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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowBoeing Co.-backed startup Zunum Aero plans to deliver its first hybrid-electric plane in 2022 to JetSuite Inc., setting the stage for a new era in regional flying.
JetSuite, a small charter airline with plans to expand a commercial operation nationally, eventually will receive 100 aircraft that seat as many as 12 passengers each, Zunum said in a statement Monday. JetBlue Airways Corp. has invested in Zunum and JetSuite. The charter operator is also backed by Qatar Airways.
Seattle-based Zunum also has operations in Chicago and at Purdue Research Park in Indianapolis, near Indianapolis International Airport, where it is designing and testing propulsion systems.
The JetSuite deal furthers Zunum’s efforts to eliminate the emissions and roar of combustion-based jet engines by applying advances in battery technology pioneered by the auto industry. Zunum is racing competitors such as Europe’s Airbus SE and a partnership that includes EasyJet Plc in developing such a plane. The U.S. military and NASA are pursuing similar concepts.
“JetSuite, with its tradition of shifting paradigms in aviation, is an ideal partner for us in this launch collaboration,” Ashish Kumar, Zunum’s CEO, said in the statement. “We have a shared vision for fundamentally transforming and improving the way that people live and travel.”
JetSuite has reserved “a fraction” of the first 100 Zunum Aero 10 aircraft to be produced, and the timing of remaining deliveries will be determined closer to 2022, Kumar said in an email.
Aircraft range
Zunum plans to provide aircraft both for JetSuite’s private charter operation and larger versions for its JetSuiteX scheduled flight service, he said. The ZA10 will have a range of 700 miles when introduced in 2022. The larger ZA50 is targeted for the mid-2020s and will be able to fly 1,000 miles.
JetSuiteX began flying scheduled service along the West Coast in April 2016, using Embraer SA’s 30-seat ERJ135 regional jets. The company employs private air terminals in California and Las Vegas, allowing travelers to bypass larger airports and congested terminals. The carrier said in April that it’s still examining destinations for its planned eastward expansion.
Zunum is developing and building prototypes for electric motors, power and thermal systems, electronics, quiet fans and control platforms that will be tested on the ground later this year and in early 2019, ahead of the start of flight testing. The work is being done at Zunum centers in Washington, Illinois and Indiana.
The company plans to modify and electrify an existing twin-engine aircraft in stages for the flight tests, Kumar said.
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