by Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press
Raleigh, NC — A Colorado-based airline wants to build a plant for next-generation supersonic passenger jets at a North Carolina airport, government officials said on Wednesday, after local and state boards announced huge financial incentives for Boom Supersonic’s parent company. has been approved.
According to local and state officials, if successful, construction and test operations at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro could create at least 1,750 jobs in the region by 2030, while providing a post-Concorde generation of consumers. Significantly cuts down on flight time.
A state incentive panel voted to offer Boom Technology Inc. a cash incentive over 20 years, should the company meet plant investment and job-creation goals. The award statement describes an investment of $500 million by the end of 2030.
A state Commerce Department official publicly informed the committee that Jacksonville, Florida, and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, were in the running for the plant. The City Council of Greensboro also identified Boom Technology on Wednesday morning, approving local incentives.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on the incentives until a formal announcement. Governor Roy Cooper announced economic development at the airport for Wednesday afternoon.
Boom is one of several companies trying to revive supersonic passenger travel, which died nearly two decades ago with the grounding of Concorde. BOOM has built a triple-sized demonstrator plane called the XB1, but now faces the daunting challenge of scaling it up.
Several technical and manufacturing hurdles still must be overcome in order for airline companies to offer Boom’s Overture plane, which will carry 65 to 88 passengers, consume so-called sustainable aviation fuel and cruise at 1,300 mph at 60,000 feet. – Twice the speed of today’s passenger jets.
The local and state incentives identified Wednesday totaled $121.5 million, not including the $107 million that the state legislature set aside for road improvements, hangar construction and other site work at Piedmont Triad Airport, whether an airport The shipbuilder chooses to expand into Guilford County. At the time the airport money was approved, a legislator called “Project Thunderbird” — a name the state commerce official also mentioned Wednesday.
Piedmont Triad Airport is already owned by Honda Aircraft Co. It is headquartered in and produces the seven-passenger HondaJet Elites.
Boom claims “pre-orders” from several potential customers, including United Airlines, which last year announced plans to buy 15 copies of Overture and opt for another 35. However, United said any order depends on Boom to meet certain financial and operational requirements. goal, which he declined to describe in any detail.
Skeptics say that if supersonic passenger travel was indeed possible, then Boeing and Airbus would be building planes instead of leaving the market for startups like Boom.
The Concorde flew over the Atlantic and was stopped by several overland routes due to sonic booms, and any new supersonic aircraft would face similar obstacles. Another factor that helped kill Concorde was its high cost of operation. The company’s founder and CEO, Blake Shawl, has said that the technology will help solve both of those challenges, and that tickets should be in the range of current-day business-class fares.
Associated Press Airlines in Dallas writer David Koenig contributed to this report.
