With the production ramp-up of sustainable aviation fuel moving at a glacial pace, the airline industry is looking for alternative solutions to cut pollution from future operations.
Long Beach start-up JetZero believes it is positioned to deliver the efficiency leap that the airline sector needs to cut emissions significantly ahead of a “net zero” by 2050 target. Company leaders outlined their vision this month for a 200-250-passenger blended-wing-body commercial jet that it plans to deliver to airlines in the 2030s.
Several US airline have signalled interest in the next-generation jet, including Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Improved aerodynamic efficiency would halve fuel burn over current-generation airliners – a leap that is achievable with today’s turbofans, according to JetZero.
Meanwhile, California air taxi start-ups Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation continue progressing development of their respective electric aircraft, with Joby operating two air taxis simultaneously amid a flight-testing programme that has already seen the company achieve a full transition from hover to cruise and back to hover with a pilot onboard.
Joby now has a fleet of six test aircraft that will be used for certification flight testing with the Federal Aviation Administration. The company has previously stated that it intends to launch for-certification flight tests with the FAA as soon as this year.
Archer similarly plans to reach market with its electric air taxi as soon as possible. The start-up was recently named the “official” air taxi operator for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in a deal aimed at lifting the company’s public profile amid its planned roll-out of an air taxi network in Southern California. Archer also recently reached an agreement with United.
With the Trump administration attempting to boost US manufacturing, both Archer and Joby have recently emphasised their intentions to mass-manufacture air taxis within the USA. Joby says its air taxi is “designed, manufactured and assembled here in the US” and that it employs “engineers and experts across 40 different US states”.
Meanwhile, another air taxi developer, Boeing owned Wisk, has a new chief executive: Sebastien Vigneron, who says he has the certification and development chops to see Wisk through certification.
Elsewhere in the low-emissions flight sector, hybrid-electric aircraft developer Heart Aerospace recently disclosed intentions to relocate its Swedish headquarters to Los Angeles to advance development of its 30-passenger ES-30 aircraft. Requiring Heart to rebuild its C-suite and workforce in Los Angeles, the move is aimed at supporting long-term plans to manufacture ES-30 aircraft in the USA.
JetZero also plans to build a massive manufacturing complex somewhere in the USA, with a site yet to be publicly identified.