American Airlines places conditional order for 100 ZeroAvia hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft engines

American Airlines (AA) has agreed to buy 100 hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft engines from ZeroAvia and has also increased its investment in the company. This deal, however, is conditional and may not go through. The engines use fuel cells to generate electricity, which powers electric motors to turn the propellers of small regional planes.

The financial details of the investment and the conditions of the order have not been disclosed. ZeroAvia, based in the UK, is working on developing these engines for commercial aircraft and is currently testing a prototype for a 20-seat plane. They are also designing engines for larger planes like the 74-seat Bombardier CRJ700, which AA uses on some regional routes.

AA CEO Robert Isom said that investing in new technologies, such as alternative propulsion systems, is essential for transitioning to low-carbon commercial aviation. This move aims to speed up the development of these technologies and support AA’s commitment to sustainability.

This announcement comes shortly after the collapse of Universal Hydrogen, one of ZeroAvia’s major competitors in the hydrogen aviation sector, due to a lack of funding. ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov expressed that AA's investment supports their mission to innovate clean aircraft propulsion and indicates that ZeroAvia is progressing with their technology plans. The company hopes to get certification for its first powertrain for 20-seat planes by the end of next year and is also developing larger powertrains for 40-80 seat aircraft.

ZeroAvia has almost 2,000 pre-orders for engines from major global airlines, with a potential revenue of over $10 billion.