Electric Aircraft Are Coming, Just Not as Soon As You Think
Photo Credit: Eviation's Alice aims to be one of the first electric planes certified by regulators. Eviation Aircraft / Jean-Marie Liot
Skift Take
Electric aircraft are an inevitable step for commercial aviation with the heightened focus on carbon emissions. Numerous companies are vying to develop this new technology but, with engines still in the works and a lengthy certification runway ahead, when is everyones' guess.
The march of progress is ceaseless, some say. Nowhere is that more true than aviation where technology has evolved dramatically since the first airline passengers boarded a KLM flight over a century ago.
Since just the beginning of the 21st century, the industry has seen the introduction of the first large composite aircraft, the Boeing 787, and ultra-long range twin-jets capable of connecting points as far apart as New York and Sydney nonstop have become de rigeur. And these feats have been accomplished more efficiently than any past airplane, with powerful, fuel sipping — at least compared to older models — engines.
“The technological advance that’s been done in the period of my career has been so huge — from flying aircraft built in World War II to flying jets,” Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group, told Skift. The regional carrier, which he joined for the first time in 1989, has evolved from an operator of primarily 19-seat props to an airlin
