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Supersonic aircraft could become a staple of US coast-to-coast air travel following a landmark vote in the House of Representatives to lift a decades-old ban on faster-than-sound overland flying. The ban — which has been in place for over 50 years — was originally enacted amid concerns over the loud “sonic booms” emitted from supersonic aircraft.
However, new noise-mitigation technology will enable the next generation of supersonic jets to fly without causing major noise disturbances. The bill will require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to revise regulations banning supersonic overland flights within a year and could usher in a new era of supersonic flight.
New Era Of Supersonic Flight Gets Closer
On March 24, Bill H.R. 3410 — titled the Supersonic Aviation Modernization (SAM) Act — successfully passed the United States House of Representatives and will now be deliberated in the Senate, where it faces a parallel push led by Senator Ted Budd. The legislation will give the FAA exactly one year to overhaul its 1973-era 14 CFR § 91.817 legislation, which outlaws overland commercial flights at speeds of or exceeding Mach 1.
With new supersonic or “Mach Cutoff” technology preventing sonic booms from reaching the ground, operators can now feasibly fly faster-than-sound jets overland without disturbing residents and wildlife below. A prime example of this is Boom Supersonic — a North Carolina-based company leading the push for supersonic commercial flight — and its “Boomless Cruise” concept, which ensures sound waves bend back upwards instead of reaching the ground. Congressman Troy E. Nehls (R-TX) commented,
“For decades, FAA regulations have held back American innovation and supersonic flight. My legislation, the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act, puts a stop to that and safely unleashes the next era of aerospace innovation. The Senate must act and swiftly pass my legislation to codify President Trump’s executive order and ensure the U.S. is the world’s leader in supersonic aviation.”
Why Did Supersonic Commercial Flights Die Out?
It has been almost a quarter of a century since the last scheduled supersonic commercial flight. This was a British Airways Concorde service between 
New York JFK Airport (JFK) and 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which took place on October 24, 2003, with 100 passengers onboard. Interestingly, this wasn’t the last-ever Concorde flight, as the carrier subsequently performed a final ferry flight for one of its Concorde airframes (G-BOAF) to Filton Airfield in Bristol.
Many people believe the infamous Air France Flight 4590 crash in July 2000 was the Concorde’s death knell, but this isn’t the whole story. Concorde operators Air France and British Airways proudly flew the Anglo-French-made jet for decades, but were doing so at a significant loss due to the aircraft’s suboptimal seat economics. Tickets would set passengers back several thousand dollars, so the demand to fill out flights simply wasn’t there.
Following Concorde’s retirement in the early 2000s, supersonic commercial flights were essentially shelved, and no US company has ever built and entered a supersonic plane into service. Major US carriers have also never flown supersonic jets except for Braniff International Airways, which flew the Concorde at subsonic speeds (around Mach 0.95) between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Washington D.C. (IAD) as part of an unusual deal with Air France and British Airways.
Elon Musk Vows To Cut FAA’s “Senseless” Supersonic Boom Noise Regulation
Boom Supersonic has proven that supersonic flight can be achieved without an audible sonic boom.
How Realistic Is Supersonic Commercial Travel?
Due to the 1973 legislation banning overland supersonic flights, potential operators of supersonic planes like Concorde could only feasibly operate intercontinental flights over water. This severely limited their network possibilities and restricted deployment to only a handful of routes at best.
However, if this ban is lifted, it would pave the way for domestic supersonic flight, particularly within the lucrative coast-to-coast market. High-value city pairings like New York-Los Angeles would be perfect candidates, and would generate enough demand from premium-paying customers willing to pay top dollar for shorter flight times.
Currently, flights on this route take around six hours, but supersonic flying would cut this almost in half to around three hours and 30 minutes. American Airlines and United Airlines have both committed to the new supersonic era with significant aircraft orders for Boom’s Overture jet, although there is still a long way before these flights become a reality.
