Performing legitimacy in electric aviation: The innovation journey of Heart Aerospace

Abstract

The decarbonisation of aviation is a major challenge in the global pursuit of sustainability, with aircraft operations contributing around 3 % of global carbon dioxide emissions. Electric aviation offers a promising response, combining the potential for zero-emission flight with revitalised short-haul and regional markets through low-cost, point-to-point operations. However, its development faces major obstacles, including technological immaturity, infrastructural lock-ins, regulatory complexity, and uncertain consumer acceptance. In this context, legitimacy—the perceived appropriateness of an emerging technology within established social, institutional, and technical contexts—becomes a vital precondition. This paper examines how legitimacy is enacted through the interplay of discursive and material practices, conceptualised as sociomaterial legitimation. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of Heart Aerospace, a Swedish electric aircraft start-up, the analysis traces how narratives, artefacts, and actor-networks interact to build and maintain legitimacy over time. Using media analysis, participant observations, and documentary sources, the paper shows that legitimacy is not merely constructed through discourse but materially performed through prototypes, demonstrators, and choreographed public events. These findings advance an understanding of sociomaterial legitimation in sustainability transitions and offer practical insights for policymakers and industry actors working to support emerging technologies under conditions of uncertainty.