Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations

Cassidy, Emma; Mokotoff, Paul R.; Deng, Yilin; Ikeda, Michael; Kirsch, Kathryn; Li, Max Z.; Cinar, Gokcin

doi:10.3390/aerospace12070598

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Open AccessArticle

Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations

by

Emma Cassidy

^1,†,

Paul R. Mokotoff

^1,†

,

Yilin Deng

¹,

Michael Ikeda

²,

Kathryn Kirsch

²,

Max Z. Li

¹

and

Gokcin Cinar

^1,*

¹

Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 1320 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

²

RTX Corporation, Hartford, CT 06108, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Aerospace 2025, 12(7), 598; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070598

Submission received: 4 June 2025 / Revised: 27 June 2025 / Accepted: 28 June 2025 / Published: 30 June 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electric Power Systems and Components for All-Electric Aircraft (2nd Edition))

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Abstract

This study evaluates the feasibility and benefits of introducing battery-powered hybrid electric aircraft (HEA) into regional airline operations. Using 2019 U.S. domestic flight data, the ERJ175LR is selected as a representative aircraft, and several HEA variants are designed to match its mission profile under different battery technologies and power management strategies. These configurations are then tested across over 800 actual daily flight sequences flown by a regional airline. The results show that well-designed HEA can achieve 3–7% fuel savings compared to conventional aircraft, with several variants able to complete all scheduled missions without disrupting turnaround times. These findings suggest that HEA can be integrated into today’s airline operations, particularly for short-haul routes, without the need for major infrastructure or scheduling changes, and highlight opportunities for future co-optimization of aircraft design and operations.

Keywords: electrified aircraft design; electrified aircraft operations; airline operations; fleet planning

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cassidy, E.; Mokotoff, P.R.; Deng, Y.; Ikeda, M.; Kirsch, K.; Li, M.Z.; Cinar, G. Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations. Aerospace 2025, 12, 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070598

AMA Style

Cassidy E, Mokotoff PR, Deng Y, Ikeda M, Kirsch K, Li MZ, Cinar G. Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations. Aerospace. 2025; 12(7):598. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070598

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cassidy, Emma, Paul R. Mokotoff, Yilin Deng, Michael Ikeda, Kathryn Kirsch, Max Z. Li, and Gokcin Cinar. 2025. "Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations" Aerospace 12, no. 7: 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070598

APA Style

Cassidy, E., Mokotoff, P. R., Deng, Y., Ikeda, M., Kirsch, K., Li, M. Z., & Cinar, G. (2025). Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations. Aerospace, 12(7), 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12070598

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Design to Deployment: Flight Schedule-Based Analysis of Hybrid Electric Aircraft Variants in U.S. Regional Carrier Operations

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