Since the Concorde stopped flying in 2003, there have been projects and ideas to launch a supersonic commercial airliner on several occasions, but so far they have not been successful.
With the agreement announced this Tuesday, the possibility of resuming supersonic passenger flights seems closer.
American Airlines has reached an agreement with Boom Supersonic for the purchase of 20 Overture aircraft, with an option on another 40.
American has paid a non-refundable deposit for those initial 20 planes.
The Overture is expected to carry passengers twice as fast as today's fastest commercial airliners, allowing it to cross the Atlantic in less than four hours.
In addition to the security problems, the Concorde, only used by Air France and British Airways, was doing poorly in business.
Its high consumption and its lower capacity made it necessary to charge very high ticket prices.
In the world of aviation there is some doubt that there may be sufficient demand for ultra-fast flights at a price that allows supersonic aircraft to be profitable.
Boom Supersonic is a Denver, Colorado-based
start-up
that has been attracting funding from investment and venture capital firms.
It has also received significant grants from state and local authorities to set up its production facility in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Its main project is the Overture, an aircraft for which the engine has not yet been contracted, but which is being designed to transport between 65 and 80 passengers at a speed over water of 1.7 times that of sound, twice the speed than today's fastest commercial aircraft, with a range of 4,250 nautical miles.
The company assures that it already has orders for 120 aircraft, a figure much higher than the 14 Concordes that flew.
In addition to the order from American, Japan Airlines also made a provisional reservation of 20 planes five years ago.
Design of the future plane Overture, from Boom Supersonic.
“Optimized for speed, safety and sustainability, Overture is also being designed to fly more than 600 routes around the world in half the time.
Flying from Miami to London in just under five hours and from Los Angeles to Honolulu in three hours are some of the many possibilities”, explains the company.
It is, in any case, a long-term bet.
In July, Boom revealed the final production design of the Overture, which is scheduled to launch in 2025 and carry its first passengers in 2029.
American Airlines, Iberia's partner in the OneWorld alliance, maintains that the Boom Supersonic Overture would introduce a new and important speed advantage in its fleet, which currently, it assures, "is the simplest, youngest and most efficient among the airlines in the American network.
Under the terms of the agreement, Boom must meet industry standard safety, performance, and operational requirements, as well as other customary American conditions prior to delivery of any device.
"Looking forward, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to serve our customers," said Derek Kerr, American's chief financial officer, in a statement.
“We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel, both for our company and our customers,” he added.
"We are proud to share our vision of a more connected and sustainable world with American Airlines," says Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom.
"We believe Overture can help American deepen its competitive advantage in network, loyalty and overall airline preference through the paradigm-shifting benefits of cutting travel times in half," he adds.
19 years since the last Concorde flight
The Concorde made its last flight of honor on November 26, 2003 between London and Bristol.
Almost 19 years ago.
The high maintenance costs, its high fuel consumption and the tragic accident of June 25, 2000 in Paris, in which all the passengers died, ended its reputation.
When stepping on a piece that had come off another plane on the runway, a Concorde wheel exploded and the tire hit the lower part of the plane's left wing at a speed of 323 kilometers per hour, which ended up breaking a deposit of gas.
The aircraft crashed in Gonesse, 30 kilometers north of Paris.
A total of 113 people lost their lives when the Concorde belonging to the Air France company crashed on a flight contracted by a German tourist agency between Paris and New York.
The deceased were the 100 passengers, nine crew members who were on board and four clients of the hotel-restaurant against which the device crashed two minutes after taking off from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
Of the passengers (47 men, 50 women and 3 children), 96 were of German nationality, two Danes, one Austrian and one American.
