There is no shortage of ambition in commercial aviation
Boom Supersonic: affordable supersonic travel for everyone
There is no shortage of ambition in commercial aviation — without dreamers we wouldn't have heavier-than-air aircraft.
The Colorado-based company is aiming to restart commercial supersonic flights, which have been put on hold since Concorde was retired in 2003. But unlike Concorde, an elite engineering marvel that has only ever been flown by a handful of airlines, Boom hopes its supersonic jet, called the Overture — democratizes this type of travel, making it accessible to the masses.
«We have set ourselves a really big and bold goal — to create the first supersonic airliner, which will be able to fly tens of millions of people, », — Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, told CNN. “Supersonic travel, in my opinion, brings the world closer. Our ultimate vision — supersonic flight for every passenger on any route».
Boom plans to have Overture commercially operational by 2029, and while it may prove challenging, the company recently revealed a number of new details about its technology and partners that Scholl believes bring that dream closer to reality.
Overture is designed to carry 64 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 and 60,000 feet. This is twice the speed and 50% more height than leading wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350, — as a result, Overture will travel between London and New York in about three and a half hours, cutting travel time in half.
The plane does not yet exist — the first aircraft is expected to leave the factory as early as 2026, — but three airlines have already placed orders for it. These are United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines, which have a total of 130 bookings, of which 35 are non-refundable deposits and 95 are pre-orders, i.e. not paid yet.