For decades, the default design for an airliner has been a long tube with wings. JetZero just landed a preliminary $3 billion deal from the US government to help build something really different: a “blended-wing” plane that looks more like a manta ray, with four aisles, no passenger windows, and a shape that the company says cuts fuel use by 30% compared to newer jets like the 787, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The concept isn’t new, but it’s never made it to market. NASA spent more than $1 billion researching blended-wing aircraft decades ago with Boeing, and Airbus studied a similar design before shelving it as impractical. Skeptics say that passengers seated in the wings could feel stronger G-forces during turns, the lack of windows could worsen motion sickness and the four-aisle layout raises unresolved questions about emergency evacuations.
Financing has been the biggest hurdle to the project. “The question’s a good one, is it real?” JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary said. And the answer is it will be soon. JetZero is targeting a first prototype flight by the end of 2027, having secured a $3 billion deal with the U.S. Export-Import Bank, with the agreement that they build their first factory in the U.S. Combined with prior $235 million backing from the Air Force, Northrop Grumman, RTX and roughly 20 airlines, the company says it has answers to the skeptics. It just has to take flight to prove them.
For decades, the default design for an airliner has been a long tube with wings. JetZero just landed a preliminary $3 billion deal from the US government to help build something really different: a “blended-wing” plane that looks more like a manta ray, with four aisles, no passenger windows, and a shape that the company says cuts fuel use by 30% compared to newer jets like the 787, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The concept isn’t new, but it’s never made it to market. NASA spent more than $1 billion researching blended-wing aircraft decades ago with Boeing, and Airbus studied a similar design before shelving it as impractical. Skeptics say that passengers seated in the wings could feel stronger G-forces during turns, the lack of windows could worsen motion sickness and the four-aisle layout raises unresolved questions about emergency evacuations.
Financing has been the biggest hurdle to the project. “The question’s a good one, is it real?” JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary said. And the answer is it will be soon. JetZero is targeting a first prototype flight by the end of 2027, having secured a $3 billion deal with the U.S. Export-Import Bank, with the agreement that they build their first factory in the U.S. Combined with prior $235 million backing from the Air Force, Northrop Grumman, RTX and roughly 20 airlines, the company says it has answers to the skeptics. It just has to take flight to prove them.
