Quantum XYZ, a Los Angeles-based air-taxi start-up, has agreed to purchase 22 electrically powered fixed-wing, four-seat eFlyer 4 aircraft manufactured by Bye Aerospace, as well as four of its two-seat eFlyer 2s. Quantum XYZ also committed to buying two units of a further electric aircraft that Bye Aerospace (Denver Centennial) currently has in development.
Denver-based Bye Aerospace revealed in a statement dated August 21 that Quantum XYZ had signed a purchase deposit agreement for the eFlyers but no delivery dates were specified. Bye Aerospace is currently completing the critical design review for the eFlyers and expects to achieve Part 23 certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the eFlyer 2 in 2021, and then the eFlyer 4 in 2022.
“One of Quantum’s goals is to disrupt aviation, providing more accessible, cost-efficient, high-speed air transportation solutions - including FAA Part 135 on-demand air taxi travel - to help alleviate the noise and CO2 emissions challenges that accompany traditional internal combustion aircraft,” said George Bye, chief executive of Bye Aerospace.
Quantum’s new fleet of eFlyers will “finally make point-to-point air travel widely available,” added Tony Thompson, Quantum XYZ's CEO.
The relationship between the two companies will be cemented by Bye joining Quantum’s board of advisers, the statement said.
In 2018, Quantum reached a tentative agreement to buy an unspecified number of SureFly two-seat hybrid eVTOL aircraft designed by Cincinnati-based truck manufacturer Workhorse Group, in a deal valued at USD2 million at the time. However, Workhorse is reportedly trying to sell the programme, according to Aviation International News.
