Remember when the Concorde represented the future of air travel? Supersonic flight was the stylish—but—distant chapter of aviation history for decades. That’s shifting quickly. Boom Supersonic is rebooting it, not as a retro revival, but as a daring, new leap forward—focusing on speed, sustainability, and a long-term vision for the future of flight.
Say hello to Overture: Supersonic, Sustainable, and Scaled for the Future.
Boom’s lead aircraft, Overture, is not so much about going faster. It’s about revolutionizing the very premise of commercial air travel. From the first day, Overture is configured to operate exclusively on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), positioning it to become the first large commercial plane to reach net-zero carbon emissions in its very first flight.
Founder and CEO Blake Scholl captures it best: “Faster flight is possible thanks to a revolution in clean energy.” He likens the transition to previous transportation revolutions—from sail to steam, from rail to flight—and predicts this next phase will be similarly influential.
But it takes more than vision to construct airplanes. Boom is pairing innovative engineering with fearless leadership and a commitment to long-term contribution. That means building talent, fostering partnerships, and investing in technologies that will define the next era of flight.
Fueling the Future: Developing the Next Generation of Aerospace Talent
Boom isn’t only designing airplanes—it’s creating a talent pipeline to keep pace with its vision. Addressing the House Small Business Committee, Scholl highlighted the importance of companies like Boom to the economy: “Growing companies like Boom are innovative, agile, and willing to take risks. They are also key job creators, driving economic growth through domestic production and reskilling America’s workforce.”
To make that a reality, Boom is introducing internship and apprenticeship programs at its Greensboro, North Carolina, manufacturing plant. They are fashioned to access homegrown talent, partnering with universities, community colleges, and technical schools so the next generation of aviation leaders can be trained right here at home.
Strategic Partnerships with a National Impact
Boom’s aspirations extend way beyond the commercial arena. Under a three-year, $60 million deal with the U.S. Air Force, the company is working on the possibility of supersonic transport in military use. The partnership, under the Air Force’s AFWERX innovation program, is intended to introduce private-sector innovations to national defense concepts.
Scholl explains: “We’re collaborating with the Air Force on the unique requirements for global military missions—helping us understand and better serve those needs while building on our commercial capabilities.” Overture’s blend of speed, capacity, and flexibility makes it well-suited for military use cases like executive transport, rapid logistics, and special operations.
Sustainability at the Core
At the core of Boom’s vision is a passion for clean energy. In its 2021 Environmental Sustainability Report, the company outlined a plan to make net-zero operations a reality and to make SAF a commonplace aviation fuel. Overture is only the beginning—Boom is also collaborating with producers of fuels and policymakers to expedite broader industry use of sustainable fuels.
Scholl is adamant on this issue: “The supersonic future will be built here in the United States, using the tremendous talent, entrepreneurial attitude, and heritage of innovation in our workforce.” It is the company’s lobbying and alliances that are central to taking the industry forward, environmentally and economically.
Greensboro: The Future of Flight Takes Off in North Carolina
The Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, is a cornerstone of Boom’s long-term strategy. This 65-acre campus is expected to create over 1,750 jobs by 2030, growing to more than 2,400 by 2032. Economists estimate the facility could add more than $32 billion to the state’s economy over the next 20 years.
President Joe Biden recently cited Greensboro as a shining example of American ingenuity, calling it a place “where the future is being written.” For Boom, it’s not just a factory—this is a launching pad for the future generation of aerospace leadership.
Leadership and Grit: Blake Scholl’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Boom’s ascension is also a tale of entrepreneurial brashness. Blake Scholl’s journey began off the grid by crashing a Virgin Galactic bash, then selling his idea to Richard Branson over pancakes. His vision didn’t begin with conventional venture capital. Rather, he sought backing from other long-horizon thinkers like Reid Hoffman and Michael Moritz.
On his recent podcast, Scholl mentioned the significance of segmenting large, sweeping goals into distinct, attainable milestones. That practical methodology has served Boom well as it transitioned from a notion to reality, with the successful supersonic flight of XB-1 demonstrator in January 2025.
The Road Ahead: Beyond the Concorde, Toward a New Era
Boom Supersonic is not attempting to make the Concorde again—it’s creating something new. The XB-1 prototype, the first non-government-built civilian supersonic plane, has already proven that quiet, high-speed flight can be achieved. Perhaps most importantly, it’s proven that this type of innovation can be done responsibly.
Scholl’s vision started the day he saw the Concorde at a museum. Years down the line, he learned aerospace engineering by himself and assembled a team to make the dream come true. Today, Boom is ushering in a new era that blends speed with sustainability, innovation with accessibility, and vision with execution.
Supersonic travel is no longer a memory—it’s becoming the future. And sooner than you know.
