Boeing and NASA partner with Alaska and other airlines on eco-friendly X-66A aircraft

Alan Boyle
Tue, July 25, 2023 

An artist’s conception shows the planned livery for the X-66A research aircraft. (Boeing Illustration)

Boeing and NASA say they’ll collaborate with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines and four other major airlines on the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which aims to put Boeing’s innovative X-66 braced-wing aircraft design through flight tests in the 2028-2029 time frame.

The X-66A makes use of a concept known as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, or TTBW, which features ultra-long, ultra-thin, drag-reducing wings that are stabilized by diagonal struts.

The demonstrator aircraft will also incorporate parallel advancements in propulsion systems, materials and system architecture. When all those factors are combined, the single-aisle X-66A should reduce fuel requirements and carbon emissions by up to 30% relative to today’s domestic airplane fleet.


In January, NASA announced that it would invest $425 million in the project over the course of seven years under the terms of a Space Act Agreement. Boeing and its partners would contribute the remainder of the funding covered by the agreement, estimated at about $725 million.

Under the partnership announced today during the EAA Adventure Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin, Boeing will receive input relating to operational efficiencies, maintenance, handling characteristics and airport compatibility from Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

The X-66A demonstrator aircraft is an MD-90 airliner that’s undergoing modifications at a Boeing facility in Palmdale, Calif. Airline operations and management teams will have a chance to assess the airplane while it’s being modified. Airline pilots will be able to check the X-66A’s handling characteristics virtually, using a flight simulator.

Eventually, the innovations pioneered by the X-66A are expected to become incorporated into the designs for future commercial airliners.

Fashion statements for electric airplanes

An artist’s conception shows the planned liveries for the hybrid electric demonstrator aircraft being developed by GE Aerospace and magniX with funding from NASA. (NASA Illustration)

Boeing and NASA unveiled the livery for the X-66A today at EAA Adventure, but that wasn’t the only sneak peek provided in Oshkosh. GE Aerospace and Everett, Wash.-based magniX showed off the paint schemes for the hybrid electric aircraft they plan to fly as part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project.

MagniX is partnering with Seattle-based AeroTEC and Canada’s Air Tindi to test its hybrid electric powertrain on a modified DeHavilland Dash 7 airplane in Moses Lake, Wash. In 2021, NASA awarded $74.3 million to magniX to support development of the powertrain.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati-based GE Aerospace is working with Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing subsidiary, to develop a megawatt-class powertrain for a modified Saab 340B demonstrator aircraft. GE received a $179 million award from NASA for the project.

NASA is targeting at least two flight demonstrations within the next five years, with the intention of helping to bring electrified aircraft propulsion systems to the U.S. commercial fleet in the 2030-2035 time frame.
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