But United CEO Kirby pointed out that Boom still has “a lot of hurdles to overcome” while developing Overture and getting the supersonic airliner certified by the FAA. “So it’s not a guarantee that they’ll overcome,” he cautioned during the podcast interview, even though he praised Scholl and the company in general.
This follows Kirby’s earlier comments back in March that put the chances of Boom’s Overture airliner entering commercial service at “50-50.” Ars has reached out to Boom for comment.
Although Boom completed building the factory intended for production of the Overture airliner in 2024, the facility located at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, has mostly sat dormant since that time. That has raised questions for North Carolina state leaders who provided more than $50 million in taxpayer funding to help build the Overture factory.
Since October 2025, NASA has separately been doing test flights involving the experimental X-59 with a long, needle-like nose designed to reduce the sonic booms from supersonic flight. But this is a completely different approach than Boom’s use of the Mach cutoff flights.
Boom Supersonic’s prototype turbine core called Sprint Core is intended to power both gas turbines for AI data centers and the engine for Boom’s supersonic airliner.
Boom Supersonic’s prototype turbine core called Sprint Core is intended to power both gas turbines for AI data centers and the engine for Boom’s supersonic airliner.
Credit: Boom SupersonicBoom tries to ride the AI boom
Much of Boom’s recent focus has been on developing natural gas turbines to power AI data centers as an additional revenue stream. On October 22, the company unveiled another factory in Centennial, Colorado, dedicated to producing a 42-megawatt natural gas turbine called Superpower for data centers.
The Trump administration’s public support of Boom was once again evident as US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright participated in the event alongside Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
