Heart Aerospace redesigns its hybrid plane for 36 seats as JSX commits to 50

Why it matters

JSX's deposit-backed agreement gives Heart a firmer customer commitment for its redesigned aircraft, but certification, delivery timing and the claimed cost advantage remain unproven.

Heart Aerospace is led by founder and CEO Anders Forslund. Heart Aerospace unveiled a redesigned 36-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft on September 23rd as JSX agreed to buy 50 of the planes. The agreement also gives JSX purchase rights for 50 more, according to Reuters.

Forslund came to aircraft electrification through aerospace research, not airline operations. He earned a doctorate in aerospace product development, worked at Chalmers University of Technology on an electric-aviation research project, and spent time at MIT studying aerospace components, according to his CNBC Events biography. In a founder interview with EQT Ventures, he described the founding idea as a bet that electrification, already advancing in cars and drones, could reshape short-haul aviation. CNBC Events says Forslund founded Heart in 2018 with Klara Andreasson.

The new aircraft, called the ES-36, is the latest change in the product Heart is trying to bring to market. Heart first developed a 19-seat all-electric concept, then replaced it with the 30-seat ES-30 hybrid design in 2022. The ES-36 keeps the hybrid approach and adds six seats. Heart says the redesign raises payload capacity by 20%, according to Reuters.

A stronger commitment, with the same long runway

JSX's agreement is deposit-backed, a step beyond its 2023 letter of intent for 50 ES-30 aircraft and purchase rights for 50 more. The companies did not disclose the deposit, aircraft prices, or other financial terms. The agreement puts a customer commitment behind the redesigned plane, while leaving the value and conditions of that commitment unclear.

A purchase commitment still leaves Heart with years of testing and certification before JSX can put the aircraft into service. Heart is building its first pre-production ES-36 at its Los Angeles facility. It targets a first flight in the second half of 2028 and entry into service in 2031, after certification by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Reuters.

Heart's X1 demonstrator completed its first flight in August 2026. Heart describes X1 as a development platform for the ES-30, so the flight advances aircraft design and testing but does not demonstrate the redesigned ES-36's performance. Heart still has to move from a demonstrator to a certified production aircraft on its announced schedule, as the company reported.

The planned aircraft combines battery-electric flight with gas-turbine-powered generators. Heart says it can fly up to 125 miles on battery power alone and up to 745 miles in hybrid mode. The figures are design specifications; commercial operating performance remains unproven. Heart also claims operating costs 40% below conventional regional aircraft, including the Bombardier CRJ-550. The agreement's undisclosed financial terms offer no basis for assessing the economics JSX expects from the aircraft, according to Reuters.

JSX's operating model gives the order a clear use case: the Dallas-based public charter carrier flies regional routes from private terminals. Heart is aiming at short-haul service connecting smaller airports, where a lower-cost aircraft could support routes that are difficult to serve economically with conventional regional planes. Reuters also reported that Virginia-based Electra is developing a nine-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft, a smaller proposition aimed at the same broad short-haul market.

The bet behind the redesign

Heart has spent years adjusting the size and configuration of its aircraft as it tries to make electric propulsion work for commercial routes. The ES-36's additional seats could spread operating costs over more passengers, but Heart's claimed 20% payload gain and 40% cost reduction remain company figures. The aircraft's capacity, range and operating cost will have to hold up through testing, certification and airline operations before JSX can judge the plane as a fleet investment.

Heart has had strategic airline backers during that development. Its February 2024 Series B raised $107 million, taking reported financing to $145 million at the time. Heart's funding announcement named Air Canada, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the European Innovation Council Fund, EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Norrsken VC, Sagitta Ventures, United Airlines and Y Combinator among its investors. Those investors help fund the engineering and certification work; the JSX agreement adds a potential operating customer to that picture.

For Forslund, the core thesis remains that electrification can change the cost and reach of regional flying. The ES-36 makes that thesis more ambitious in passenger capacity while keeping a hybrid system for longer routes. JSX's deposit-backed agreement gives Heart a firmer commercial milestone than its earlier letter of intent. The harder milestone remains ahead: delivering an aircraft that passes certification and earns its place in JSX's schedule by 2031.