Commercial, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  March 5, 2025

Delta Partners to Develop Fuel-Efficient Aircraft

Delta Air Lines entered a partnership to develop more sustainable aircraft that will also reduce emissions.

The airline is collaborating with JetZero, which has developed a more fuel-efficient blended-wing-body (BWB) design.

Delta's formal partnership with JetZero comes after the start-up received a grant from the U.S. Air Force in 2023 to help facilitate building 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 viable.

"Working with JetZero to realize an entirely new airframe and experience for customers and employees is bold and important work to advance the airline industry's fuel saving initiatives and innovation goals," said Amelia DeLuca, Delta's Chief Sustainability Officer, in a statement. "While Delta is focused on doing what we can today to address our carbon footprint, it's critical we also work with a variety of partners to advance revolutionary technologies, like JetZero's blended-wing-body aircraft, to solve for a significant portion of future aviation emissions."

JetZero plans to accelerate the commercialization of the BWB airframe technology, which is expected to be up to 50% more fuel efficient than the tube-and-wing designs customers experience currently.

The partnership with JetZero marks Delta's fourth "revolutionary fleet" partnership outlined in its Sustainability Roadmap launched in 2023, a plan by which Delta aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The U.S. Air Force's grant — coupled with support from partners such as Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites and ongoing coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration — provides more validation for major aviation stakeholders that the BWB design is a potential solution. Delta has informally partnered with JetZero since 2021 on how to best commercialize the aircraft as part of the start-up's grant application.

JetZero's BWB aircraft is up to 50% more fuel efficient than conventional tube-and-wing airframes on the market due to the design, which creates less drag, provides more lifting surface area, provides even load and lift distribution, is overall markedly lighter in weight and can utilize SAF to further decrease lifecycle carbon emissions. 

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