Electric Planes: The Future of Air Travel?

United Airlines and Mesa Airlines are buying electric aircrafts from a Swedish startup, to make air travel more eco-friendly.

United ES-19. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

In July, United Airlines announced that they would be buying ES-19 planes. They plan on purchasing 100 of these 19 seat, zero emission planes from a Swedish company called Heart Aerospace. United plans on being able to use these planes by 2026. Since they can only carry a small amount of people, these planes would be used mostly for short distance flights. They have routes planned from their major hubs, such as from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Purdue University Airport and another route from San Francisco International Airport to Modesto City-County Airport. Heart Aerospace claims that around 4% of emissions around the world come from flights that are less than 200 kilometers (124 miles), and 9% are from flights less than 400 kilometers (250 miles). Using electric planes for these shorter distances would be beneficial in lowering these emissions, which is United Airlines’ plan. They have a goal to reduce 100% of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. They also want to achieve this without using the traditional carbon offsets, which are projects for reducing a person’s carbon footprint. These offsets are projects like planting a certain number of trees, improved forest management or capturing greenhouse gas emissions coming from a landfill. There are online calculators that calculate how much carbon dioxide a person is producing by going on a plane somewhere and estimating how much they need to do to cancel it out. United Airlines’ goal is to significantly reduce their carbon emissions without resorting to projects like these. 

They are not, however, the only airline that wants to reduce their emissions. Mesa Airlines, a regional American airline, has partnered with them and has purchased the same amount of ES-19s. The CEO of Mesa Airlines, Jonathan Ornstein, has spoken about the opportunities of the electric aircrafts and that it should cost less to operate. Some areas are too small and too close to large cities to have flights, but they  can operate profitably with electric planes.Since these electric planes are so small and will cost less to operate, it can become a viable method of transportation to these smaller cities, making it easier to bring people into these areas. 

Heart Aerospace, the company manufacturing the ES-19s, believes that electric aircrafts are the solution to lowering carbon emissions caused by air travel. Those emissions make up around 2% of global emissions overall, and by 2050, that number is expected to increase to between 12%-27%, and eliminating the emissions caused from short distance flights with electric planes can prevent that. Since the planes are small, they can use small runways that are more common in smaller cities, and it will be beneficial to them as it will be easier for people to travel. Also, like Ornstein said, the planes will be much cheaper to maintain as the electric motors reduce the cost of maintenance by 90%, and fuel costs will decrease between 50%-70%.

Beyond Heart Aerospace, there are other companies developing electric planes. Wright Electric is one of them, and they are developing a 100 seater plane to be released in 2026. They are also developing one that will have 186 seats and will be able to fly 800 miles, but that is estimated to be completed in 2030. Many other companies are researching electric aviation, as they believe it to be the future of air travel. Even NASA has been researching this, having developed and begun flying their X-57 electric airplane. Airline companies are conscious of their large environmental impact, and many large ones have agreed to participate in the UN’s plan to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The use of electric aircrafts would help these companies a lot in reaching this goal, and because of this, the Swiss Bank USB believes that by 2035, a quarter of air travel will be electric.

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Katherine Lim

Katherine Lim is an undergraduate student at Vassar College studying English literature and Italian. She loves both reading and writing, and she hopes to pursue both in the future. With a passion for travel and nature, she wants to experience more of the world and everything it has to offer.

Trump Administration Suspends Private Charter Flights to Cuba

On Aug. 13, the United States Department of Transportation suspended nearly all charter flights between the U.S. and Cuba. The announcement comes five months after the Trump administration suspended charter flights to any airport on the island aside from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

Under the order, only a handful of public charter flights will be authorized to fly between Havana and the U.S., as well as flights authorized in relation to emergency medical assistance, search and rescue and “other travel deemed to be in the interest of the United States.”

In a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained that the measures are being taken as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts against the Maduro administration in Venezuela.

“To … strengthen the economic pressure on the Cuban regime as a means to restrict the regime’s ability to repress its people and support the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela … I respectfully request that the Department of Transportation suspend until further notice all charter flights between the United States and all airports in Cuba over which the Department of Transportation exercises jurisdiction, except for authorized public charters to and from Havana, and other authorized charter flights for emergency medical purposes, search and rescue and other travel deemed to be in the interest of the United States,” Pompeo wrote.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel responded to the announcement in a tweet condemning the new policy.

“The United States has suspended all charter flights: a measure which will isolate more Cuban families,” Diaz-Canel wrote in Spanish. “[This] continues hostile rhetoric, a resurgence of the blockade, and hate and scorn against Cubans.”

Proponents of the decision like Mercedes Schlapp, a Cuban-American who is currently working on President Trump’s reelection campaign, argue that while the measure will further restrict travel to the island, it will not prohibit Cuban-Americans from visiting family members.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Cuban-Americans can continue to visit their families while the United States continues to hold the regime in Havana and its allies in Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua accountable,” Schlapp said in a statement in Spanish to CiberCuba.

However, opponents of the decision argue that the policy only furthers the separation of families on the part of both the Trump and Diaz-Canel administrations.

“This action only helps the Cuban regime to continue separating families - a tactic the Trump administration has disturbingly embraced,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden for President, stated in a press release. “Make no mistake: this is a cynical, cruel and calculated political decision, but with real, human consequences.”

Historically, the United States has maintained a standard of limited travel to Cuba. Beginning in 1963 under the Kennedy administration, travel to the island nation was prohibited for most Americans.

These restrictions, as well as the ongoing embargo against the island, began to be lifted under the Obama administration. In March 2016, President Obama announced that the Department of Transportation would allow U.S. citizens to travel to the island under a “People to People” visa, a policy which saw numerous airlines and American businesses begin working in the country. Obama notably traveled to the country to meet with then-President Raul Castro, the first time a sitting U.S. president had visited Cuba in 88 years.

This policy was reversed only three years later by the Trump administration. In June 2019, Trump removed the “People to People” visa and banned all cruise ships, private yachts and fishing boats from docking in the country.

These restrictions were further tightened later that year when Trump suspended all commercial flights to any Cuban airport aside from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. This was done in an attempt to reinforce the long-standing tourism embargo.

Prior to last week’s charter flight suspension, the Trump administration had imposed an annual limit of 3,600 charter flights beginning on June 1, 2020, which would only be allowed to land in the nation’s capital city.

Experts believe that these increasingly restrictive policies are being made in an effort to help Trump win Florida, a swing state which contains a large Cuban-American population and has recently polled in favor of Joe Biden. However, it is unclear whether this new policy will have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the November general election.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.