Zephyr Aerospace

Zephyr Aerospace is designing the future of air travel.

It’s created a lie-flat airline seat, called the “Zephyr Seat,” for Economy Class travelers.

Its patent-pending design offers the comfort and privacy of an individual cabin. Passengers can sit upright with their legs extended, sit in a lounge position, or lie completely flat. These seats also introduce a social distancing element to air travel.

Zephyr CEO Jeff O’Neill has experience running a business targeting the air travel industry. He founded flyClever, a platform helping travelers save on tickets.

Company advisor Paul Wylde is an award-winning designer responsible for several innovative airline products. He created the first lie-flat Business Class seat introduced by British Airways in 2000, and helped develop JetBlue Mint, voted the best premium class airline experience in North America.

By 2037, the International Air Transport Association projects that people will take 8 billion flights a year.

To accommodate these passengers, airlines are expected to invest $20 billion in new seating solutions. Airlines are already upgrading their seats as they become outdated. And the need for social distancing guidelines in the wake of Covid-19 will only increase the need for new seating configurations.

Despite this expected surge in passengers, air travel is unpleasant. Most airline seats haven’t changed since the 1970s. And 99% of all Economy Class seats are fixed upright and difficult to sleep in.

Travelers can move to Business Class, which often offers lie-flat seats. But upgrading is too expensive for most passengers. The price of an economy seat on a flight from New York to Hong Kong, for example, is $660. A Business Class seat on the same flight costs $4,800.

Airlines try and justify higher fares for this class by bundling perks like in-flight meals, lounge access, and extra baggage allowance. However, in a study conducted by Zephyr, 70% of travelers would trade those perks for the ability to lie flat and sleep.

Zephyr’s seats make sleeping on a flight comfortable. Here’s how:

The seats provide space to create a 78-inch lie-flat bed in a private setting. These seats retrofit to existing commercial aircraft, meaning airlines don’t need to purchase or build completely new planes.

To ensure airlines don’t lose seating capacity on each flight, Zephyr’s seats are installed using an innovative “stacked” configuration (think of a double-decker bus). In fact, this design increases seating capacity by 20% on long-haul aircraft. It also reduces airline costs by eliminating the need for the perks mentioned earlier.

Airlines can customize the seats based on their individual operational needs and brand imaging. They can also add upgrades to the seats, including memory foam, black-out curtains, and OLED displays.

Zephyr has provisional international patents filed for its seat design and utility.

A full technical and design feasibility study has been approved by leading aerospace engineers. And the company has secured a product development partnership with a reputable seat manufacturing business.

Zephyr has a partnership with award-winning aerospace design company Style & Design. And it’s in discussions with commercial airlines, seating manufacturers, and original equipment manufacturers to bring its seat to market.

Once available, Zephyr will sell its seats wholesale to commercial airlines and directly to consumers of private aircrafts.

Each seat will be priced at $30,000 to $40,000. This is 60% less than the average cost of a Business Class seat. The company estimates gross profit margins of between 30% and 40%, depending on the volume of seats sold.

With funds raised, Zephyr will aim to complete R&D so its seats achieve certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. It will also spend money on design and sales efforts.

Team Background

Paul Wylde - Advisor

Paul is an award-winning designer. He is responsible for recent product innovations in the airline industry.

He began his career with British Airways, where he introduced the first lie-flat seat in 2000. From there, he was a senior consultant with Interbrand, a marketing and advertising company.

After that, he was a creative director for BMW Group Designworks, where he led design strategy for automotive, transportation, and other Fortune 500 companies. He then held the same position with Imagination, a design company.

Paul has spent the last nine years as Founder and CEO of his own design company. He’s designed products for airline companies including JetBlue, Air Canada Rouge, Hawaiian Airlines, and JetSuiteX.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Product Design from Ravensbourne College and a Master’s in Design Management from The Glasgow School of Art.

Jeff O'Neill - Founder & CEO

Jeff has domain experience in the air travel industry.

Prior to starting Zephyr Aerospace, he co-founded The Black Book Travel, a platform for booking travel services. Before that, he founded flyClever, a similar platform that enables travelers to save on airfare.

Prior to flyClever, he co-founded Aivsel. This company works with airlines to identify travelers with flexible schedules and persuades them to change or sell their ticket to free up inventory on oversold flights.

Earlier in his career, Jeff was Managing Partner at Quantum Ventures, an investment consulting company. Before that, he was a marketing and sales director with Curso Sage, a computer software company.

He began his career as a foreign service assistant with the U.S. State Department. It was here that he was introduced to extensive air travel and the problems associated with long flights.

Jeff earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Boston University.

Sukhmen Nijjar - Marketing Advisor

In addition to his advisory duties, Sukhmen is the Founder of Nijjar Media, a company providing marketing strategy to brands.

Before starting this company, he worked in marketing for Rare Bits, an Internet services company. Prior to that, he worked in marketing for Turnitin, an information technology company.

He gained earlier marketing experience working for Bitglass, a computer software company, and Switchmate, a consumer electronics company.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California Davis.

Co-Investors