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Supersonic Airliner In Doubt As Company Shifts to Powering AI Data Centers
Boom Supersonic's plans to launch its Overture passenger jet by 2029 are facing growing doubts as the company pivots toward manufacturing natural gas turbines for AI data centers. Ars Technica reports: One of the company's first customers, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, has expressed doubts about Boom's original plan to deliver the first Overture supersonic airliner in 2029. Kirby's latest frank assessment came during an interview with the Office Hours: Business Edition podcast that appeared on October 28, 2026. "'29 is their official timeline," Kirby told podcast host Monica Langley. "It's not going to happen in '29 -- it's going to take longer."
[...] 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. [...] Boom described its new Superpower factory as making turbine parts while still undergoing construction. It aims to deliver the first gas turbines to AI data center customers in mid-2027 while ramping up annual production to 25 turbines in 2028 and 50 turbines by 2029.
[...] Still, Boom has characterized the development of a gas turbine for data centers as being synergistic with its design of the Symphony engine for the Overture airliner. During the October announcement, it also described having completed a prototype turbine core, called Sprint Core, that is intended to eventually power both the Superpower gas turbine and Symphony engine for the airliner. That turbine core is set to undergo testing at the Colorado Air & Space Port, with Boom planning to fire the turbine for the first time before Thanksgiving. That would be a concrete development milestone, but the company still has much to do in proving it can get both its AI data center and supersonic airliner ventures off the ground.
