US appeals court reinstates $81M verdict against Boeing in favor of Zunum Aero

Vincent Levy, attorney for Zunum Aero, said: “The latest ruling affirms what we have said from the start — that Zunum had an enormous opportunity to remake air travel, but Boeing took that opportunity away. The decision fully restores the jury’s verdict, vindicating Zunum’s hard-fought efforts to protect its groundbreaking technology.”

The appeals court also upheld findings that Boeing interfered with negotiations between Zunum Aero and potential investor Safran. Witnesses testified during trial that discussions between Safran and Zunum were promising until Boeing allegedly intervened.

Zunum Aero CEO Ashish Kumar commented on the outcome: “every American innovator who dares to challenge the status quo.” He described it as a victory for both his company and broader innovation in aviation.

Founded in 2013 by Ashish Kumar and Matt Knapp, Zunum Aero aimed to build hybrid-electric regional planes carrying up to 50 passengers as part of efforts toward environmentally sustainable air travel. Backers included Boeing Horizon X and JetBlue Technology Ventures; Washington state’s Clean Energy Fund also provided an $800,000 grant. By 2019, however, operations ceased and most staff were laid off; less than one-third of the state grant had been used when activities stopped.

The dispute began in 2020 when Zunum sued Boeing in King County Superior Court over alleged misuse of proprietary information for developing competing aircraft technologies. Boeing denied wrongdoing throughout proceedings and attributed Zunum's failure to internal mismanagement and unrealistic planning.

Boeing argued it only created a conceptual mock-up based on evaluating feasibility studies from Zunum's proposals but ultimately concluded such planes would not be economically viable for commercial use in the near future.