President Trump Lifts Ban on Supersonic Flight Over U.S. Soil
In a significant policy shift, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing the Federal Aviation Administration to lift the 52-year ban on supersonic flight over U.S. soil. This move comes just weeks after bipartisan legislation was introduced with the same aim.
The executive order instructs the FAA to end the overland supersonic ban and establish noise-based certification standards. This will allow for faster-than-sound travel as long as no audible sonic boom reaches the ground.
Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Michael Kratsios, emphasized the need for Americans to be able to travel from New York to LA in under four hours. This decision is expected to accelerate commercial supersonic flight development, including efforts by Boom Supersonic. In January, Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator became the first privately developed civil aircraft to break the sound barrier over the continental U.S.
Boom CEO Blake Scholl expressed excitement about the news, stating that with the legalization of supersonic flight, the return of supersonic passenger air travel is inevitable.
In addition to lifting the ban on supersonic flight, President Trump also signed two other executive orders related to the future of flight. One order aims to expedite drone commercialization and electric vertical takeoff vehicle development, while the other establishes a federal task force on drone flight restrictions.
