JetZero


JetZero is a startup company in the aviation industry founded in Long Beach, California, in 2021. It focuses on blended wing body aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force, NASA, and a small group of private investors supplied the initial funding.
Tom O’Leary is a co-founder and the CEO. Mark Page is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer. The company announced it will invest $4.7 billion to build its first manufacturing plant near Piedmont Triad International Airport in Guilford County, North Carolina, which will produce its next-generation middle of the market passenger aircraft, the Z4, creating over 14,500 jobs.

History

In 2023, JetZero announced its Z4 project, designed to carry 250 passengers, targeting the middle-of-the-market category, to use existing Pratt & Whitney PW2040 engines. In August 2023, the U.S. Air Force announced a $235-million contract awarded over a four-year period to JetZero, culminating in first flight of the full-scale demonstrator by the first quarter of 2027. The goal of the contract is to demonstrate the capabilities of BWB technology, giving the Department of Defense and commercial industry more options for their future air platforms.
In January 2024 the company began moving into a space at Long Beach Airport formerly occupied by Gulfstream.
In March 2024 its Pathfinder 1:8 scale demonstrator received its airworthiness certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, clearing the aircraft for test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The Demonstrator aircraft is being built in partnership with Scaled Composites.
It will use the PW2040 engine.

Programs

  • Pathfinder;
  • The Z4, which is V-shaped. According to the manufacturer, the aircraft will be able to carry 250 passengers over a distance of more than 9,000 kilometers.