American becomes third airline to place order for Boom Supersonic jets

theguardian.com:

Commercial supersonic transatlantic travel is on course to roar back almost 20 years after Concorde was decommissioned.

American Airlines on Tuesday agreed to buy up to 20 ultrafast jets from the aviation startup Boom Supersonic, with an option to purchase 40 more.

The Overture jets, which promise speeds of up to Mach 1.7 over water – twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial aircraft – are expected to roll off the production line from 2025 and carry the first passengers in 2029.

American is the third airline to place an order for the jets, following United Airlines which ordered 15 last year, and Virgin Atlantic which reached a deal in 2016.

Blake Scholl, the founder and chief executive of Boom, said: “We believe Overture can help American deepen its competitive advantage on network, loyalty and overall airline preference through the paradigm-changing benefits of cutting travel times in half.”

The Overture will carry fewer passengers than subsonic passenger jets, with 65 to 88 seats – less capacity than Concorde had – which will initially be priced at business class rates.

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Neither Boom nor the airlines have released expected prices, but Scholl previously told the Guardian tickets would be “affordable”.

He said: “I started this because I was sad that I never got to fly on Concorde. I waited but no one was doing it, so I decided to. Ultimately I want people to be able to get anywhere in the world in five hours for $100. To get there you have to improve fuel efficiency, but step by step supersonic air travel will become available for everyone. This is supersonic passenger air travel, no