✈️United's Game-Changer: The Future of Flying Wing Jets!

Last week, we wrote about the Overture, a supersonic airliner scheduled to enter service in 2029. One of the airlines that has already placed advance orders for the jet is United, but it’s not stopping with the Overture. United is investing billions in new aircraft, with revolutionary new designs and technologies. Business Insider recently told us of United’s new “blended-wing” design that “could be the future of commercial aviation.”

The U.S. Air Force has been utilizing the “flying wing” design for its most advanced aircraft, going back to experimental turboprop and jet aircraft after World War II. Today’s B-2 bomber owes its design heritage to those earlier planes. United’s take on the design is even more advanced.

The blended-wing body combines the fuselage and wing into one. The Air Force has found that the design reduces drag by up to 30 percent, which translates to a significant improvement in fuel consumption, so much so that these airlines could wind up burning only half as much fuel as a similar-sized “tube and wing” design that’s been used by commercial airliners for decades.

Last month, United announced plans to buy up to 200 of the 250-passenger aircraft, known as the Z4, from the California-based aerospace startup JetZero. The company intends to compete with Airbus and Boeing, which are also designing blended-wing aircraft. JetZero flew a prototype of the Z4 last year and hopes to have its first commercial flight in 2030. The company plans to fly a full-sized demonstrator model three years before that and says it will meet United’s operational and business requirements on things like cost, fuel burn and safety.

The new design will allow for some significant changes inside the aircraft, too. Andrew Chang, the managing director of United Airlines Ventures, said the design could create a “living room in the sky.” Everything about the customer experience, from boarding to seating to deplaning, could be reinvented.

The design combines the wings and fuselage into a single lifting surface, allowing for a dramatically wider cabin, with a dozen or more seats per row. The aircraft will be shorter than traditional dual-aisle planes, so instead of 20-30 rows of seats, there will be only 10-15. There will be more aisles to navigate the cabin, and up to four entry doors, improving efficiency for boarding and deplaning. Economy and premium seats would have Starlink Wifi and media, creating the living-room-like vibe.

JetZero’s competitor, Natilus, has its own blended-wing aircraft under development. The 200-passenger Horizon could accommodate lounge or playroom areas, offsetting the potential issue of longer rows providing fewer window seats. These new jets will also be quieter, and each individual passenger seat would have its own overhead storage bin. (Imagine, no more searching for space for your carry-on! Sign me up!)

JetZero’s Z4 will have a nonstop range of over 5,700 miles, using conventional jet engines and traditional or sustainable aviation fuel. It will replace the airline’s midsize planes like the Boeing 757 and 767. The Z4, flying the same route from Newark to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, as those current aircraft, would use 45% less fuel. Chang says United believes strongly in JetZero. “We believe it’s a game-changer. This is a different way to reinvent aviation.”

As technology advances, so does innovation in the airline industry as well as everywhere else. We can’t wait to see what’s coming! Give us a call, and we’ll help you get out there, too!

  Sue Tindell