Boom har født Baby Boom - Curt Lewis

Boom aims for supersonic airliner rate of 60 per year


The Boom Technology XB-1 demonstrator.


Boom Technology unveils supersonic demonstrator

Boom Technology is fully funded to get a demonstrator of the supersonic airliner it is developing in the air by the end of 2019, the Denver-based company's CEO says.

Addressing audiences at a pre-conference event and during the Boyd Group International Aviation Summit in Denver Aug. 21, Boom CEO Blake Scholl said the XB-1 "Baby Boom" demonstrator was set to make its first flight by end of 2019 and the company could be ready to deliver its first aircraft to an airline as early as 2025.

"We're the only supersonic program to be fully funded through first flight," Scholl said.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has invested $10 million in the entrepreneurial company, which gives it the option of purchase 20 of the 55-seat airliners, which would fly at Mach 2.2 and cost about $200 million per aircraft, according to Scholl.

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has also taken options for 10 Boom aircraft.

While the aircraft is being developed using existing technology, reducing risk and costs, it would still require a ticket price that would put it in the upper-premium class. The $200 million price tag would make it about $60 more expensive than a Boeing 787-9, but Scholl argues the "cost magic" of the supersonic aircraft lies with its "speed dividend". Because it could potentially halve the flight time of long-haul routes, Blake says an airline would therefore get twice as many trips out of the aircraft; for example 1,327 trips per year versus a 787's 584.

Boom is also promoting the idea that airlines would be able to segment its premium traffic, with high-yield passengers willing to pay more to greatly reduce their flight times.

"You are chopping off the front of your widebody," Scholl said, referring to the premium cabin at the front of a typical multi-class airliner. "Blake's crystal ball is that subsonic will become the low-cost carrier market and supersonic will become the premium."

But Boom, which now employs 85 people, has a long way to go to make the aircraft the first supersonic airliner since the Franco-British Concorde stopped operations in 2003. Scholl, for instance, does not address how an airline would make its widebodies profitable without the high-yield passengers that typically provide the majority of the full-service airline's profits.

Nor does he fully address the additional operational costs and complexity of introducing an additional aircraft type in a fleet, although he says, "We are deliberately designing it to make it as easy to operate as possible. You don't need widebody gates; it's the opposite of an A380."

Another operational hurdle is that, based on the existing technology, ATW understands the aircraft could not do routes such as Los Angeles-Tokyo nonstop; it would need to refuel somewhere-Alaska, for instance. That would add time, ground support and potentially customer support costs.

Nevertheless, Scholl says that the aircraft is generating a lot of interest. The company had a chalet at the Farnborough Air Show in July and it was "buzzing", he said. "The conversation today is about who is in the market and who will be first."

The two-seat XB-1 demonstrator is being built at the company's Colorado facility at Centennial Airport near Denver. It will be powered by three General Electric J85 engines and test flights will take place in southern California.

The production aircraft would be powered by three turbofans and have a 1-1 cabin configuration. The company is aiming for an annual production rate of 60 aircraft, Scholl said.