United Airlines plans to use electric planes to fly routes 200 miles or less.
United Airlines has announced that it is aiming to have electric aircraft flying regional routes by the end of the decade.
“Initially we want to fly on routes that are 200 miles or less,” Mike Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, the carrier’s in-house venture capital arm, said, during a video interview with CNBC.
“We cannot continue doing and operating our business the way we do; it is imperative that we change it, and the way we’re going to change it is through investing in technology.
“Existing technology is going to either cause us to fly less, which is an unacceptable alternative, or continue with a carbon footprint, which we believe is equally unacceptable.”
United has partnered with Swedish start-up Heart Aerospace for the project, purchasing 100 battery-powered planes from the company last year.
Heart Aerospace, which recently redesigned what will be its first electric aircraft called the ES-30, plans to have the planes certified to fly by 2028, according to Anders Forslund, the company’s founder.
The planes will be able to recharge in less than 30 minutes, Forslund said, potentially reopening regional routes that are underserved by modern jet aircraft.
United Airlines is viewing Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Denver International Airport as key markets for the first batch of ES-30s.
“As we adopt electric aircraft, I think the cost for a 30-seat aircraft, 50-seat aircraft as the industry evolves is going to be lower cost than a traditional aircraft,” Leskinen said.
For small cities, this means they are “going to get either service that they didn’t have before or greater frequency of service,” he added.
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