Boom Supersonic and the High Speed Changes to Air Travel
June 28, 2021
In a press release on June 3, 2021, United Airlines announced a partnership with Boom SuperSonic to add aircraft to their fleet in pursuit of a sustainable future. Boom Supersonic is an aerospace company based in Denver, and United will purchase 15 to 50 of their ‘Overture’ airliners.
There was an emphasis on net-zero carbon and sustainability. The fuel that these Overture airplanes will use is sustainable aviation fuel and the craft itself is expected to be net-zero carbon from launch day—a first according to them.
As for numbers, Overture can fly up to speeds of Mach 1.7 and can cut current flight times in half. A flight from San Francisco to Tokyo would last six hours instead of 11. Commercial flights won’t be available until 2029, but they will start flying in 2026. Boom hopes to have ticket prices be $100 someday, saying it was better to set a goal far out and work backwards.
It’s interesting to see how fair aviation has come in the century after the first commercial flight in 1914. It feels far away, but Elon Musk wants to land humans on the moon again in 2024, so who knows what innovations are awaiting.
To see more by United or Boom, check out the links at the end of the press release.