Jessi Rae Morton, News Editor  

On June 12, 2025, the aerospace start-up JetZero and North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced that the company “will invest more than $4.7 billion in Greensboro to build its first commercial airplane manufacturing facility at the Piedmont Triad International Airport,” according to a post from the Governor’s Press Office. The facility is expected to create more than 14,000 jobs in Guilford County, making it “the largest economic development project in North Carolina history based on job commitment.” JetZero will join existing tenants such as Honda Aircraft Co. and Boom Supersonic, which “completed construction of the Overture Super factory in Greensboro, North Carolina in June 2024,” according to Grant Holve’s report for Flight Plan. 

Despite the excitement surrounding the JetZero announcement, there is still a long way to go. The project will create 14,000 jobs by 2063, according to the Governor’s Press Office, or within the next decade, according to a report by Chris Burritt for Business North Carolina. JetZero’s page about Governor Stein’s remarks also clarifies that construction is not expected to start until 2026. 

The new JetZero manufacturing facility will be on 600 acres adjacent to the Piedmont Triad International Airport. According to Burritt’s report, the PTI Airport continues to expand and has additional land available for development. Kevin Baker, executive director of the airport’s authority, feels confident that other “suppliers of aircraft accessories are likely to locate in the vicinity of the airport.” 

Interest in projects like this at the Piedmont Triad International Airport seems to have increased in 2022 when Boom Supersonic announced that their own manufacturing facility would be located in Greensboro. In his report for Business North Carolina, though, Burritt points out that “As local and state economic recruiters have acknowledged, JetZero and Boom are still unproven since neither has assembled a plane.” 

Boom Supersonic has completed several test flights, including one that broke the sound barrier on January 28, 2025, according to a report by Maureen O’Hare for CNN. According to O’Hare’s report, Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator aircraft “has now completed 12 successful test flights since it first took to the air in March 2024 [and] is the precursor to the development of Boom’s supersonic commercial airliner, Overture.” JetZero, on the other hand, has not flown yet. According to a report by Hanneke Weitering for AIN, “JetZero’s first full-scale technology demonstrator [is] expected to make its first flight in 2027.” 

Kevin Baker also commented on this concern in his conversation with Burritt, saying, “There’s a risk with any startup in any business, and this is a very highly technical, complicated business. But they have good plans. They’re making headway.’’ 

When announcing such partnerships, it is common for state officials to cite North Carolina’s history as “First in Flight.” Governor Roy Cooper made this reference in 2022 when speaking about Boom Supersonic, and Governor Josh Stein repeated the phrase in his comments on the JetZero facility, saying “From first in flight to now the future of flight, North Carolina and our skilled workforce is soaring.” While references to the past certainly have their place in these kinds of announcements, the companies themselves tend to be more forward-looking. In their own announcement of the decision, JetZero indicates that “The state’s aerospace ecosystem, access to world-class research, university and technical colleges, and commitment to bringing innovative businesses to the state were key factors” in their selection. 

The press release also notes that “Construction on the facility is expected to begin in the first half of 2026, with first customer deliveries in the early 2030s. When career opportunities at JetZero become available, they will be posted to JetZero’s Career page as well as NCworks.gov, the state’s leader in connecting employers with skilled talent.” Some jobs are already listed as the company gears up to begin construction next year.