The Concorde passenger jet never really took off, ceasing operation after just a couple of decades due to high operating costs. That jet flew its last flight in 2003, but now over 20 years later, another supersonic passenger jet just had its first flight this week. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00The Concorde passenger jet never really took off, ceasing operation after just a couple of decades
00:05due to high operating costs. That jet flew its last flight in 2003. But now, over 20 years later,
00:11another supersonic passenger jet company had its first test flight this week.
00:15This is Boom Supersonics XB-1, their prototype that just broke the sound barrier. That means
00:21it reached speeds of more than 770 miles per hour, also known as Mach 1. However,
00:26this flight was special as Boom Supersonic is the first private aviation company to
00:30make such an achievement, as the Concorde was actually joint developed by the French and UK
00:35governments. Today was just a huge, huge day. This is the first civilian supersonic flight
00:42in 22 years. The first time a civil supersonic jet built in America has broken the sound barrier.
00:51And also the first time a civil supersonic jet has been built outside of a nation state.
00:57Regulatory constraints dictate that no aircraft may fly supersonic over land. So if and when
01:01this is operable, it will still only fly around 20% faster than traditional passenger jets,
01:06at least when traveling over our heads. That dream will eventually be aboard a much larger
01:10supersonic airliner called the Overture, which will be capable of carrying upwards of 80 passengers.
01:16American, United and Japan Airlines have already pre-ordered 130 of those aircraft.