When I first started this site I was going to ad daily content. Well, that lasted less than a month as I didn't have the time to do that and I just focused on travel reviews. It was also around the time the B787 Dreamliner was introduced. Much like the day I first heard about the B787 today I read that United will buy 15 of Boom's Supersonic Airliners with an option for 35 more with hopes for passenger travel by 2029. Now, that seems a long way off, but I remember when the B777 and the B787 were in their inception and now they are mainstays with most airlines.
Boom Supersonic looks similar to the Concorde and Tupolev - TU144 and much like the Concorde will cut travel time in half. Flying at Mach 1.7 (around 1300 mph) at an altitude of 60,000 feet it can fly from New York to London in 3.5 hours instead of 6.5, San Francisco to Tokyo in 6 hrs. instead of 10.5 or Singapore to Dubai in 4hrs. instead of 7. But, it only has a range of a little under 5000 miles putting it out of reach (without a stop) from LAX to Sydney or Bangkok to London and right at its limits from the West Coast of the US to Tokyo. United is not the commercial launch customer of the Boom Overture. JAL was the first airline to partner with Boom (up to 20 pre-orders) and bring supersonic travel back to the traveling public. United and JAL are planning on charging similar fares to existing Business Class, but my guess is they are betting that Customers are willing to pay very high prices for time savings because the Overture, much like the Concorde, will not hold a lot of passengers. The length of the Overture is 205 feet (about the same as the B787-9 - but that is not the cabin length) United plans for a capacity between 65 to 88 in a single aisle all Business Class layout. Seats look very nice, but my guess is like the Concorde there will not be as spacious as current First Class and Business Class seats. You can take a look at the design and seats here for United. https://boomsupersonic.com/united
Maybe the biggest development in the Overture is that it claims to be Net-Zero Carbon and tested with sustainability in mind. Technology has come a long way since the late 60's so the Overture will be much cleaner than the Concorde and be no louder at take-off than a B777 or A330 (they will not use afterburners) https://blog.boomsupersonic.com/booms-principles-of-sustainability-2f4a7b638f48 Further all routes will be over water and will fly subsonic over land. This development may be the future of travel. With aircraft typically being in service for over 25 years, planes that are being built now will be around in the year 2050. So the Overture could be the B707, DC 8 or B747 of its time. The Overture rollout will be in 2025 with the first flight in 2026. United hopes to start commercial service in 2029. Currently Boom is developing the XB-1 (Baby Boom) in Denver.
.jpg)
hi