Boom Supersonic ready to take off thanks to decades of planning

February 11th, 2023

Happy Saturday morning. Hopefully soon, you’ll be looking up in the North Carolina sky not in search of a Chinese balloon, but of an American-made supersonic commercial jet.
 
Late last month, Boom Supersonic broke ground on its “Overture Superfactory” to start production on what is expected to be the world’s fastest jetliner, opening up a new era of supersonic travel with the goal of maintaining a net-zero carbon footprint.
 
Boom’s decision to build at Piedmont Triad International Airport rests on a foundation of sound economic development planning. Instead of directly competing with Raleigh and Charlotte airports for more consumer travel, the Piedmont Triad International Airport transformed its facilities to attract large companies that need access to an airport.
 
Currently, the airport employs more than 8,000 people who work for Honda Aircraft, HAECO, FedEx, Textron and others. Boom’s new factory may add up to 2,400 positions, and because of the strategic planning, there is even more room for growth.
 
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What’s the history of the company that hopes to forever change air travel? In 2014, Blake Scholl founded Boom Supersonic in his basement in Denver, CO, with a vision to bring the world closer together through mainstreaming supersonic flight. Scholl led a successful career in the tech space before starting Boom.
 
The most recent commercial supersonic jet, the Concorde, last flew in 2003, and was retired because it became too expensive to operate. Boom plans to change the game by leveraging advances in materials and new sustainable fuels to keep costs affordable while providing supersonic flights.
 
In 2016, Boom began designing the Overture jetliner, hoping to transform the aviation industry.  Boom developed the XB-1 test aircraft which rolled out in 2020, allowing Boom to test and improve the technology necessary for the larger Overture aircraft. The tests performed by Boom on the XB-1 over the last few years demonstrate the feasibility of the larger supersonic jetliner.
 
At the start of 2022, Boom unveiled the Overture design to great fanfare at the Farnborough International Airshow. Additionally, Boom continues to develop and test the Overture aircraft at its “Iron Bird” facility in Colorado.
 
There was cause for concern when Rolls Royce announced in September 2022 it would not renew engine design contract with Boom. But within months, Boom had a new design partner, and the company recently rolled out plans for its new Symphony engine that will power its airplane sustainably and cost-effectively.
 
Given Boom’s progress toward a market ready product, the company continues to partner with respected aviation community members. In 2017, Boom announced a partnership with Japan Airlines with an option to pre-purchase 20 airplanes. Major defense contractor Collins Aerospace and the United States Air Force announced strategic partnerships with Boom to facilitate executive transport for defense officials. Finally, United Airlines became the first American airline to prepurchase 20 planes from Boom.
 
So far, Boom has already announced more prepurchases of airplanes than the number of Concordes built.
 
Boom is on track to transform air travel just a decade after it launched.
 
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Boom could have gone anywhere in the world. But it chose Greensboro because of the decades of strategic planning by Piedmont Triad International Airport and other economic development leaders.
 
Two-and-a-half decades ago, PTI authority decided to buy the Longview golf course to attract large companies to the airport. In 2003, PTI authority bought another golf course with the same vision of expanding the land available to large companies.
 
Over time the airport assembled over 1,000 acres of land ready for development between the airport and Interstate 73. Starting in the 1990s the airport authority started on the path to building a megasite to attract large industries before megasites were really in vogue.
 
Not only was the land collected, but leadership also made the necessary infrastructure investments to attract large companies. The airport built a new control tower to handle the increase in air traffic. General Assembly leaders, including Senate Leader Phil Berger, had decided in 2018 to approve $50 million for the taxiway bridge to expand the usability of the airport’s land. At the time, the decision drew controversy because the taxiway had no immediate use, but without the taxiway bridge in place, Boom may have never come to North Carolina. The bridge showed Boom that the airport was committed to getting the site ready.
 
On top of the wise leadership to develop the site, the political leadership welcomed Boom with open arms while they were reviewing the Triad. One particular story that stands out is that after their first visit, the state’s economic development team heard that Boom representatives did not get to see much of the downtown area. So on the next visit, the mayors of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point took the representatives to each of their three downtowns to show that the region is not just one city but three communities working together. This helped communicate how North Carolina’s political leadership works together to bring in business.
 
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Boom is ready to take off like a rocket ship to change the aviation industry because of the wise planning and investments made by the leaders in the Triad to get the launch pad ready.
 
North Carolina is poised to add to its “First in Flight” legacy by serving as a launching point for a new fleet of supersonic airliners. Boom plans to invest at least $500 million and create 1,780 jobs, with as many as 2,400 jobs by the end of 2024.
 
Economist estimate that Boom’s total economic impact will be over $32.3 billion over the next two decades. None of this would have been possible without wise planning to prepare the site for large companies to move in quickly.
 
Even better, PTI is not done growing. They are actively trying to recruit even more businesses to the airport to truly turn the Triad into a hub for transportation technology.