the consortium at the center of the White House's push to lead the world in commercializing this next generation of aviation technologies.
The approach behind ACES is what makes this network viable in a way no single company could deliver alone. As founding launch partners, Archer, BETA and Macquarie Capital will work to bring additional infrastructure, OEM partners and capital into the network so the industry can scale together.
Macquarie Capital, the advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group, brings decades of aviation infrastructure expertise and will provide strategic advice to the consortium, including helping to arrange the investment capital necessary to fund site acquisition and the subsequent development and construction of these facilities.
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR), BETA Technologies (NYSE: BETA) and Macquarie Capital today announced America's Consortium for Electric Skyways (ACES), a plan to electrify up to 250 air taxi sites across the United States. In the coming decade, the consortium will build the standardized charging foundation required to scale electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) commercial operations in and around major metropolitan areas, including airports and vertiports in California, Texas, Florida and New York.
The consortium approach is what makes this network viable in a way no single company could deliver alone:
BETA Technologies will supply its purpose-built charging hardware for each site, which is built on the Combined Charging Standard (CCS) that is endorsed by GAMA and adopted almost uniformly across the industry, allowing for interoperability across electric aircraft OEMs.
Archer Aviation will anchor the network with its plans to launch passenger VTOL air taxi operations in these cities, providing near-term operational certainty across key metro markets.
Macquarie Capital will provide strategic advice to the consortium, including helping to arrange the investment capital necessary to fund site acquisition and the subsequent development and construction of these facilities.