Aviation has, over the years, become an inseparable element of the human’s life. Airplanes are very commonly used for various tasks, such as transport of passengers and goods, military attack and defence, rescue, recreation, etc. In despite of the many advantages of the aviation, one can’t forget about its disadvantages. The most important disadvantages of the aviation are the emissions of atmospheric pollution and noise. Additionally, one should remember about the decreasing stocks of non-renewable fuels. These defects affect human’s health and the natural environment. Therefore, a good alternative to conventional aircraft drive units may turn out to be electric aircraft in the near future. The topic of this article is to check to what extent today's knowledge and technology allow the use of electric drive units instead of conventional aircraft drive units. This article presents the concept of electric aircraft, from the electric drive unit to its power supply system. Feasibility of designing an electric jet drive unit was realized for passenger aircraft, based on the performances of PZL 104 Wilga 35 and Boeing B787 Dreamliner.