Boom recently lost its jet engine partner for the Overture supersonic jet, and other major engine manufacturers aren’t interested in the project either. Well-informed person has reported. After Boom signed a “compromise agreement” with Rolls-Royce for supersonic jet engines in 2020, the latter announced last week who had left the project. Now other major jet engine manufacturers, including Pratt & Whitney, GE Aviation, Honeywell and Safran Aircraft Engines, have said FlightGlobal they are currently not interested in supersonic aircraft.
However, Boom said the project is still underway and an associated engine will be announced soon. “We can reconfirm our intent to announce Boom’s selected engine partner and transformational approach to reliable, profitable and sustainable supersonic flight later this year.” boom said Well-informed person. The company has orders for 20 planes from American Airlines and 15 from United. It plans to build a factory in California and start transporting passengers by 2029.
For its part, Rolls-Royce said that “after careful consideration… [we] We have determined that the commercial aviation supersonic market is not currently a priority for us and therefore we will not continue to work on the program at this time.”
After careful consideration, Rolls-Royce has determined that the commercial aviation supersonic market is not currently a priority for us and therefore will not continue to work on the program at this time.
There are a limited number of other manufacturers capable of developing a supersonic jet engine, and all of the major ones said it’s not in their plans. Honeywell, Safron and GE all rejected the idea, while Pratt & Whitney said supersonic travel is “tangential” to their business.
Pratt & Whitney cited efficiency as an issue for supersonic planes, and other manufacturers said they are focused on reducing fuel consumption. That’s the main direction for the industry right now, given criticism of the contribution of air travel to global warming. Additionally, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recently criticized supersonic travel, noting in a report that would use 7 to 9 times more fuel per passenger, per kilometer, than subsonic jets.
Boom has said it would offset its carbon output by using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). However, the ICAO report said that it would be a misuse of scarce SAF fuels, given the high fuel consumption compared to a regular aircraft. He also noted that “the high cruising altitude of supersonics significantly increases the residence time of emissions.”
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