With an eye on cutting some of its international journey times in half, American Airlines has agreed a deal with Boom Supersonic to purchase 20 of its in- development Overture aircraft, with an option to buy a further 40 planes further down the track.

Take a look around the production Overture design — optimized for speed, safety, and sustainability. https://t.co/GVju9pYsWN pic.twitter.com/BtkVUHWUQN

— Boom Supersonic (@boomaero) August 5, 2022

American made a non-refundable deposit on its initial order of 20 Overture jets, which are designed to fly at twice the speed of today's commercial airliners. Before any of the planes can be delivered, Colorado-based Boom will need to meet a number of criteria, including industry-standard operating, performance, and safety requirements, as well as other standard conditions set by American.

Last year, United Airlines placed an initial order of 15 Overture jets with an option to purchase an additional 35 later on.

At a speed of just over 1,300 mph, the Overture is designed to carry between 65 and 80 passengers. American can fly from San Francisco to Tokyo in six hours, Miami to London in five hours, and Los Angeles to Honolulu in three hours.

The first large commercial aircraft that will be net-zero carbon will be the Overture.

In the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of American's ability to deliver. The future of travel is going to be shaped by Boom.

The founder and CEO of Boom said his company was proud to share their vision of a more connected and sustainable world.

The final production design of Boom's Overture jet was unveiled last month, and the company hopes to begin serving paying passengers by the end of the decade. The XB-1, which is expected to take its first flight in the next few months, is a one-third scale prototype of the Overture.

Boom will be more confident than ever about its plan to return supersonic passenger flights to the skies within eight years because of the two major orders it has received in the last 14 months.

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