HAWTHORNE – The Hawthorne City Council voted 5–0 on Wednesday during its regular public meeting to approve consent on the master lease assignment for Hawthorne Municipal Airport, clearing the way for Archer Aviation Inc. to take operational control of the facility.
The $126 million agreement is a pivotal step in Archer’s plans to establish an electric air taxi network across Los Angeles and the surrounding region. The planned routes will connect key destinations, including Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood, Orange County, Long Beach, SoFi Stadium, and Santa Monica.
The 80‑acre city‑owned airport, known as Jack Northrop Field, will support Archer’s role as the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Olympics — announced by LA28 in May. The City’s approval on Nov. 12 has sparked both excitement and scrutiny from aviation experts, community groups, and tribal representatives.
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. By assuming the remaining 30 years of a master lease held by Hawthorne Airport LLC (HAL), along with its subleases, Archer will control nearly all non-runway land through 2055 — a setup that previously prompted monopoly‑related litigation. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals addressed those claims in an Aug. 4, 2022 memorandum, available on the Court’s website, and dismissed the case on procedural grounds for being filed after the statute of limitations.
Securities and Exchange Commission (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 Skiesexpressed 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 project represents only the first phase of airport work, separate from the larger redevelopment described in Archer’s Q3 2025 shareholder letter. Initiated before Archer’s agreement, the 13‑hangar project is the sole focus of the current MND. CEQA documents note geotechnical investigations by Bay City Geology in August 2024, but the narrow scope has raised questions among local groups while the broader plan remains 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 LAX/Community Noise Roundtable‘s Nov. 12 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 representatives 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.
The concern stemmed from a statement in Archer’s shareholder letter, which explicitly said, “We plan for the airport to serve … as a testbed for AI-powered aviation.” However, at Wednesday’s meeting, Archer representative Eric Lentell clarified that the FAA restricts test flight locations and that the company conducts testing at a remote site in Salinas, California. Lentell added, “We will not be conducting aircraft testing at the Hawthorne location.”
Quiet Skies’ 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.
Under the terms of the agreement, Archer and the sellers can walk away if closing is not finalized by December 30, 2025 — but for now, there seem to be clear skies ahead.
Sources:
LA28: https://la28.org/en/newsroom/archer-selected-as-official-air-taxi-provider-of-la28-games.html
Archer’s Nov. 6 Press Release: https://www.investors.archer.com/news/news-details/2025/Archer-To-Acquire-Los-Angeles-Airport-As-Strategic-Air-Taxi-Network-Hub-and-AI-Testbed/default.aspx
9th Circuit Court, 2022 record:https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2022/08/04/21-55542.pdf
Archers SEC filings: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1824502/000110465925108135/tm2529808-1_424b5.htm
Watearth MND:https://hawthorneca.app.box.com/s/tasfxptjkc96pwhc56vpwcr2v1bfk487/file/2038547116761
Hawthorne Quiet Skies:https://hawthornequietskies.com/
City of Hawthorne Public Notice: https://www.cityofhawthorne.org/Home/Components/News/News/638/
Archer Q3 2025 Shareholder Letter: https://s202.q4cdn.com/174276461/files/doc_financials/2025/q3/Archer-Shareholder-Letter-Q325-FINAL-1.pdf
Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation: https://gabrielenoindians.org
Georgia Tech: https://news.gatech.edu/news/2025/10/17/flying-taxis-are-nearly-here-whats-still-grounding-them .
NTSB Twitter:https://x.com/NTSB_Newsroom/status/1981467271802351754
