American Airlines to buy 20 jets from Boom Supersonic

Up to 20 jets from Boom Supersonic will be purchased by American Airlines.

The jet can fly from Miami to London in just under five hours, rather than the standard nine hours, because it can reach speeds of up to Mach 1.7 over water.

In 2016 Virgin Atlantic and Boom collaborated to build and test planes in an attempt to make flights more affordable.

With the American Airlines deal in hand, Boom has an order of 130 planes and American has an option to purchase 40 more. The production line for Boom's Overture jets, which can carry up to 80 passengers, is expected to be up and running in the year 2025. Although Boom expects its jets to carry their first passengers in 2029, it has already been delayed in conducting test flights for its other jet, the XB-1, so delivery for the Overture may also be delayed.

The Concorde flew at a speed of Mach 2.04 and was incredibly fast. When the Concorde made its last commercial flight in 2003 due to a number of issues with the jets, it was the end of an era. The flights were expensive to operate and used a lot of fuel, meaning they would cost a lot of money for a ticket. Concorde jets were so loud that the FAA banned overland supersonic flights.

It will fly over land at a rate of 20% faster than subsonic flights, but not as fast as it will on the over 600 mostly transoceanic routes to which it will be best suited.

New final rules from the FAA paved the way for the return of supersonic commercial flight. Other companies are trying to bring this technology back to life. Virgin Galactic and Rolls-Royce are working on a supersonic jet that could break the sound barrier with a quieter sonic boom.

According to Boom, the Overture has noise-reducing features like engine updates and an automated noise-reduction system that will ensure supersonic takeoff is no louder than today's subsonic jets.

American Airlines and Boom haven't come out with a ballpark for ticket prices yet, but Boom said it's designing the Overture to be 75% less expensive than Concorde for airlines to operate and profitable. The Overture jet is designed to run on sustainable aviation fuel or a blend, so hopefully that will alleviate the environmental costs, since supersonic jets burn more fuel per passenger than normal commercial planes.