American Airlines
Fort Worth-based American Airlines will buy 100 hydrogen-electric engines from clean aviation innovator ZeroAvia, the airline announced.
The electric engines are intended to power regional jet aircraft with zero inflight emissions, except for water vapor.
In addition, American has increased its investment in ZeroAvia. American made its first investment in ZeroAvia in 2022 and has also now participated in the company’s Series C financing round. The engine agreement follows the Memorandum of Understanding the companies announced in 2022.
“Advancing the transition of commercial aviation to a low-carbon future requires investments in promising technologies, including alternate forms of propulsion,” said American’s CEO Robert Isom in a statement. “This announcement will help accelerate the development of technologies needed to power our industry and uphold our commitment to make American a sustainable airline so we can continue to deliver for customers for decades to come.”
ZeroAvia is developing hydrogen-electric (fuel cell-powered) engines for commercial aircraft, which offer the potential for close to zero inflight emissions. The company is flight testing a prototype for a 20-seat plane and designing an engine for larger aircraft such as the Bombardier CRJ700, which American operates on certain regional routes.
It is also working on a larger powertrain for 40-to-80-seat aircraft by 2027.
The investment and conditional commitment to purchase novel engine technology contribute to American’s aggressive goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. American has made industry-leading investments in sustainability, including finalizing an offtake agreement with Infinium, a producer of next-generation low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel, and becoming the first customer of Graphyte’s innovative and permanent carbon removal process.
“In signing this purchase agreement and furthering its investment, American is supporting our mission of innovation for clean aircraft propulsion and it is a good signal that ZeroAvia is delivering on our technology roadmap,” said ZeroAvia founder and CEO Val Miftakhov. “The solutions that can serve the largest airlines are within reach, and the clean future of flight is coming.”
Founded in California and now with teams in Everett, Washington, and the United Kingdom, ZeroAvia has secured experimental certificates to test its engines in three separate testbed aircraft with the FAA and CAA and passed significant flight test milestones.
The company has signed a number of key engineering partnerships with major aircraft OEMs and has nearly 2,000 pre-orders for engines from a number of the major global airlines, with future revenue potential over $10 billion, according to a press release.
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity, which is then used to power electric motors to turn the aircraft’s propellers. The only inflight emission is low-temperature water vapor, and the lower intensity electrical systems have the potential to offer significant cost savings.