Rep. Nehls: Supersonic Bans “Outdated And Ridiculous”

U.S. House Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation, says that bans on overland commercial supersonic flight are outdated and ridiculous, and he wants to get new designs flying before the end of the decade.

Rep. Nehls recently met with Denver, Colorado-based Boom Supersonic that earlier this year demonstrated several times it could fly its scale demonstrator at supersonic speeds without generating a sonic boom that reached the ground.

At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aviation Summit in Washington, D.C., on September 9, Nehls said that the environment that prompted the ban in 1973 no longer exists.

Nehls told the audience, “When you look at supersonic, they’re saying, ‘Well, that big sonic boom, breaking grandma’s window while she’s drinking her coffee in the morning.’ That’s ridiculous. Boom Aviation has proven it, and they’ve done it this year, that they can break that sound barrier and that supersonic isn’t hitting the ground.”

In June, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing the FAA to create rules allowing for commercial supersonic flights that meet predetermined noise standards. In May the U.S. Senate introduced the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act, which would do just that.

Nehls sponsored companion legislation in the House, and the bill has 10 cosponsors – 9 Republican and 1 Democrat – and it has been referred to the subcommittee that Nehls chairs. Nehls said he expects the bill to be brought up in October for debate and markup, which is necessary before presenting to the full House for consideration.

United Airlines has already signed up to purchase 50 Overtures, the full-scale commercial airliner being developed by Boom. Nehls said at the summit that it shows there is a demonstrated demand. He said, “We think we could have these in production, here in our fleet, so to speak, by 2030. Let’s get it done. Could you imagine being able to go across the pond in four hours?”

A flight from D.C. to San Francisco would cost about $5,000, far less than a flight on the Concorde, and take 90 minutes less than a flight on a current airliner.

Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom said that the order lifting the ban “blows the market wide open.” He also said that the Overture burns more fuel than a conventional passenger aircraft, but despite that, the aircraft would be a “flying mint, economically.”

Nehls also discussed the modernization of the air traffic control system and addressing the shortage of controllers. He thinks the project would take $15 to $20 billion more than what the FAA already has appropriated, but Nehls is on board with it, saying, “We’re in it with both feet. We have to demonstrate we’re the gold standard in aviation.”

FMI:  transportation.house.gov/