A former Amazon software engineer is looking to bring supersonic flight back to everyday passengers, but getting the public and investors to buy in might be more challenging than the technology, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In 2003, the Concorde supersonic passenger jet was grounded following a disastrous crash in Paris that killed all 109 people on board coupled with years of cost overruns. But Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl feels the time is right to introduce ultrafast flights back into society.
Speaking exclusively to the Journal, Scholl said he envisions a world where a New York-to-Paris flight is under four hours instead of the current travel time of nearly twice that.
"The thinking has been, 'Supersonic flight would obviously be great, but nobody is doing it so therefore it must be impossible,'" Scholl told the outlet. "Not true."
Scholl is not an aeronautical engineer by trade, but that hasn't stopped him from dismissing naysayers and building a plant in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his dream will come to fruition.
Scholl's Overture jet aims to pick up where Concorde left off but learning from its predecessor's mistakes. Although he has support from the likes of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, he has plenty of online detractors as well.
When challenged by a social media critic who lambasted the cost of operating a plane that is expensive to maintain and yet can move far fewer people, Scholl responded, "I wish I'd thought about that before starting the company."
Supersonic flight remains the fastest mode of travel that existing technology can offer for everyday humans. Even proposed hyperloop concepts, in which pods travel in partially evacuated tubes, can't come close to the 1,324 mph that a Mach 2 plane can reach.
But the Denver-based company has seen its share of early hiccups. An early valuation of $1 billion dropped to $500 million by the end of 2024, resulting in nearly half of its 260 employees being dismissed.
Although United, American, and Japan airlines have committed preliminary orders for Overture, Delta CEO Ed Bastian is not putting down any company money toward Boom Supersonic. Only capable of moving half the passengers of a typical passenger jet at 75, Bastian called the venture "a very, very expensive asset" but said he "wished them well."
During its last full decade of operation, a round-trip seat on the Concorde cost about $10,000. Scholl said the plan is to bring a ticket closer to $3,400 for a New York to London round-trip flight and Overture will have business class amenities in every set — unlike the Concorde, which was more functional than stylish in its interior.
Former Boeing CEO Phil Condit, who is on Boom's board, is more supportive of the venture and sees Scholl's approach to the company much like Musk's was to the automotive industry.
"I think of this as a company that's not just building a cheaper supersonic plane, but rather bringing a modern, Silicon Valley approach to disrupting aerospace in the way Tesla did in the automotive industry," he said.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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