“Honestly, I’m surprised the FAA would propose such a weak rule,” Rutherford told the publication.
U.S. lawmakers in Congress have also been pushing for Supersonic Aviation Modernization Law. That would require the FAA to allow supersonic overland flights “as long as the aircraft is operated in such a manner that no sonic boom reaches the ground in the United States.” The bill passed the House on March 24, 2026 and is still awaiting a vote in the Senate.
Another way to perform silent supersonic flight
Meanwhile, NASA has been testing a different approach to achieve quieter supersonic flights with the Search Lockheed Martin X-59—a fine-nose experimental aircraft with a structure designed to reduce the typical sonic boom to a sonic thump. NASA has relied on perceived decibel levels (PldB) to evaluate sound levels, with the goal of consistently demonstrating sonic booms of around 75 PldB that would sound like a car door closing about 20 feet away.
A NASA test pilot and mission integration manager previously told Ars that the X-59 aircraft future supersonic flight tests on US cities and towns across the country would provide community feedback on perceived sound levels that could help inform regulations by civil aviation authorities.
The FAA still has time to further refine proposed noise regulations for supersonic land flights before seeking to finalize them by mid-2027. The agency also plans to propose another rule later this year that would establish takeoff and landing noise standards for supersonic aircraft.
Legalizing quieter supersonic land flights does not guarantee a successful return of supersonic commercial airliners. He Concorde supersonic aircraft reduced transatlantic flights between New York and London from seven hours to less than three hours, but the plane’s enormous fuel consumption made it difficult to maintain profitable operations, not to mention recovering the more than $2.8 billion in development costs shared by the governments of the United Kingdom and France.
Boom Supersonic is developing a supersonic plane called Overture with the goal of delivering the first aircraft to customers by 2029. The company has signed commercial agreements with American Airlines, Japan Airlines and United Airlines that give the companies options to purchase the Overture aircraft.
But Boom has also moved away from its main objective in recent months to produce natural gas turbines to power AI data centers. Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom has suggested that revenue from this side venture would help pay the development costs of the supersonic airline Overture. At the same time, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has said that gives Boom a “50/50” chance to fly your supersonic plane.
