Otto Aerospace’s new business jet has no traditional passenger windows and a tear-drop-shaped cabin. Private-jet company Flexjet wants hundreds of them.
The companies said Monday that Flexjet signed a contract to buy 300 of Otto’s Phantom 3500 aircraft. Flexjet’s order would be worth approximately $5.85 billion based on market pricing for each jet, though the companies declined to comment on the negotiated value of their deal.
Flexjet will be Otto’s first fleet customer. The aircraft is in development, with its first flight targeted for 2027.
Otto’s Phantom 3500, which seats nine passengers, is lined with digital panes that display a virtual view of the outdoors, a feature that Chief Executive Paul Touw calls “supernatural vision.”
Touw said that the plane’s design helps cut fuel burn by 60% compared with other jets of similar size. That could help make private flights cheaper over time than seats in an airline’s business class, he added.
The plane’s virtual windows are powered by high-resolution cameras fixed to the outside of the aircraft. The lack of windows makes for a lighter aircraft, Otto said, and the smoother exterior allows the plane to be more aerodynamic.
The company said the digital displays inside the cabin will be 6 feet wide and provide a color-enhanced, panoramic view of what’s around the jet.
“You no longer have to lean over and look out the window,” he said. “You could sit in our seat and look at the entire world around you…it is surreal.”
The companies said the digitized windows will be compelling to consumers, especially Gen Z travelers who are more technologically savvy.
Ohio-based Flexjet leases and sells fractional ownership of private jets to individuals and Fortune 500 companies. It has been looking to build out its fleet as more wealthy Americans look to fly private.
Flexjet is fresh off an $800 million investment led by private-equity firm L Catterton, and has catered to a luxury clientele with invite-only Napa Valley wine tastings and philanthropic events. It has a fleet of roughly 340 jets and is valued above $4 billion.
Otto has so far raised $250 million in fundraising from private investors. It is building the Phantom 3500 in Jacksonville, Fla., with the help of a $515 million incentive package from the state. Otto is targeting delivery by 2030.
The company built its first full-size mock-up of the plane recently for an industry conference. The cabin is 22-feet long and 7.5-feet wide.
Touw said that since the model requires less fuel storage, the aircraft can be smaller, reducing manufacturing costs.
Otto aims to use revenue from sales of the Phantom jet to build a larger, regional aircraft with a similar aerodynamic design, the Otto CEO said. Meanwhile, he is focused on the business-jet market, which he valued at $43 billion a year.
“Everybody’s running around all excited about Firefly and SpaceX and Rocket Lab,” Touw said. “The market for moving wealthy people around the world every day is actually much bigger than the market for moving stuff into space.”