Supersonic commercial jets could become a reality by 2029

The future of air travel seems to be promising now as United Airlines announced its plans to buy 15 supersonic jets. The idea is to begin passenger flights with these jets by 2029, and this would be the first such commercial supersonic flights since the Concorde jet got grounded in 2003.

The 15 jets are being bought by United Airlines from Boom Supersonic, which is a Denver based aircraft maker. The testing of these aircrafts will be carried out by 2026, and it is expected to carry passengers by 2029. The aircraft has been named Overture.

The fate of the Concorde was doomed back in 2003 since there were restrictions regarding flying jets at such high speed, which produced a sonic boom. It has been reported that the Overture is expected to fly at twice the speed of today’s regular commercial jets, at Mach 1.7. The aircraft will be able to fly to London from Newark, and New Jersey in just 3.5 hours. It is expected to take four hours to fly to Frankfurt from Newark, and to Tokyo from San Francisco in about 6 hours. Thus cutting down passengers travel time drastically.

Going by the need of the hour, which is sustainable travel, the aircraft aims to fly on sustainable aviation fuel, and that too a 100 percent of it. With it being super sonic, plus zero carbon, the flights are looking promising as of now.

Boom Supersonic is redefining commercial air travel by bringing sustainable, supersonic flight to the skies. Boom’s historic commercial airliner, Overture, is designed and committed to industry-leading standards of speed, safety, and sustainability. Overture will be the first commercial aircraft to be net-zero carbon from day one, capable of flying on 100% sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) at twice the speed of today’s fastest passenger jets. Overture’s order book, including purchases and options, stands at 70 aircraft, and Boom is working with the United States Air Force for overnment applications of Overture. XB-1, a demonstrator aircraft, rolled out in 2020, and its net-zero carbon flight test program is underway.