The FAA Opens Up to Supersonic Commercial Flights in the U.S. Ahead of New Airplane Debuts
The development of the NASA X-59 QueSST prototype is only part of a project that will see the introduction over the years of new airplanes to be used for supersonic commercial flights that can fly over U.S. territory without causing harm or disturbance to the population. This will allow for the overcoming of the limitations of the Concorde, opening new routes and, consequently, exploring a potential market.
In recent days, Sean P. Duffy (U.S. Secretary of Transportation) announced that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is taking a decisive step towards opening U.S. continental skies to supersonic commercial flights. This milestone is made possible by technological innovations that will allow these aircraft to fly safely without generating the annoying sonic boom.
The FAA and Supersonic Commercial Flights in the USA
Once operational, the next-generation supersonic airplanes will drastically reduce travel times, speeding up the movement of people and goods. The proposed regulation introduces a noise certification standard for supersonic aircraft, and the FAA expects to present a second proposal specifically dedicated to noise standards during take-off and landing phases by the end of the year. Together, these two measures will provide manufacturers with the necessary guidelines to finalize their designs and bring these innovations to market.
Duffy stated, "Restoring supersonic flight over land is not just about speed, but means unleashing American innovation and ushering in a new Golden Age of travel," adding that it is also thanks to the Trump administration that efforts are being made at a rapid pace to safely allow this new technological leap in aviation.
Bryan Bedford (FAA administrator) explained that advancements in aerospace engineering, material science, noise reduction, and new operational concepts will enable the elimination of the traditional sonic boom, thereby paving the way for the lifting of the 1970s ban on supersonic flight over U.S. territory while maintaining minimal acoustic impact on communities along the routes and near airports.
Reportedly, the FAA aims to complete the finalization process for both regulations by mid-2027. From a technical standpoint, aircraft traveling at supersonic speeds (that is, at or above Mach 1) reach about 1240 km/h, compared to around 885-965 km/h typical of conventional commercial flights. A key aspect of making supersonic flight possible concerns the reduction of the perceived noise from the sonic boom: one of the techniques employed for this purpose is the so-called "Mach cutoff," a method that uses the combination of aircraft design, atmospheric conditions, speed, and altitude to cause the sonic boom to bend and refract back toward the upper atmosphere, significantly reducing its impact at the ground level. Executive Order 14304, titled "Leading the World in Supersonic Flight," will require the FAA to form air safety agreements with foreign aviation authorities to ensure the safe international operation of these supersonic aircraft.
A positive initial response to Duffy's announcement came from Blake Scholl (founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic). Boom Supersonic plans to introduce a low sonic boom commercial supersonic aircraft called Overture in the coming years, which is being developed thanks to the XB-1 prototype.
Scholl commented on the FAA's statements, saying, "The FAA has officially announced the rule-setting to legalize supersonic flight, including the Boomless Cruise approach ('Mach cutoff') that we demonstrated on the XB-1. This is an important step towards the supersonic renaissance," adding, "I remember telling the Boom Supersonic team in 2017: we probably can't change the law on supersonic flight over land, but let's try anyway. The world is more malleable than we are taught to believe."