American Airlines in August announced that it had agreed to buy up to 20 jets from Boom Supersonic, with an option to purchase 40 more.
BOOM’S OVERTURE JETS promise speeds of up to Mach 1.7 over water – twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial aircraft, are expected to roll off the production line from 2025 and carry the first passengers in 2029. (see Guy Leitch’s column in this month’s SA Flyer).
American is the third airline to place an order for the Bom, after United Airlines which ordered 15 last year, and Virgin Atlantic, which reached a deal in 2016.Boom says the new aircraft is designed for a range of 4,250 nautical miles, and could fly about 600 routes around the world. It estimates that flying from London to New York would take 3.5 hours compared with 6.5 hours by current means. London to Miami would take just under five hours, versus the almost nine hours today.
‘Boom’s supersonic jet is steadily building orders.‘
The Overture will carry fewer passengers than subsonic passenger jets, with 65 to 88 seats – less capacity than Concorde had – which will initially be priced at business class rates. Blake Scholl, the founder and chief executive of Boom, said: “We believe Overture can help American deepen its competitive advantage on network, loyalty and overall airline preference through the paradigm-changing benefits of cutting travel times in half.”
Neither Boom nor the airlines have released expected prices, but Scholl previously said tickets would be “affordable”. He said: “I started this because I was sad that I never got to fly on Concorde. I waited but no one was doing it, so I decided to. Ultimately I want people to be able to get anywhere in the world in five hours for $100. To get there you have to improve fuel efficiency, but step by step supersonic air travel will become available for everyone. This is supersonic passenger air travel, no bullshit, and it’s actually affordable.”Derek Kerr, American’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “Looking to the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers. We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel both for our company and our customers.”
