JetZero Inc. announced plans Thursday to build its first manufactur
ing plant for a next-generation passenger jet in central North Carolina, a project that if successful would create more than 14,500 jobs there in a decade.
The California-based startup intends to build the factory at Green
boro’s airport, investing $4.7 billion. The planned hirings from 2027 thr
ough 2036 would be the largest job commitment in North Carolina history, according to Gov. Josh Stein.
The company previously identified Greensboro as one of three finalists for the factory to build its fixed-wing — also k
nown as all-wing or blended-wing — Z4 aircraft, which JetZero says will be up to 50% more fuel-efficient than traditional tube-and-wing airliners.
JetZero has said it’s already raised about $300 million toward inve
stment in the Z4 project, including a U.S. Air Force grant to build and fly a demonstrator model by 2027.
United Airlines and Alaska Airlines also are project investors and have made conditional purchase agreement
s for their fleets, the company said. JetZero aims for the planes to go
nto service in the early 2030s, with a goal of completing 20 airplanes per month at full production.
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Stein, on hand with JetZero executives and other officials for the formal announcement at Piedmont Triad I
nternational Airport in Greensboro, cited North Carolina’s robust aerospace indust
ry and the first manned powered flights at Kitty Hawk by the Wright brothers in 1903.
“North Carolina is the perfect location,” Stein said. “North Carolina was first in flight. We are also the future of flight.”
The jobs would pay minimum average salaries of more than $89,000, according to the state Department of Co
mmerce, which provided details of the project discussed earlier Thursday by a state committee that awards economic incentives.
State and local monetary and training incentives for JetZero and the project described at the committee meeti
ng could exceed $2.35 billion by the 2060s if investment and job-creation thresholds and other requirements are met.
A portion of state incentives awarded by the committee — more than $1 billion over 37 years — is based on a percentage of income taxes withheld from plant workers’ paychecks. The incentives also include up to $785 million from Guilford County and Greensboro and up to $450 million from the General Assembly in part to help with infrastructure, officials said. The project includes a research facility for composite structures.