Boom Supersonic bets on commercial supersonic flights 1:09
(CNN Business) -
United Airlines announced an agreement to buy 15 supersonic jets.
It plans to transport passengers on the ultra-fast planes by 2029.
If the airline can go ahead with its plan, these would be the first commercial supersonic flights since the Concorde was grounded in 2003. The economics of that fuel-intensive supersonic jet and the restrictions on flying it at speeds that would produce a
sonic
boom
they condemned the Concorde.
The airlines had to try to fill the plane with passengers willing to pay a substantial premium over a first-class ticket on traditional planes.
The acquisition
United is buying the supersonic jet from Boom Supersonic, an ambitious private jet maker based in Denver.
The plane, dubbed Overture, is scheduled for completion in 2025, and will begin test flights in 2026 and carry passengers in 2029. United has agreed to purchase 15 of the planes, with an option for 35 more.
The plane is scheduled to fly at Mach 1.7, or about twice as fast as today's commercial jets.
You can fly from United's hub in Newark, NJ, to London in just three and a half hours.
It could make the trip from Newark to Frankfurt in four hours and from San Francisco to Tokyo in just six hours.
Another lofty, but untested, goal for Boom's Overture: It plans to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which would allow it to be the first aircraft to begin zero-net-carbon flights. .
advertising
"United continues on its journey to build a more innovative and sustainable airline and current advances in technology are making it more viable for that to include supersonic aircraft," said United CEO Scott Kirby.
United Airlines offers vaccinated customers the chance to win a year of free flights
Business plan
But experts expressed doubts that there will ever be a way for commercial supersonic flights to make economic sense for airlines.
“You need to find enough
full-fare
premium
passengers
to justify the plane.
Good luck with that, ”said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at Teal Group.
The resurgence of supersonic flight 3:08
Airlines have slowed down their aircraft purchases in the past year as the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically reduced demand for air travel.
Losses increased.
But airlines are seeing signs of recovery in travel demand.
Therefore, there is limited financial risk to United ordering a plane that - if approved to fly - would not be delivered until the end of the decade.
"This is the best form of free advertising," Aboulafia said.
It probably doesn't cost anything.
It gives them free publicity as a forward-thinking airline with, strangely, a concern for the environment.
The segment of interest
After the economic failure of the Concorde, airlines and aircraft manufacturers alike have generally focused on greater efficiency, not speed.
Boeing abandoned plans for a near-supersonic jet, the Sonic Cruiser, and instead developed a lightweight, fuel-efficient jumbo jet, the 787 Dreamliner.
Rival Airbus tried to respond to airlines' desire for efficiency with a super jumbo jet, the A380, which never lived up to its promised sales.
Airbus stopped building it last fall.
Plans for supersonic passenger flights have generally been limited to corporate jets, although those plans have encountered problems coming to fruition.
VSS Unity failed its 1:11 test flight
One of the leaders in that field, Aerion Supersonic, announced last month that it was closing due to the difficult economics of making a supersonic business jet.
Aboulafia thinks that the case for the development of a supersonic business jet is much more difficult than the case for a supersonic business jet.
"If Aerion can't do it with a promising business case, who the hell can?" He said.
United shares fell nearly 3% in midday trading Thursday after the announcement.
Supersonic AviationUnitedFlights
