American Airlines (American), the world’s biggest carrier, has agreed to buy 20 Overture supersonic airliners from US company Boom Supersonic (Boom). The airline has also paid a non-refundable deposit on these 20 aircraft. American has further taken options for another 40 Overtures.

“Looking to the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” explained American CFO Derek Kerr. “We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel both for our company and our customers.”

“We are proud to share our vision of a more connected and sustainable world with American Airlines,” affirmed Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl. “We believe [the] Overture can help American deepen its competitive advantage on network, loyalty and overall airline preference through the paradigm-changing benefits of cutting travel times in half.”

The Overture is being designed to carry between 65 and 80 passengers at a speed of Mach 1.7 over a range of 4 250 nautical miles, or 7 871 km. (Mach 1.0 is the speed of sound.) It would fly twice as fast as the fastest airliner currently in service, although it would travel supersonically only over water. It would, for example, be able to fly from Los Angeles in the US State of California to Honolulu in the US State of Hawaii in three hours, instead of the almost six hours needed today, or from London in the UK to Miami in the US State of Florida in a little less than five hours, as against the nine-and-a-half hours currently required.

Boom revealed the final production design of the Overture last month. Prototype roll-out is expected in 2025, first flight in 2026, and entry-into-service in 2029. The airliner will have a cruising altitude of 60 000 ft (about 18 300 m) and will be powered by four turbofan engines, compatible with 100% sustainable aviation fuels. These will not need to use afterburners to achieve supersonic speeds. Regarding engines, the company is partnering with UK-based Rolls-Royce and France-based Safran.

The last supersonic airliner to see commercial service was the Anglo-French (Aérospatiale/British Aircraft Corporation) Concorde, which operated from 1976 to 2003. Its Soviet counterpart, the Tupolev Tu-144, only operated as an airliner in 1977 and 1978 (due to two crashes) and then as a fast cargo aircraft until 1983, thereafter serving as a cosmonaut training and scientific research aircraft (including by the US) until 1999.