Boom Supersonic’s Overture: Will We Cross the Atlantic in 3.5 Hours Again?

Twenty-one years after Concorde’s final flight, supersonic passenger travel is poised for a comeback. Boom Supersonic’s Overture aircraft promises to cross the Atlantic in 3.5 hours – less than half the time of current subsonic flights. But this won’t be a replay of Concorde. Boom has learned from history, and Overture is designed to solve the problems that doomed its predecessor.

Concorde’s Legacy

Concorde was a technological marvel that flew commercially for 27 years (1976-2003). It crossed the Atlantic in just over 3 hours at Mach 2.04 – twice the speed of sound. But it ultimately failed as a business proposition:

• Fuel consumption: Concorde burned roughly three times more fuel per passenger than subsonic jets
• Sonic boom: Banned from overland supersonic flight in most countries
• Operating costs: High maintenance requirements and fuel costs meant astronomical ticket prices
• Small capacity: Just 100 seats limited revenue potential
• Aging technology: 1960s design with no path to economical upgrades

When Air France and British Airways retired their Concorde fleets in 2003, supersonic travel became a memory.

Boom’s Different Approach

Boom Supersonic, founded in 2014, is designing Overture to address every one of Concorde’s weaknesses:

Efficiency first: Overture will use modern high-bypass turbofan engines optimized for supersonic cruise, delivering dramatically better fuel efficiency than Concorde’s afterburner-equipped turbojets.

Sustainable fuel: The aircraft is designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), potentially achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

Right-sized: 65-80 passengers – smaller than Concorde but sized for profitable operations on premium routes.

Modern manufacturing: Carbon fiber composites and automated production keep costs manageable.

Boom-reducing design: While still supersonic, design optimizations may enable reduced sonic boom impact.

Overture Specifications

The Overture as currently designed offers impressive capabilities:

• Speed: Mach 1.7 (approximately 1,300 mph)
• Range: 4,250 nautical miles
• Passengers: 65-80 in premium configurations
• Crew: Standard two-pilot flight deck
• Length: 205 feet
• Engines: Four custom-designed turbofans (under development)

New York to London in 3.5 hours. Los Angeles to Tokyo in 6 hours. Miami to São Paulo in 5 hours. These are the promise of Overture.

The Economics Must Work

Boom’s fundamental insight is that supersonic travel failed not because of physics but because of economics. Concorde tickets cost $12,000 or more – accessible only to the ultra-wealthy and expense-account executives.

Overture targets business class economics:

• Operating costs competitive with current business class
• Ticket prices similar to today’s premium cabin fares
• Routes where time savings justify premium pricing
• Fleet economics that work for airlines

This is ambitious but not impossible. Modern materials and engines are dramatically more efficient than what Concorde had available.

Airline Interest

Major airlines have placed significant orders and options:

• United Airlines: 15 firm orders with option for 35 more
• American Airlines: 20 firm orders with option for 40 more
• Japan Airlines: 20 aircraft pre-ordered

These commitments represent billions of dollars and signal genuine airline belief that supersonic can work commercially this time.

The Sonic Boom Problem

Concorde could only fly supersonic over water because sonic booms disturbed people below. This limited routes to transoceanic flights, excluding the lucrative transcontinental US market.

NASA and manufacturers are developing “low-boom” technology that could eventually enable overland supersonic flight. The X-59 experimental aircraft is testing designs that produce a soft thump rather than a startling boom.

Overture will initially be restricted to oceanic routes, but future variants might incorporate low-boom technology as regulations evolve.

Development Progress

Boom has followed a methodical development path:

XB-1 demonstrator: A one-third scale demonstrator aircraft to prove aerodynamic concepts. Rolled out in 2020, with test flights ongoing.

Overture design: The production aircraft design was finalized in 2022 after extensive wind tunnel and computational testing.

Engine development: After initially planning to use modified existing engines, Boom is now developing custom engines with partner Symphony.

Manufacturing facility: A new factory in North Carolina will produce Overture aircraft.

Certification: Working with FAA on type certification, targeting approval by late 2020s.

Challenges Ahead

Significant hurdles remain:

• Engine development: Creating a new supersonic engine is enormously difficult and expensive
• Certification: No supersonic transport has been certified in decades; regulators are cautious
• SAF availability: Sustainable fuel production must scale dramatically
• Operating costs: Actual costs won’t be known until aircraft fly commercially
• Market demand: Will enough passengers pay premium prices for time savings?

3.5 Hours to London

If Boom succeeds, the impact will be profound. Same-day roundtrips between New York and London become possible. Business executives could have breakfast in Miami and dinner in São Paulo. The Pacific becomes crossable in a working day.

Concorde proved that supersonic passenger flight was technically possible. Overture aims to prove it can be commercially viable. The outcome will determine whether the next generation experiences supersonic travel as routine or whether it remains a brief, beautiful anomaly in aviation history.

Either way, we may soon have an answer to the question that’s lingered for two decades: will we ever cross the Atlantic in 3.5 hours again?