American Airlines agreed to buy 20 ultrafast jets from Boom Supersonic, but the supersonic industry's still up in the air
Cruisin’ at 60,000… faster than the speed of sound. American Airlines dropped a nonrefundable deposit to buy 20 superfast jets from Boom Supersonic. The deal makes American Boom’s biggest customer. But not so fast: while the Colorado plane co is accepting orders for its speedy aircraft — dubbed: Overture — the reportedly $200M plane is still being developed. The goal:
- Seat: Boom says its jet will seat up to 80 passengers.
- Speed: Overture should fly 2x as fast as commercial planes (think: Miami to London in five hours, LA to Honolulu in three).
- Smoke: Boom says Overture will be carbon-neutral and run on sustainable fuel.
Tray tables and orders… are up. So far Boom's received 35 total Overture orders — plus 130 preorders and options — from some of the largest airlines. Virgin optioned 10 jets for $2B in 2016, Japan Airlines invested $10M and preordered 20 jets in 2017, and United committed to 15 in 2021. And though not supersonic, Boom is moving: test flights are planned for 2026, with passenger flights by 2029.
Supersonics aren't ready for takeoff yet… but they're no pipe dream. While experts say Overture’s engine still needs work before it can break the sound barrier, the airline industry's offered supersonic flights before. The British and French developed Concorde — the first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial plane — which flew for decades. The prob? It burned fuel so quickly that round-trip tickets cost $12,000 (talk about a niche customer base). Now Boom hopes modern materials and sustainability will finally make supersonic flights blast off.