EasyJet gaining competitive advantage with electric aircraft
EasyJet is striving to promote sustainable aviation and minimize its environmental impact by putting its weight behind the development of electric passenger airplanes by the US startup Wright Electric. EasyJet will gain a competitive advantage over other airlines that fail to act on a key insight Tweet This!: an increasing number of businesses (and individuals) wish to reduce their environmental impacts, and are doing so by Identifying > Measuring > Managing and Changing with the use of the GRI Standards – the gold standard for sustainability reporting (80% of the world’s 250 largest companies conduct sustainability reporting using the GRI Standards). Additionally, not having to pay a high price for airline fuel and lower operation and maintenance costs will lead to a lower price for customers. EasyJet emphasized that this is the first time we can visualize a future without jet fuel and that the company is excited to be part of it. Therefore, the question is not whether a short-haul electric aircraft will fly or not, but when it will fly.
Wright Electric has already developed a two-seat electric plane. According to EasyJet’s CEO, Carolyn McCall, the aviation industry will start looking at the electrical technology alternative, to minimize its environmental impact. Wright Electric’s main goal is to achieve zero emissions for every short flight within 20 years. On the other hand, EasyJet wants to launch the electric planes within 10 to 20 years for its short-haul destinations.
Wright Electric and EasyJet are planning to manufacture a battery-powered aircraft that will be able to fly 335 miles. The projected battery-powered aircraft will be expected to cover popular destinations, such as Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Glasgow and Edinburg, and have the capacity to carry up to 220 passengers. Wright Electric has proven that electric aircraft can achieve remarkable fuel savings, compared to conventional aircraft.
Investing in research, technology and innovation will enable airlines to develop energy-efficient alternatives. As a result, airlines will reduce their environmental impact, endorsing the vision of a more sustainable aviation industry and gaining an important competitive advantage.
References:
1) This article was compiled using information from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41404039 and https://weflywright.com/. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the video’s and webinar’s meaning. If you would like to quote these sources from the original, please watch the video and the webinar, as seen above.
2) http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41404039
3) http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39350058
4) https://weflywright.com/2017/04/09/wright-weekly-weport-apr-9-2017/
5) https://weflywright.com/2017/04/02/wright-weekly-weport-apr-2-2017/