Carnegie Mellon Graduate Adds Pittsburgh Flair to Supersonic Air Travel

A Carnegie Mellon University graduate wants to usher in a revival of supersonic commercial air travel for the first time in more than two decades.

Blake Scholl credits the university for giving him the drive and innovative spirit to launch Boom Supersonic, the company behind the world’s first independently developed supersonic aircraft, The Overture. Past supersonic planes have been built either for the military or, like the Concorde, as a government project.

Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator plane broke the sound barrier – hitting Mach 1.122 or 750 mph – at 35,000 feet above the Mojave Desert on Jan. 28 without an audible sonic boom. That’s the same place where Chuck Yeager historically broke the sound barrier aboard the Bell XS-1, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” in 1947.

“XB-1’s supersonic flight demonstrates that the technology for passenger supersonic flight has arrived,” Scholl said in a statement. “Our ultimate goal is to bring the benefits of supersonic flight to everyone.”

Supersonic commercial flights are not new. The Concorde, developed in France in the 1970s, flew more than twice the speed of sound and could make a transatlantic crossing in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

The last Concorde flights were in 2003, when Air France and British Airways announced the plane’s retirement due to rising maintenance costs, low passenger numbers, a crash in Paris and a slump in air travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Only 14 Concordes were ever in service. And with an airfare of $20,000, it catered to a boutique clientele.

This time is different, says Scholl, who graduated from CMU in 2001 at age 20 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in engineering studies.

Boom built Overture to be more efficient and economical for airlines to operate, citing advancements in technology and access to high-tech materials. The company says today’s technology will make Overture safer, quieter and cheaper to fly than the Concorde.

Denver-based Boom expects airfares to be about $5,000 or around the cost of a current first-class ticket.

Last June, Boom finished construction on the Overture factory in Greensboro, North Carolina, which eventually is expected to turn out 66 Overtures each year. Boom anticipates Overture to be ready for commercial flights by 2030.

There are now 130 orders and pre-orders for Overture from American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines.

Not all of the company’s clients are private airlines.

Five years ago, the Air Force announced plans to take presidential transport through the sound barrier when it awarded a contract to Boom to research and develop a supersonic-capable aircraft.

“Looking back, choosing to come to CMU was one of the top five most important decisions I’ve ever made. I’m so grateful CMU was willing to do it, and it’s so emblematic of what I really love about the CMU culture. There are rules, but they can all be bent and broken with good reason,” Scholl told the school’s alumni magazine.