Twenty years after Concorde was grounded, a new wave of ‘quiet’ supersonic aircraft are in development – but not everyone welcomes the return of this costly, carbon-intensive technology
When I call Blake Scholl from New York, he says it’s a shame we couldn’t have met at his office in Colorado. If only there were a supersonic jet that could cruise at 1.7 times the speed of sound, and get me there two hours quicker than the typical JFK-to-Denver route.
There soon might be. Scholl is the CEO of Boom Supersonic, a company betting that ordinary civilians want to shoot across the sky at 1,100 miles (1,700 kilometres) per hour. After the pandemic brought a slump to the skies, air travel has returned to its former levels, and in-person business events are back on track. As a faster option for these travellers, Boom is developing its breakneck jets to be operational by 2029 – nearly a quarter century after Concorde landed its last plane.
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