Flying Taxis to Take Off in 2021 — It’s Not Seinfeld’s Dream, But It’s Close

Seinfeld is still not getting the flying cars he’s long pined after. But, at least in Los Angeles, flying taxis could very much become a thing as early as 2021.

Quantum Air is planning to unleash a fleet of 26 flying taxis (electric planes) that will ferry people in-between the Los Angeles region’s various airports starting next year (assuming everything’s returned to some semblance of normal by then after this coronavirus pandemic). These flying taxis will speed people over the traffic that usually ensnarls greater Los Angeles.

Welcome to the future?

Quantum Air already ordered 26 small electric aircraft from Bye Aerospace to serve as its taxis — including two version of a futuristic-looking electric plane that is still in development.

“With the arrival of electric aircraft, we are entering a new Golden Age in aviation,” Quantum Air CEO Tony Thompson said in a statement after the purchase of the planes. “Since the dawn of flight, point to point air travel has been a luxury available only to a privileged few.

“Quantum’s groundbreaking air taxi service will finally make point to point air travel widely available.”

To start with, Quantum Air’s flying taxis largely will be four-seat eFlyer 4s, rather traditional-looking small planes that require an airport runway to takeoff from and land on. The company’s initial order of 26 overall planes included 22 of these eFlyer 4s.

Thompson eventually envisions having a fleet of hundreds of electric planes to create a network of air taxis that will shuttle people in-between prominent points in major cities.

At a time when most of America is largely confined to its homes, this may seem like a farfetched futuristic scenario. But Quantum Air has built an entire company around making it happen. Seinfeld does not figure to be satisfied. But it’s a start.

Look! Up in the Sky!. . . It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a flying taxi?