Key points
- Boom Supersonic, founded by former Amazon engineer Blake Scholl, is developing the first supersonic passenger aircraft since the Concorde
- Its test aircraft, the XB-1 “Baby Boom,” broke the sound barrier
- The company envisions trans-Atlantic round trips in a single day
ISLAMABAD: Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl wants to bring back flights that break the sound barrier. Now he just needs to figure out whether airlines and travelers will buy in, according to a report published by Wall Street Journal.
When the Concorde was grounded in 2003, done in by strained economics and a fiery crash on a Paris runway, it appeared to be the end of the line for supersonic travel. Nothing emerged to replace it. In fact, the speed of air travel moved in the opposite direction, with many routes getting slower in recent years as congestion and air-traffic control inefficiencies jammed up the skies.
Breaking the sound barrier, again. Today, @realDonaldTrump issued an executive order that effectively lifts the 52-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land in the U.S. It directs the FAA to repeal the supersonic speed limit as long as aircraft don’t produce an audible sonic… pic.twitter.com/4jQeCRcpwt
— Boom Supersonic (@boomaero) June 6, 2025
A former Amazon software engineer named Blake Scholl founded a company to change this.
A decade ago, he launched Boom Supersonic, betting that his Denver-based startup could tap in to the allure of ultrafast travel—a desire that has never quite been extinguished despite the financial and practical challenges that ended the Concorde’s nearly 30-year run.
Trans-Atlantic Round-Trip in a Single Day
Scholl sees a world where round-trip trans-Atlantic business journeys happen in a single day.
According to a report published in Euro News, Boom Supersonic, based in Colorado, is developing the world’s first supersonic passenger aircraft since the demise of Concorde. While the full-size aircraft is still a few years away, the company has reached a milestone in the project when it successfully broke the sound barrier with its small-scale test aircraft.
The “Baby Boom”
The XB-1, affectionately known as the “Baby Boom”, is a one-third-scale demonstrator used to test the technology that Boom will employ in its full-scale aircraft. The XB-1 achieved Mach 1.05 within about 11 minutes of taking off.
“XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,” Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a statement. “A small band of talented and dedicated engineers has accomplished what previously took governments and billions of dollars”.
The aircraft, which flew for the first time in March, is made almost completely from lightweight carbon fibre. It uses an augmented reality vision system to help with landing, since its long nose and high-angle approach can make it difficult for pilots to see.
“The future of aviation is here and now,” told Amy Marino Spowart, president and CEO of the National Aeronautic Association. “Not only is there hope for faster and better commercial flight, but Boom proves that it can be done sustainably”.
Boom’s Overture airliner will be the first supersonic passenger aircraft in more than two decades.
