Supersonic Passenger Jets

The will not be able to fly overland in most places while going supersonic for the foreseeable future. The real demand for this plane is going to be long haul business travel where flights are 10+ hours and those of us doing it regularly are already forking over 4 - 7K per ticket normally. Fortunately if you look at the world most of the cities you will want to fly to are basically on the coast, or a short distance inland.

The problem is not technology, but the willingness to pay for it. The average flight is only a few hours long, but costs at least a hundred dollars. Most people are willing to put up with a lot of discomfort to save a few bucks. A supersonic jet would effectively be an all-business-class service, which has been tried many times before and has always failed due to a lack of demand. The 787 optimizes for what customers want: namely, lower ticket prices.

What cargo would justify a supersonic flight?

Exactly this. Supersonic flight is likely to be more expensive than subsonic flight, and will likely mostly be used by people that fly regularly. Even moderately frequent travellers don't find airports that much of an issue because a) their status allows them to skip most of the horrible parts, and b) they have learned how to travel efficiently.

The air density decreases exponentially with the altitude, while the drag only increases quadratically with speed. It is entirely possible that there is an altitude, maybe 70km, where it is much more economical to fly (at supersonic speeds) than the current subsonic planes. Most likely the CEO of Boom ran the numbers, and the $100 ticket price is doable, at least if you exclude things like profit, capital depreciation, insurance, etc.

I don’t think business and rich people will use it either. The Concorde worked because you were in a black hole while you crossed the Atlantic, unable to work and unplugged from what was going on. So saving 5 hours was extremely valuable. Now, we have laptops and in-flight wifi, so you don’t miss much on the plane like you used to. Combine that with ultra luxury first class cabins that make the flight extremely comfortable, and saving some time while having to sacrifice all the amenities that co

You’re not factoring in the ability of supersonic planes to fly at higher altitudes lowering air resistance.Also these planes could entice the rich to forgo flying on private jets. I’m sure 50 folks on a supersonic jet is still more efficient than 50 gulf streams.

A better analogy is airplanes and air travel. We have the technology to build supersonic passenger jets, but the economics don't work: leisure travelers are unable/unwilling to pay more for their ticket to get at their destination two times as fast. Their time isn't valuable enough to justify the added expense. Yet, business executives are willing to pay for supersonic business jets because their time is that valuable. Supersonic private jets are already under development.Consumers wou

We need supersonic airports, not planes. Spending 2h to board a plane for a 1h flight is just wrong

Based on the trends in at least the US passenger industry, airlines seem to be moving more towards smaller planes and shorter hops. I don't think a new Concorde would have had any impact on that at all. If the airlines wanted a long-range, faster plane, a manufacturer would have come along and built it by now. But like the computer industry, air travel is driven to low-price commodity service, and luxury high performance air travel doesn't fit in that business model.