Supersonic 2018...
Fabrizio Poli
Entrepreneur, Aviation Advisor, Airline Transport Pilot, Pilot Coaching-Mentoring, Aircraft Buyer & Leasing, Futurist, Speaker & Author.
This year we are going to see major movement with civilian supersonic flight returning to the skies.
Just before Christmas we moved one step closer to an affordable reboot of supersonic flight. Japan Airlines (JAL) invested $10 million in , Boom Supersonic. In exchange for their funding, JAL will be able to pre-order 20 of the new aircraft. The airline’s president, Yoshiharu Ueki, said in a press release from December 5: “Through this partnership, we hope to contribute to the future of supersonic flight with the intent of providing more time to our valued passengers while emphasizing flight safety.”
Just over 14 years ago, British Airways and Air France grounded their Concorde fleets, and while everything else around us has speeded up, commercial air travel slowed down. Fourteen of these Concordes flew first-class passengers from New York to London at speeds of 1,353 mph (2177.44 kph) — twice as fast as the speed of sound — making the trek across the pond in only 3.5 hours. That’s about half the time it takes a normal passenger plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Operating Concorde was expensive as it needed four times as much fuel per passenger as a Boeing 747, with the average cost of a round-trip ticket being $12,000.
Boom Aerospace had been working with Japan Airlines behind the scenes for over a year and the companies have been collaborating to improve the plane’s design for passengers on board in addition to technical aspects.
Boom Aerospace CEO Blake Scholl said, “Decades ago, Concorde delivered a headline feature: speed. JAL is helping Boom deliver something further: a mainstream supersonic airliner, which is practical, reliable, and economic."
He added: “JALs decades of experience as a world-class operator, expertise in everything from passenger to safety, to technical operations will help us build an airliner not just with marquee speed, but also with the practicality required to truly change the way millions travel.”
JAL is only one of Boom’s financial backers. In 2016, and founder of the Virgin Group Richard Branson placed an order for the first 10 of these jets. He also promised that his spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic, would assist with flight test support.
With Branson’s and now JAL’s support, Boom Supersonic will build a faster, cheaper version of the Concorde.
Scholl estimates passengers will be able to fly New York to London in three-and-a-half hours for $5,000 (￡3,548) return.
The company’s supersonic prototype, the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator, is scheduled to fly later this year. Nicknamed “Baby Boom,” it’s one-third the size of what the commercial option will look like. It will fly at speeds of 1,300 mph (2092.15 kph) — exceeding two times the speed of a jumbo jet. The full-sized one will reach 1,700 mph (2735.89 kph).
JAL could use their 20 new jets, seating up to 55 passengers each, to plan flights between Tokyo and North America. A flight from Seattle to Tokyo takes 11 hours, a supersonic jet might make the trip in half the time.
I can also see a 12-16 seater private jet version being built and getting to market sooner than the various other similar projects out there like Aerion and Spike Aerospace. There is a market for 400-600 supersonic private jets but the ‘fastest’ to get to market will win the supersonic biz jet game…
Fabrizio Poli is an independent aviation consultant specialized in aircraft sales. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured on Russia Today (RT), TRT World, Social Media Examiner, Bloomberg, Channel 5, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, City Wealth Magazine, Billionaire.com, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. Fabrizio is also regularly featured as an Aviation Analyst on Russia Today (RT) and TRT World. Fabrizio is also aviation special correspondent Most Magazine. Fabrizio is also considered one of the world's top 30 experts in using Linkedin for business. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. You can also follow Fabrizio's aviation videos on Biz Jet Fabrizio's latest book "Health4Flyers", the first natural-health book for and frequent flyers is now available worldwide.
You can reach Fabrizio [email protected]
Aircraft Mechanic
7 年It is still twice as much faster and ten times more expensive.. simple math.
Computer Science | Software Developer | Full Stack | IT
7 年It is very exciting to see Supersonic planes coming back. One of the concern I have read before, is how loud they are. Cases building with glass to break. Make since more for long distance, because of the sound pollution they create.
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7 年My apology for all of the questions, but as a woman, mother, business owner, and witness to where things have gone wrong in the past, would like to have a better understanding of why this venture, is actually better than others, previously. If it's not for the good, or better....then it's no good, and it's not, better. I am, however, an optimist and still a dreamer, and I look very forward to your replies. If in fact, Mr. Branson, or Sir Richard Branson, as I have been informed, is participating in this venture, then I must admit, my interest is piqued.
Entrepreneur, Aviation Advisor, Airline Transport Pilot, Pilot Coaching-Mentoring, Aircraft Buyer & Leasing, Futurist, Speaker & Author.
7 年the materials used to build this aircraft are very different to those used to build Concorde and consequently the fuel burn will be a lot less. This also does the job of any other jet in half the time, therefore polluting the air a lot less. However, Elon Musk is working on something that could improve things even more...
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7 年I am only in the start up stages of business. I of course can read, and somewhat understand the need for speed, but how is this more important on levels other than business? Is this new avenue of flight safer? And if so, for whom, and/or what? Are the fuels necessary, to move this new flight plan, easier to manufacture? What about the retrieval of the ores, and metals, for plane production? Is the manufacturing process a positive growth for employment? Are the fuel burn offs, less toxic to the air we breathe, and how safe are they for the Earths’ ozone layer?