American Airlines have announced plans to purchase a fleet of 20 supersonic planes from the aviation startup; Bloom, the company recently announced. The order came after United Airlines announced last year that it would buy 15 of the company’s Overture planes. After which the Boom received its second firm order in the last two years, still years from building its first commercial airplane.
Bloom claimed that supersonic planes can travel faster than the speed of sound, and has yet to take a step to revolutionize the Air Travel markets. Boom says its planes are designed to go at speeds twice as fast as a typical flight. That would be fast enough to cover your Mumbai to New York journey in an approximate time of 4.5 hours, which would initially take 14-16 hours.
Boom says the Overture jet will fly as fast as Mach 1.7, or 1,304 mph, dramatically cutting trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flight times. For example, a flight from Seattle to Tokyo, which typically takes just over 10 hours, could be completed in six hours in an Overture, according to Boom.
“Supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” America's chief financial officer, Derek Kerr, said in a statement announcing the order. American is paying Boom an undisclosed amount as a nonrefundable deposit.
The airlines also stated the option of purchasing another 40 Overtures in the future.
Passenger flights aren’t expected until the end of the decade, but if everything goes according to plan, the commercial supersonic flight could return for the first time since the age of the Concorde.
Another significant promise made by Boom regarding the Overtures revelation in the air travel market is its promise to deliver the planes which will be “net-zero carbon from day one,” and rely completely on sustainable aviation fuel, which is repurposed from waste or organic sources.
To reduce environmental impact, Boom planes will use sustainable aviation fuels; United is reportedly investing in fuel made from “cellulosic feedstock” and “municipal solid waste.” But the limited supply of that might be better used on other planes.
Boom’s deals with United and America come as the high environmental costs of flying face growing scrutiny. The movement to more stringently regulate airline emissions is now worldwide, and airlines have increasingly advertised plans to reduce their impact on the environment.
The idea of supersonic flight is appealing because it’s extremely fast and would shave hours off of transoceanic flights. That’s not to mention that it would be pretty cool to travel faster than the speed of sound.