Supersonic Private Jets May Not Be That Far in the Future

There’s no way to fly at supersonic speeds commercially, but the next generation of large private jets is slowly edging closer toward that milestone.

In a world where flying 500-600 mph is the norm, the next era of opulent private aircraft are employing sophisticated new wings and engines to help jet-setting titans of business, celebrities and other affluent people cruise faster than the masses. 

Bombardier is touting a top cruise speed of Mach 0.94 (721 mph) for its planned flagship, the Global 8000 aircraft – the name matching its 8,000 nautical mile range. That speed is roughly 25% faster than the typical speeds of aircraft like the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus’s A320 family.

Bombardier has made speed a central tenet of its marketing efforts for the Global 8000, including prominent touts of a video the company produced during a May 2021 test flight in which a very similar Bombardier model, the Global 7500, broke the sound barrier.

“Bombardier set out to push boundaries as the clientele for this category of jet demand to be flying on a unique and unmatched piece of engineering as much as an aircraft that feels like home,” spokeswoman Stephanie Faraggi said in an email to The Messenger. “Getting our clients from point A to B in the shortest time possible, and in the most comfortable cabin in the industry, is key to helping them meet their goals.” 

Dassault Aviation is aiming for its new top-of-the-line Falcon 10X, to cruise at Mach 0.9, the same speed at which rival Gulfstream’s new G800 can fly. 

All three long-range models are scheduled to enter the market by the end of 2025, with capacity for as many as 19 people. Of course, faster cruise speeds will also generally decrease these birds’ enormous range: Nonstop from Los Angeles to Singapore or Houston to Dubai.

The last commercial supersonic service ended with the Concorde’s retirement 20 years ago. Subsequent efforts to launch a new era of supersonic travel have proved fruitless, to date. 

Boeing flirted with near-supersonic speeds at the turn of the millennium. The company pushed its Sonic Cruiser as offering cruise speeds of Mach 0.98, or about 15%-20% faster than current aircraft. Boeing’s futuristic bet on speed was designed to counter the double-deck A380 behemoth that Airbus was marketing. The 2001 terrorist attacks and air traffic decline spelled the Sonic Cruiser’s demise in 2002.

In 2021, Aerion Supersonic, a startup backed by Texas billionaire Robert Bass and Boeing, flamed out spectacularly after funding dried up during the pandemic – despite more than $10 billion in orders. Aerion had planned its $120 million AS2 business jet to fly at Mach 1.6 over oceans and Mach 0.99 in populated areas, where U.S. regulators prohibit sonic booms.

Another startup, Colorado-based Boom Technology, continues to develop a 64-80 passenger supersonic jet, Overture, to fly at Mach 1.7. The company, which plans to open an assembly factory in Greensboro, North Carolina next year, has 130 orders from American, United and Japan Airlines. Boom says the Overture will begin commercial flights in 2029.

On the even-faster front, Hermeus, is working to build a hypersonic aircraft that would fly at Mach 5, or twice the Concorde’s speed. The proposed Halcyon aircraft would make 90-minute trans-Atlantic jaunts at 90,000 feet.