American Airlines Buys 20 Supersonic Jets Still On The Drawing Board

American Airlines is placing a bet on a future in which supersonic jets might return to the skies, shuttling passengers on some routes at speeds roughly twice as fast as current commercial aircraft, Jackie Wattles reported for CNN Business.

Photo Insert: Boom is developing a jet called the Overture that the company says will be able to carry 65 to 80 passengers at nearly twice the speed of sound.

Exactly how big that bet is, however, remains unclear. American, which said it put down a deposit for up to 20 supersonic jets with the option to buy up to 20 more, declined to share the financial terms of the deal, which was announced Tuesday.

It all depends, however, on if the company slated to build the jets, Boom Supersonic, can make good on its lofty promises. Experts have questioned whether supersonic jets are likely to make a return.

Boom is developing a jet called the Overture that the company says will be able to carry 65 to 80 passengers at nearly twice the speed of sound. But the jet is still in the early stages of development.

Boom recently unveiled a "refined' version of the aircraft, which it said has completed some wind tunnel tests. It has yet to conduct a test flight, however, and the first production vehicles aren't expected to roll off the line until 2025, according to a press release.

The Overture is reminiscent of the Concorde, the ultra-quick — and exceedingly pricey jet that shuttled people across the Atlantic Ocean for as much as $10,000 a seat.

The Concorde, notably, was taken out of service in 2003 because the economics simply didn't work.

The fuel-guzzling jet was too noisy to fly over land because its high speeds would generate deafening sonic booms, relegating it to trips across the ocean, like its popular London to New York City route.

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