American Airlines poised to cut US-Israel travel time in half

Travel time between New York and Tel Aviv could be reduced to slightly more than five hours.

By JNS

American Airlines and Boom Supersonic announced Tuesday that the airline has agreed to buy up to 20 Overture aircraft, with an option for an additional 40.

The Overture is expected to fly twice as fast as today’s fastest commercial aircraft, which would cut the travel time from New York to Tel Aviv from around 10 and a half hours to slightly more than five.

American has made a non-refundable deposit for the first 20 planes.

“Looking to the future, supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” said Derek Kerr, American’s chief financial officer. “We are excited about how Boom will shape the future of travel both for our company and our customers.”

Overture is expected to travel at Mach 1.7 over water, or twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial aircraft, with a range of 4,250 nautical miles. In light of this, Overture is expected to complete its flights to more than 600 destinations throughout the globe in as little as half the time.