Virgin Scraps Boom Supersonic Order

The Virgin Atlantic Group, one of the earliest companies to express interest in Boom Supersonic’s Overture, has scrapped its prospective order for the aircraft type.

A report by The Telegraph indicates that a commitment with Boom Supersonic, however, was never firm, and such a deal, while first announced many years ago, was stagnant for some time. It, therefore, comes as hardly a shock this has lapsed.

Agreements for Boom Supersonic to provide their Overture to other airlines are also in place despite this most recent blow. However, question marks have continued to persist over the contract’s validity and how customers can exit it without any negative implications on their business.

Boom Supersonic initially said that the Virgin Group had committed alongside Japan Airlines to 30 jets, essentially being agreed to as a pre-order when much remained unknown about Overture.

However, unlike commitments from American Airlines and United Airlines, Virgin’s lacked clarity and has done so for quite some time.

Despite this, Boom Supersonic continues its attempts to return supersonic travel to the industry and says that recent announcements should help quieten those that doubt the project. However, the company still has many roadblocks that are seemingly ignored.

Boom says their first Overture will fly in 2029 with customers, but will the airlines that have supposed contracts with the company stick around that long, or are their contracts merely a means to generate PR and a mechanism to show shareholders the respective airlines are looking ahead rather than behind with new technology? Time will tell.