Reporter | Xue Bingbing
On June 3, local time, United Airlines announced that it will order 15 Boom Overture airliners from supersonic aircraft manufacturer Boom, and another 35 purchase options, which are expected to be put into service by 2029, and United will also become the first airline in the United States to operate supersonic airliners.
Interface News asked United about the matter, and United said that under the terms of the agreement, once The Interchange meets United's requirements for safety, operations and sustainability, United will purchase 15 Boom Overture aircraft, "partnering with Boom is part of United's strategy to invest in innovative technologies that will shape a more sustainable future for air travel."
The so-called supersonic airliner refers to its faster than the speed of civil aviation airliners, Boom official website shows that Boom Overture can carry 65-88 passengers, cruising speed of Mach 1.7, is today's fastest aircraft speed twice, the range of 4250 nautical miles, the use of full business class layout, adding seat entertainment screen, ample personal space and non-contact technology and other functions.
According to Boom's revealed schedule, boom overture passenger aircraft will launch in 2025, make its first flight in 2026, and put into commercial operation in 2029. The Boom Overture prototype has been built, and United is the first airline to sign a supersonic jet purchase agreement with Boom.
It is understood that flying with supersonic airliners is expected to shorten the flight time by half, from New York to London Heathrow Airport only three and a half hours, frankfurt only four hours, across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Tokyo only six hours, and the price is only equivalent to the current economy class fare.
So far, only two supersonic airliners have been mass-produced and put into commercial operation, the Soviet Tu-144 and the British and French concorde, both of which appeared in the late 1960s.
The Concorde aircraft, jointly operated by British Airways and Air France, has been in commercial operation since 1976, providing first-class services to up to 100 passengers. The Concorde was twice as fast as the sonic plane and could cross the Atlantic in less than four hours, about half the time it took other jetliners at the time, but the high cost and fatal accident of 2000 led to its retirement in 2003.
Since the retirement of the Concorde supersonic airliner, not a single supersonic aircraft has been put into commercial service. However, the pace of human exploration has not stopped, and startups focusing on supersonic aircraft continue to emerge, such as Boom Company, which was founded in Denver in 2014, Exosonic, which was founded in the Bay Area of California in 2019, Spike Aerospace from Boston, and Aerion, headquartered in Reno, Nevada.
Boom President Blake Scholl said in an interview with CNN that Boom is reviving the dream left by concorde while making major improvements in terms of economy and environmental protection to make supersonic flight within reach.
He said flying a concord flight is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people because of its unattainable price, and they hope that future travelers will travel at supersonic speeds with a four-hour ticket for only about $100. However, this is only a medium- to long-term vision, and it will take two to three generations to achieve this goal.
Civil aviation expert Lin Zhijie also believes that the biggest problem with the return of supersonic aircraft is not technology, but economic cost.
Some startups have announced their withdrawal from the competition due to huge capital consumption and the inability to support the ambition to build supersonic aircraft.
On May 21 this year, Aerion said in a statement that it is undoubtedly a great challenge to raise huge funds to meet the funding needs of the AS2 commercial supersonic aircraft from design to production.
Previously, Aerion had said it would start producing its first supersonic aircraft in 2023 and carry passengers in 2027, but it was about to stop operations due to failing to raise enough money to start building the aircraft.
This also means that the high cost of R&D production and operation, and the high ticket price will continue to be a problem faced by airlines and manufacturers in the future.