FAA clears futuristic blended-wing JetZero aircraft for test flights

09.04.2024 - 13:21 / thepointsguy.com / Airlines

A California company recently cleared a hurdle to begin testing a miniature version of its next-generation aircraft.

Long Beach-based JetZero has designed a prototype for a "blended wing body" aircraft, which looks nothing like any Boeing or Airbus jet you've ever seen. And last week, the company got FAA permission to begin flight tests on a slimmed-down demonstrator version that's an eighth of the size of the futuristic plane.

Dubbed by JetZero as "the biggest leap in commercial aircraft architecture since the dawn of the jet age," the aircraft sports two jet engines atop a slim, Star Wars-like airframe that, the company says, helps it fly while burning half the fuel of a standard "tube-and-wing" jet.

While most aircraft get their "lift" — or upward momentum — from their wings, JetZero's entire design mimics a wing, the company says. The aircraft is also designed to be relatively light in weight and feature less drag than a typical jet, avoiding the pitfalls that can cause an aircraft to fly less efficiently.

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JetZero sees its aircraft as a future option for both military and commercial aviation use.

Mock-ups of the new-age jet on its website show the aircraft adorned in U.S. Air Force livery; a fitting design considering the U.S. Department of Defense's Innovation Unit last fall awarded the company $235 million over four years to help it produce a full-scale demonstrator aircraft by early 2027.

And images of the aircraft parked at a jet bridge make clear the company hopes it could be a potential candidate for future commercial airline use, too, operating with the engines of a narrow-body jet but possessing the passenger capacity of a small wide-body, JetZero says.

The company is targeting the middle of the airline market, a spokesperson tells TPG, with the future commercial versions of the jet envisioned as having the potential to carry as many as 250 passengers.

For comparison, every narrow-body jet in American Airlines' fleet carries fewer than 200 passengers (though some versions of the Airbus A321 get close) … but its wide-body Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner well exceed 200 passengers.

"This breakthrough fills the mid-market gap with an aircraft that achieves half the fuel burn and emissions of the aging fleet that it will replace," the company said in a statement last year.

Importantly, the jet would be compatible with forms of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. "SAF," as it's known in the industry, consists of new-age, more environmentally-friendly forms of jet fuel, which airlines have begun to eye with increasing intent amid pressure throughout the industry to reduce emissions — though with plenty of skepticism