The win-win air taxi truce between Archer and Wisk may benefit Boeing more over time

When it was announced a week ago within a package of headline-making developments, Archer’s agreement with air taxi rival Wisk to end their bitter legal feud was greeted as an immediate win for both startups – though some evidence now says the biggest medium- to longer-term gains stand to be made by Wisk owner and aviation mastodon, Boeing.

Announced as it was amid big news the company had also secured $215 million in new capital, and received a Special Airworthiness Certificate for its production Midnight air taxi from the Federal Aviation Administration, Archer’s settlement with Wisk was initially scored as another significant step forward in the firm’s continuing streak of achievements.

It would, after all, spare both companies – and the entire nascent air taxi sector – an expectedly ugly court battle set to begin next month, and meanwhile transform bitter foe Archer into Wisk’s customer of its autonomous flight…