The airline company United is planning to release Supersonic passenger flights by the end of 2029. It is planning to get 15 of these planes, and it will be getting them from a company named Boom, which still needs to test it’s supersonic aircrafts. Supersonic flights are when a plane goes faster than the speed of sound. That would mean going faster than 660mph when the plane is 60,000 feet in the air. A regular plane usually travels 560 mph, but this new supersonic jet is expected to fly at speeds up to 1,122 mph. When going that fast, transatlantic distances could be cut in half. For example, according to Boom, the jet could go from New York to London in 3.5 hours, which is 3 hours faster than regular planes.
There are a few problems with Supersonic flights, like noise and pollution. When going faster than the speed of sound, a sonic boom happens, which sounds like an explosion or loud thunderclap to people on the ground. Because of the boom, planes are usually not supposed to fly too fast until they are over the ocean, to stay away from people who might be disturbed by the noise. Boom says that it is confident that their planes will not be louder than regular planes. Now, to the other problem – fuel. Since the planes will fly faster, they will need more power, which will need more fuel. But Boom expects the jets to be “net-zero carbon aircrafts”.
