American, the world’s largest airline, announced a partnership with Boom Supersonic and is set to have the world’s fastest aircrafts.
Key details
Today, American Airlines and Boom Supersonic announced the airline’s agreement to purchase up to 20 Overture aircraft, with an option to buy an additional 40.
The Overture aircraft is the world’s fastest airliner. Overture is being designed to carry 65 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7 over water—or twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial aircraft—with a range of 4,250 nautical miles. Optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability, it is also being designed to fly more than 600 routes around the world in as little as half the time. Flying from Miami to London in just under five hours and Los Angeles to Honolulu in three hours are among the many possibilities, according to the Boom Supersonic website.
Why it’s important
“Looking to the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” says the airline CFO Derek Kerr. “We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel both for our company and our customers.”
The aircraft is set to roll out in 2025 and carry its first set of passengers by 2029.
“We are proud to share our vision of a more connected and sustainable world with American Airlines,” says Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl. “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.”
Backing up a bit
The Overture isn’t the first supersonic aircraft. The Concorde was the first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial airplane, introduced in the 1970s. The aircrafts were utilized by both British Airways and Air France, before officially being retired in 2003 because of the high cost of maintenance and reduced demand.
