Cooperative Living November/December 2018 - 25

CloserLook | by Kaley Lockwood, Contributing Writer
The electric airplane may be landing
soon in a town near you
N
o industry is immune from the
threat of disruptive technologies.
New companies are creating
innovative variations of products and services
that build upon previous models to offer more
savings in cost and time. As a result, people
are flocking to these technologies simply
because they improve their lives. A prime
example is the electric airplane.
Zunum Aero is an aviation startup, backed
by Boeing and JetBlue, that found a niche in
short-haul transportation. Founded in 2013,
this Washington-state company expects to roll
out its 12-passenger, hybrid-electric planes by
the early 2020s. Just like a hybrid car, the
airplane will rely on both batteries and a
petrol-fueled engine to fly. The forwardthinking
company also recognizes that
battery energy storage capacity is advancing
quite rapidly and eventually, the airplanes
are expected to be fully electric.
The early Zunum Aero planes will be able to
travel an estimated 720 miles from take-off to
landing, which is roughly a trip from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, to New York. By 2030, they're
expected to achieve flight distances of more
than 1,000 miles. Nevertheless, the startup
company believes that the majority
of trips will be much shorter,
which will reduce fares
between 40 and
80 percent.
According
to the
company's website,
zunum.aero, the cost of a flight from Memphis
to New Orleans would drop from $240 to $126.
The price reduction is a result of a variety of
different economic factors. As expected, the
planes use less fuel, which equals cost savings.
The time it takes to fuel the aircraft is also
reduced, which means quicker turnaround for
the planes. Time equals money. The smaller
airports are also significantly less congested
with planes and people. For the Memphis to
New Orleans trip, estimated door-to-door time
for a passenger would be reduced from 5 hours
and 28 minutes to 2 hours and 17 minutes.
co-opliving.com
Convenience and affordability are key to
Zunum Aero's success.
This goal of efficient, regional travel will
shake up the airline industry when it comes to
fruition. Zunum Aero poses that there are
13,500 under-utilized airports in the United
States. Of these 13,500 airports, just 1 percent
service roughly 96 percent of all air traffic.
This means that the smaller, regional airports,
built when air travel first boomed, have been
largely left behind as air traffic concentrated
to regional hubs like Atlanta and Dallas.
The company's co-founders, Matt Knapp and
Ashish Kumar, hope to leverage these smaller
airports, avoid congestion of large airports and
use their planes to connect communities
across America. With greater mobility
comes greater connection.
For more information, visit
zunum.aero. 
People are flocking
to these technologies
simply because they
improve their lives.
A prime example is
the electric airplane.
Kaley Lockwood writes on consumer and
cooperative affairs for the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association, the national
trade association representing more than 900
local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs
to remote farming communities, electric co-ops
serve as engines of economic development for
42 million Americans across 56 percent of the
nation's landscape.
Zunum Aero, an aviation startup backed
by Boeing and JetBlue, expects to roll
out its 12-passenger hybrid-electric
planes by the early 2020s. The
startup company plans to offer
lower fares and shorter
flights, and use smaller,
regional airports rather
than regional hubs.
November-December 2018 | Cooperative Living | 23
TOUCHSTONE ENERGY PHOTO
ZUNUM AERO PHOTO
http://www.zunum.aero http://www.zunum.aero http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living November/December 2018

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