SEATTLE _ Zunum Aero, a Seattle-area startup that's won funding from both Boeing and the state of Washington, aims to begin small but grow fast. It says it will flight test its first nine-seat hybrid-electric plane just two years from now.
The company as yet has no hardware to show the world, only ambitious plans and alluring illustrations. It also has a Silicon Valley-style pitch.
At Zunum's headquarters, Chief Executive Ashish Kumar _ a former Google and Microsoft senior executive with a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering _ insists his small electric planes will open up aviation to more travelers.
Existing planes of this size, such as the Wichita, Kan.-built Beechcraft King Air or the Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12, today are flown by city-to-city commuter airlines that typically serve lucrative short-hop routes _ say San Francisco to Los Angeles _ and by operators offering on-demand air-taxi service.
They serve mainly business executives who like to fly out of small airports to avoid the security and logistical delays of major commercial airline travel.
Kumar says Zunum's battery-powered plane will open up this aviation sector by dramatically lowering the cost of operating such planes. He cites $250 per flight hour, compared with $600 to $1,000 and up per flight hour on similarly sized nonelectric planes.
"It will give rise to a much more distributed air system, where smaller to midsize planes fly to many more airports than have service today," Kumar said.
