Ubercool

Supersonic Travel Reinvented

June 25th, 2007

One of the biggest Ubertrends ruling lives today is Time Compression, or the “acceleration of life.” Ask any CEO if they would like to fly faster and you’d get a resounding “yes.” That’s why I truly lament the demise of the Concorde in 2003, it was a step backward in the evolution of humanity. Well, fret no more Texas billionaire Robert Bass is coming to our rescue.

At Paris’ fabled Le Bourget air show last week, the Aerion debuted, an US$80 million supersonic jet that will carry eight passengers from Chicago to London in less than six hours, a flight that now takes more than eight hours.

But Bass is not alone. A $2.5 billion Nevada start-up, called Supersonic Aerospace International, has hired Lockheed Martin’s advanced Skunk Works unit to develop a 12-seat jet, the QSST or “quiet supersonic travel,” which will be able to fly at 1,200 mph or Mach 1.8, while producing only a whisper of the annoying boom once emitted by the retired Concorde.

Over the next decade, The Teal Group estimates, manufacturers will turn out some 12,000 business jets, worth $173 billion. This year alone, manufacturers will produce 999 business jets, worth $16.4 billion, according to Teal. That is nearly double the 2003 output, when sales bottomed out after the last big growth spurt of 2001-2 ended.

Entry Filed under: Travel