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This tiny electric jet startup thinks it can reinvent regional air travel
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Flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles can be a huge pain in the ass. You can expect to spend over $200 on your plane ticket, plus another five hours of traveling door-to-door thanks to traffic, security, and other headaches. This is the type of hassle-rich trip — short but overly expensive and overly complicated — that a new startup called Zunum Aero is aiming to reinvent.

The Kirkland, Washington-based company, which came out of stealth mode today, plans to build a fleet of hybrid electric jets to sell to major carriers for service on densely traveled regional routes like San Francisco to Los Angeles or Boston to Washington, DC. The company has received backing from Boeing and JetBlue Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of JetBlue Airways.

Lower operating costs (i.e., no fueling) will allow carriers to reduce fares by 40 to 80 percent, they predict. And by flying a smaller aircraft that would be subject to fewer TSA regulations, Zunum claims it will take less time to go through security before boarding one of its planes.

Zunum aims to build several models of hybrid-electric propulsion jets. At launch, its first class of aircraft will be tiny, in the 10–15 foot range, with a 10-passenger capacity and a range of up to 700 miles on a single charge. (Think San Francisco to Portland or Atlanta to DC.) Those planes can be expected to roll off the assembly line by the early 2020s, the company’s CEO Ashish Kumar told The Verge. By the 2030s, as electric battery technology improves, Zunum hopes to build larger aircraft that can carry up to 50 passengers and travel up to 1,000 miles on a single charge.

Good Idea!

MORE Good Ideas

launch by means of electric catapults.(like the navy does) By so doing they can be launched from many other places other than airports. There will be no runway needed and no noise pollution.
Land using 'arresting hooks' (like the navy does) By so doing they can be launched from many other places other than airports. There will be no runway needed and no noise pollution.
Use 'MotherShips' to taxi them long distances. It's NOT a new idea.

I like the idea of airships..but it need not be limited to them.
Something Like This Perhaps?

or

The MotherShips could stay airborne indefinitely, being refueled in flight (the most expensive part of flying is taking off. Landing is the most dangerous part, ..so it would be safer too.)..with a route that overflies every city. The small electric AirCraft could be on/off loaded at will. The mothership could fly HIGH...above all weather. Much safer that way.

Come to think, sea based is a GREAT idea.