Ashlee VanceNYT Best Seller | Reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek

Why the Concorde Died #supersonictravel #theconcorde #aviationhistory

16 Mar 2025 · 2 min

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In this segment, Speaker A explains that the Concorde originated from a 1962 Anglo‑French treaty aimed at demonstrating Western technological superiority over the Soviet Union, rather than creating a commercially viable supersonic airliner. He argues that the project was a prestige‑driven venture that, while technically impressive, failed to deliver lasting economic value, leaving a legacy that cast commercial supersonic flight as unfeasible. Speaker B then shifts to the present, describing Boom Supersonic’s upcoming test of the XB‑1 demonstrator and its ultimate goal, the Overture airliner, which will carry up to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, highlighting the technical specifications and the renewed effort to make supersonic travel commercially viable.

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So Concorde was established in 1962 via treaty between the British and the French. So the goal was not really, let's go build a commercial supersonic airliner. The goal was to show that Western technology was superior to Soviet technology. So it is very much like Apollo. So, you know, 1969, we flew Concorde for the first time. 1969, we landed on the moon. Half a century later, can't do either of those things. I think it really shows the folly of prestige-driven innovation. You can do some very technically impressive things, but it creates the illusion of progress. And they're not lasting. It's not lasting because it's not done in an economically viable way. People remembered Concorde as meaning that supersonic commercial flight wasn't a good idea. And it took a Herculean effort to get the world to be open to that idea again. And if we screw it up, it won't be because it was impossible. It was because— it'll be because we screwed it up. And so I feel you know, a lot of responsibility to make sure it actually happens.
Tomorrow, Boom will be testing the XB-1, but that's just the first step. Boom's real goal is to get to this plane. It's called Overture, and it will hold up to 80 passengers and fly at Mach 1.7. The term Mach speed means the local speed of sound, which at sea level is 768 miles per hour. Today, commercial airplanes typically cruise at around 460 to 500