Archer Promised to Fly at Dubai Airshow. Its Air Taxi Never Left the Ground. 

Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short $ACHR and long $JOBY at the time of publication. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below.

Archer Aviation ($ACHR) spent months building anticipation for a milestone moment: the flight of its flagship Midnight electric air taxi at the 2025 Dubai Airshow. 

When that flight never happened — and the event came and went — Archer didn’t publicly acknowledge the cancellation. 

As early as August, the Airshow quoted CEO Adam Goldstein in promotional materials saying “Archer is thrilled to take centre stage at such a pivotal moment for our industry … we look forward to flying Midnight at the event.” 

But according to reporting, conference materials, and sources on the ground, while Archer brought a model air taxi to the Dubai Airshow, which concluded today, it remained on the ground in one of the exhibition halls. 

Archer did not say why and did not respond to Hunterbrook’s repeated requests for comment.

Archer’s “full-scale static aircraft display” N302AX in Japan (left) and the UAE (right). 

This appears to be the second time this year that Archer has canceled a planned public display. 

In late 2024, Archer announced that it would “conduct a public flight demonstration at the World Expo to build public support, demonstrate the future of aviation and accelerate stakeholder’s engagement.” Just a few months later, one of Archer’s partners in Japan — Soracle — confirmed that “Archer will no longer be able to accommodate Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai demo flight timeline and we have decided to exhibit a full-scale static aircraft display.”

Archer did fly its Midnight aircraft at the Salinas Air Show in California — but footage from the event appears to show a traditional landing, not a vertical one. 

Joby ($JOBY), Archer’s competitor, flew repeatedly at the Dubai Airshow, flights that were documented by attendees and confirmed by the company. The event gave Joby a prominent platform at a moment when the UAE is trying to position itself as an early adopter of advanced air mobility.

Several flights were conducted by Joby’s N544JX at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), site of the Dubai Airshow, as recorded by Flightradar24.

Recent local coverage of the show reported that Joby intends to begin operations in Dubai  — which has spent the past several years promoting a future flying-taxi network — in early 2026, with free trial rides for select passengers expected ahead of broader service. Joby officials at the show reiterated those plans.

Joby is also advancing aircraft beyond eVTOLs. 

Earlier this year, Hunterbrook Media exclusively revealed Joby’s new long-range hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle, called JAI 30, which is capable of flying for nine hours. 

Archer’s recent piloted flights have lasted more like 31 minutes — at their longest. 

That hasn’t stopped Archer from issuing a series of promotional press releases in recent weeks, ranging from a purported deal with Anduril to a partnership with Saudi Arabia. 

One of these press releases highlighted a recent flight over the desert in Abu Dhabi — which did not qualify as part of the Airshow, because, as one attendee put it, that’s “an entirely different emirate.” 

Hunterbrook Media geolocated the footage, placing the Archer flight test at Al Ain International Airport, over 50 miles from the Dubai Airshow that took place a week later.

“It’d be insane to claim this is the flight,” a source on the ground with expertise on the industry told Hunterbrook. “There is a formal airshow program. You have to be qualified to fly in it.”

One notable aspect of the flight in Abu Dhabi: Archer’s video does not show the moment when the aircraft switches from takeoff to forward flight, a key transition point for eVTOLs. 

It is unclear whether the aircraft Archer flew in Abu Dhabi is the same one it brought to the Dubai airshow. Both aircrafts are clad in the same registration — N302AX — but the one brought to Dubai may not have been a functioning aircraft. Archer partner Soracle said in a press release earlier this year that the show piece Archer had taken to another event with the same registration number was a “full-scale static aircraft display,” rather than a functioning aircraft.  

According to a source on the ground in Dubai, Archer was protective regarding who it would allow to explore its display. 

Joby, for its part, seems to have taken some joy in its relative ascendency compared to Archer at the airshow. 

“Our favorite part of the #DubaiAirshow?” Joby posted to X. “FLYING.”

Joby was scheduled to conduct a final demo flight today, sandwiched between a French-made Rafale and a U.S. Air Force F-16. Tragically, an Indian Air Force Tejas crashed during its demonstration run, effectively scrubbing the rest of the airshow. 

On the eve of the event’s conclusion, Joby challenged Archer more directly — with a lawsuit. 

Late Wednesday, Joby filed an 11-count complaint in California Superior Court accusing Archer of what it described as “corporate espionage, planned and premeditated.” 

The 36-page lawsuit, brought by high-powered firm Quinn Emmanuel and its star litigator Alex Spiro, centers on George Kivork, Joby’s former U.S. State and Local Policy Lead, who left in August to join Archer. According to the complaint, two days before announcing his resignation, Kivork quietly downloaded dozens of internal Joby files — including confidential commercial agreements, regulatory strategies, vertiport plans, and “technical information about Joby’s aircraft and operations.”

Investigators later found he had also altered permissions on “hundreds” of internal files, adding his personal Gmail as an owner so he could continue accessing Joby materials after his departure.

In the complaint, Joby accuses Archer of attempting to undercut a deal it had planned with a real estate developer. “In an email sent to Joby,” the complaint reads, “the Developer stated that Archer knew, not just about the existence of Joby’s confidential strategic partnership with the Developer, but also specific—and highly confidential—terms of the Developer’s agreement with Joby.” 

Joby says Archer then used the purportedly stolen information to undercut Joby’s deal,  prompting Joby to launch a forensic investigation.

Archer has denied wrongdoing — its CEO wrote on X that “Joby’s accusations are fantasy” — but according to the complaint, Archer has refused to return information to Joby or share the findings of its own supposed investigation into the incident. 

The lawsuit accuses Archer of trade-secret theft, inducing breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of loyalty, and unfair competition.

There does appear to be at least one trade secret of Joby’s that Archer hasn’t stolen: the consistent ability to fly eVTOLs in public.