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    1. Energy Efficiency

    JetZero Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft Designed to Save Delta 50% on Fuel

    March 12, 2025
    The BWB aircraft design was first tested and demonstrated in the 1990s by NASA and Stanford University. It also will be capable of using sustainable aviation fuel when it goes into service.
    Image credit JetZero/Delta
    67d1906f4fea326eaad065e6 Jetzeroexterior

    Delta Air Lines will partner with California-based aircraft designer JetZero to build a fuel-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) plane of the future that promises to reduce fuel use by about half.

    The JetZero design is a key part of the collaboration and is central to helping Delta reduce its costs through increased fuel savings and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The technology is expected to be up to 50% more fuel efficient as compared to the tube-and-wing designs.

    JetZero previously received a grant from the U.S. Air Force to build a full-scale demonstrator for first flight in 2027. Delta will play a crucial role in the development by providing the operational expertise to help make this technology possible.

    “JetZero is working to change the world by bringing to market an aircraft that aims to fly this decade and make immediate and marked progress toward reducing airline energy costs, and the associated emissions,” said Tom O’Leary, JetZero cofounder and CEO. “The ability to realize such significant efficiency gains in the near future meaningfully impacts the industry’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and will serve as the foundation on which other technologies and efficiencies can be realized.”

    The BWB aircraft design was first tested and demonstrated in the 1990s by NASA and Stanford University. It also will be capable of using sustainable aviation fuel when it goes into service, Delta reported. 

    JetZero is also a member of Delta’s Sustainable Skies Lab, which includes the maintenance and operational footprints to prove and accelerate the commercialization of the BWB airframe technology.

    It is Delta’s fourth fleet venture as outlined in the airline’s sustainability roadmap released in 2023.

    The airline will also help design an interior experience of the future to ensure a better customer and employee experience. The airframe, different from the current tube-and-wing shape and which looks almost upside down, is working to improve overhead bin space for each passenger, accessible seats and lavatories, and fewer rows.

    In another of its sustainability initiatives, Delta Air Lines deployed its all-electric catering truck earlier this year at Boston Logan International Airport. Called the first of its kind in North America, the International eMV is part of Delta's move to focus its electrification on ground support units.