Trump's FAA Proposes Ending 50-Year Ban on Domestic Supersonic Flight

Supersonic flight has long been associated with crossing oceans in record time. The Concorde famously reduced travel time between New York and London to just three hours before its retirement in 2003. However, flying supersonic within the United States has been prohibited since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned overland supersonic flights in March 1973 due to concerns over loud sonic booms.

The Trump administration now seeks to change that—though progress through the bureaucracy has been slow. Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to "empower our engineers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries to deliver the next generation of air travel" by lifting the ban. Earlier this month, the FAA announced a proposal for new sound-based rules that would replace the outright prohibition. Members of the public have until August 17 to submit comments.

Proposed Sound-Based Rules

The proposal sets a limit of 0.11 pounds per square foot of overpressure on the ground from sonic booms. For context, the Concorde produced 1.94 pounds per square foot at peak overpressure. The new limit is based on research by the startup Boom Supersonic, which is pioneering a technique to ensure that shock waves from breaking the sound barrier bounce harmlessly through the atmosphere instead of reaching the ground.

Industry Response

Boom Supersonic has expressed cautious optimism about the FAA's proposal. "We're thrilled that supersonic flight is about to be legal again, on the heels of our historic demonstration of boomless supersonic flight aboard XB-1," company spokeswoman Aubrey Scanlan told Reason, adding that the company will "provide our comments to the FAA after a full assessment" of the rules.

A Dream Deferred

Supersonic passenger travel has been a dream delayed for decades. In the 1960s, the working assumption among aircraft manufacturers worldwide was that most long-haul flights would eventually be supersonic. Airports—including the airfield in southern Florida that later became known as Alligator Alcatraz—were built to accommodate the anticipated monster jets.

The Sonic Boom Problem

Sonic booms proved to be more problematic than initially expected. In 1964, the FAA and U.S. Air Force attempted to demonstrate the harmlessness of sonic booms by flying jets repeatedly over Oklahoma City. Instead, the experiment resulted in broken windows, terrified citizens, and a public backlash that ultimately led to the FAA's ban on overland supersonic flights.

Economic Challenges

Economics posed another major obstacle to supersonic travel. The only supersonic passenger jet to reach the market was the Concorde, which was heavily subsidized by the French and British governments. Even with those subsidies, tickets cost $7,000 per round trip—nearly double that amount in today's dollars. A deadly accident in 2000 further drove away customers.

Boom Supersonic's Approach

Boom Supersonic aims to solve both the economic and technical challenges. It is the first private company ever to develop a supersonic airplane with (mostly) private funding. CEO Black Scholl told CNN in 2021 that he was targeting flights with $100 tickets. Following the flight of its XB-1 prototype in 2024, the company reported 130 orders and preorders from airlines.

The Science of Boomless Flight

The theoretical foundations for boomless supersonic flight have existed for a few decades, but only recently have aerodynamic computer models allowed engineers to put them into practice. When an object flies faster than the speed of sound, it generates a cone of pressure waves that sounds like a loud explosion to anyone it passes over. Boom Supersonic aims to exploit a phenomenon called Mach cutoff, in which refraction through the atmosphere prevents those pressure waves from ever reaching the ground. The company announced the first successful "boomless cruise" in February 2025, though scientists caution that Mach cutoff depends on specific weather conditions.