GREENSBORO, N.C. — American Airlines became the second major U.S. airliner to buy high-speed planes from jet-maker Boom Supersonic.
American Airlines and Boom Supersonic announced Tuesday the airline's agreement to buy up to 20 of Boom's Overture planes, with an option for another 40.
CEO and Founder of Boom Supersonic, Blake Scholl, said it's a big day for the company.
"It does feel very validating," said Scholl. "What we're seeing here is further proof that supersonic flight isn't just something that passengers are excited about, but overture, that supersonic airliner, is something that works for airlines to economically, financially, strategically, and ultimately, I think we're going to find that every major international airline is going to find that their passengers want supersonic flight and we're seeing building momentum in that direction."
United was the first major airliner to make a deal with Boom, buying 15 Overture airliners, with an option to buy another 35.
Scholl said these flights would be two times faster than what airlines are used to.
"We believe in a world where more people can go more places more often, and enable that by breaking down the barriers to fly so flights that are faster, more affordable, more convenient, and dramatically more sustainable than what we have today," he said. "With overture, we will be going two times faster over water and 20% Faster over land.
Scholl said that means you can get a flight from Miami to London in about four and a half hours, which cuts the time in half.
There has been a lot of progress made at the manufacturing site in Greensboro.
"We've made a lot of progress since we announced in January at Greensboro, at the site, in terms of working on the design of the factory, picking some of the key partners that are gonna help us build it, and we're working with regulators as we speak on the final environmental approvals and we're on track to break ground by the end of this year," said Scholls. "Next year we'll be in construction of the super factory and we plan to start moving in in the first quarter of 2024."
The amount of jobs could increase as well, given the growing demand for the Overture aircraft.
"We think you know over the next decade, it could be 2400 jobs in Greensboro and that's with one final assembly line operating," he said. "That first final assembly line is designed to do 33 airplanes per year and like I said, we've already got 130 airplanes in orders and preorders, and we're just getting started, so we might need to build a second assembly line, which of course would be even better in terms of amount of jobs we can create."
The planes cost 200 million dollars for a copy. Scholl said while that sounds expensive, the difference is the plane that flies twice as fast can do twice as many flights with the same airplane and crew, so it's like getting two airplanes for the price of one.
He said the goal is to have the cost of these planes be low, so everyone can experience faster travel.
"The price we're most focused on is what passengers are going to have to pay to fly supersonic and be as low as it can be," he said.
The Overture jets are slated to carry passengers by 2029. They will be built in Greensboro at Boom's new-to-come manufacturing site on the grounds of Piedmont Triad International Airport. Boom expects to break ground on the manufacturing site at the end of 2022.
