New York to London in 3 Hours? Boom Supersonic’s CEO Is Betting on 2029

Supersonic passenger travel may have died with Concorde in 2003, but Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl told the Skift Travel Podcast that the barriers that doomed it are gone. His goal: New York to London in three hours by the end of 2029.

Boom, he argued, has solved key technological and regulatory barriers. The company’s jet, XB-1, recently became the first privately built aircraft to break the sound barrier, proving that supersonic flight can be achieved outside of government programs and at a fraction of the historical cost.

“We are a minimum of six times more capital efficient than the old guys,” Scholl told co-hosts Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko, adding that Boom’s passenger jet program could be delivered for billions less than traditional aerospace players would spend.

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One important innovation is the company’s approach to the dreaded sonic boom. Using algorithms originally developed for computer gaming, Boom created “Boomless Cruise,” a software-driven technique that allows aircraft to fly supersonically without creating disruptive shockwaves on the ground. “It’s not about the airplane — it’s about how you fly it,” Scholl said.

This capability helped unlock a key regulatory reversal earlier this year: the end of a 52-year U.S. ban on civilian supersonic flight. Scholl said Boom demonstrated its solution, then moved quickly in Washington to secure bipartisan support. “From our first supersonic flight in February to regulatory approval in June, it took just 115 days,” he noted.

Skeptics — including Air France’s CEO — argue that supersonic travel is simply too costly and complex to ever scale. Scholl countered that such views rely on outdated assumptions.

Concorde, he said, was a Cold War prestige project that never prioritized commercial viability. Boom’s Overture aircraft, by contrast, is being co-developed with airlines like United, American, and Japan Airlines, which have already placed pre-orders.

With round-trip fares projected around $3,500 across the Atlantic, Boom is positioning its service squarely in the business-class segment. Early flights, however, could command far higher prices given limited supply and a vastly improved onboard product.

If Boom succeeds, the implications extend far beyond aviation. Scholl drew historical parallels to the jet age of the 1960s, which opened Hawaii to mass tourism, transformed professional sports schedules, and even enabled Nike’s global rise. Supersonic, he argued, could spark similar second-order shifts in destinations, culture, and commerce.

“We’re not smart enough to predict every effect,” Scholl said. “But one thing we can be sure of is it will mean more travel and more cultural connection.”

Boom expects to roll its first Overture passenger jet out of the hangar in 2027, fly it in 2028, and carry travelers by the end of 2029. The company is also working on next-generation engines designed to achieve supersonic speeds without the noisy and inefficient afterburners that hampered Concorde.

For now, Scholl is betting that speed will once again reshape how — and how often — people travel. “Boom can be a bigger company than Boeing,” he said. “The demand is there. The only question is execution.”