JetZero
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
JetZero's blended-wing Z4 airliner claims up to 50% better fuel efficiency with international range and 250 seats.
JetZero is developing the Z4, a 250-seat blended-wing-body airliner with international range, claiming up to 50% less fuel use than conventional jets. The company has raised $175M in Series B, secured investment from United Airlines (path to 200 planes) and Alaska Airlines, and signed LOIs with Gulf Air and JAL. It broke ground on a manufacturing campus in Greensboro, NC, and is opening an engineering office in Wichita, KS. Pat Shanahan and Eric Hirshberg recently joined the board.
What commenters are saying
Commenters broadly doubt a startup can certify a novel airliner, citing regulatory hurdles and aviation's relentless cost pressures. Some draw analogies to SpaceX achieving the impossible against legacy incumbents. A second camp debates the trade-offs of eliminating passenger windows: better structural efficiency and cabin control vs. loss of a flying joy and potential motion sickness from off-axis seating in a blended wing. One commenter notes that the wider cabin amplifies vertical displacement during rolls.