Boeing and JetBlue are betting big on the electric plane startup Zunum Aero. Here's how the aviation giants are helping the company take off.

• Zunum Aero is a Kirkland, Washington-based electric plane start-up.
• The company's two most prominent backers are Boeing and JetBlue.
• Zunum is working with both of its major backers to get their plane flying.
• Zunum's ZA10 12-seat regional plane will debut with a hybrid-electric drive system before moving to a fully-electric layout as battery technology improves.
• Safran's Ardiden 3 turboshaft engine has been selected to power the ZA10 hybrid system's power generator.

Zunum Aero's mission is simple, revolutionize regional travel with small, efficient electric-powered passenger planes.

The Kirkland, Washington-based start-up claims its upcoming ZA10 12-seat regional aircraft can cut door-to-door travel times for trips of less than 1,000 miles by more than half. To achieve this, Zunum aims to take advantage of a network of more than 5,000 secondary and general aviation airports around the country.

The company is determined to start flying as soon as possible.

On Thursday, Zunum took another step towards taking to the skies as it announced that Safran's Ardiden 3 turboshaft engine has been selected to power the ZA10 hybrid drive system's electric generator. Zunum's planes will debut with a hybrid-electric drive system before moving to a fully-electric layout as battery technology improves.

"The selection of the powerplant is one of the most critical milestones and it anchors the program," Zunum Aero CEO Ashish Kumar told Business Insider.

The company is on track to begin flight testing of its innovative drive system on existing airframes in 2019 with certification of the technology expected in 2021 or early 2022, Kumar said. The full airframe with the hybrid electric drive system won't fly until 2020 or 2021.

To help get the ball rolling, Zunum has enlisted the help of its two biggest investors, Boeing and Jetblue Airways.

The four-year-old start-up burst onto the scene in April 2017 when it announced funding from their respective venture capital arms; Boeing HorizonX and JetBlue Technology Ventures.

"I consider us very fortunate to have backers like JetBlue and Boeing," Kumar told Business Insider at the time of the launch. "We have been engaged with both companies for about a year, and both are as passionate as we are in this opportunity to reinvent regional air travel."

In a recent interview, the Zunum CEO gave Business Insider an update on the role Boeing and JetBlue are playing in his company's development.

"JetBlue, as an airline, is very helpful downstream from a marketing standpoint as well as engaging with other airlines," Kumar said in a recent interview.

Kumar also credits JetBlue with helping his firm land JetSuite as the ZA10's launch customer. In October 2017, JetSuite placed an order for 100 aircraft for its JetSuiteX regional airline.

"Out JetSuite launch customer is an example of the value we get from working with JetBlue," he said.

JetSuite was founded by former JetBlue executive Alex Wilcox. Since 2016, JetBlue has also been an investor in JetSuiteX.

And then there's Boeing. According to Kumar, the Chicago-based aviation giant has been helpful in getting the start-up off the ground.

"Boeing is very helpful around the development of the airframe itself," he said. "As we now are moving towards our key airframe milestones, we are engaging with them much more directly in the areas of expertise Boeing has which is around metal structure, composite structure, aircraft systems, and the aircraft program overall."

In addition, Boeing has helped Zunum assemble the right people to make its innovative plane happen.

"They've helped us in very targeted ways even in things like hiring and building our teams, attracting the right talent," Kumar told us.

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