Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. But three times? I have to give United Airlines credit for taking a highly theoretical concept, its new supersonic aircraft, and turning it into a marketing bonanza.
United Airlines Theoretical Supersonic Aircraft Shows Us The Power Of Marketing
At the outset, I think one of the biggest losses to aviation ever was the loss of Concorde, not so much because these speedbirds were efficient or comfortable (they were neither), but because their futuristic design and Mach 2.0 cruising speed represented an amazing step in aviation progress. Leave London after afternoon tea and be home in New York in time for lunch? Simply amazing.
And now comes the next generation of supersonic planes, by a company called Boom Supersonic. United has placed a firm order for these jets, with plans to enter service by 2029, but there’s a huge asterisk. Even United’s marketing material states that the order is subject to the aircraft meeting United’s “safety, operating and sustainability” requirements. I can only imagine how much wiggle room there is in the contract.
But the excitement over this is palpable. When United announced its new “order” for supersonic planes, it made headlines across the world. Not just blogs like mine, but national news networks. In a sense, one press release unleashed weeks of positive press without buying any ad time for a product that does not exist and may never come to fruition. That’s powerful marketing.
United now screens this commercial after the safety video on its flights—
Over the last couple weeks, I cannot believe the comments I hear onboard. People are genuinely excited. One dad told his daughter, “Look! Look! United is going to run supersonic jets across the ocean!”
On another flight, the man sitting in first class next to me leaned over and said very matter-of-factly, “Pretty soon we are going to be able to travel to Tokyo in six hours. Did you see this?”
Yesterday, it was the people across the aisle from me, all strangers, talking to each other about how cool it would be to travel supersonic.
I’d say three instances within two weeks represents a strong pattern.
And yes, it would be so cool to travel supersonic, even in a coach seat.
I have to hand it to United’s marketing team: it’s like when Polaris was rolled out six years ago to great fanfare, even though the vast majority of United’s fleet still featured the older business class product. And sure enough, it worked: I’l never forget the time I was traveling from San Francisco to Frankfurt and my seatmate proudly told his travel companion that this (8-seats-across) business class cabin was “the new Polaris. Isn’t it great?”
CONCLUSION
My takeaway is that people love to dream…the idea of cutting travel time down by almost half in a curvaceous new supersonic airliner combines the so many elements of aspirational travel. To all of this, I can only say, well done United: now don’t disappoint us.
I think you mean ‘flight’ in this sentence: “On another fight, the man sitting in first class….”
I look forward to your flight reviews of Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and the next generation of supersonic flights.
I consider these ads to be similar in reliability as the Pan Am rockets to the moon, taking passengers to stay at the Hilton located on the moon. Rubbish.
When Boom and Rolls Royce comes out with a name of an engine and a firm developmental timetable, then I will be more convinced. If they say a, for example, Rolls Royce Super Tay was tested earlier today, then that’s a start.
This is Vaporware, which is too bad cuz Concorde already showed it could be done but I don’t think United should be commended for marketing something they know damn well will not happen.
Nothing but good free marketing for UA at this point. If this ever comes to fruition it’ll be more like 2039. Well played UA. I bet they haven’t spent a single dollar on this yet.
Wish it were true that this plane would be entering service in just 8 years, but the actual chances are nil at best. Looked at the Boom website–man is it slick and woke. Contrast Boom with SpaceX, one is slick and all vaporware, the other is engineering driven and flys extremely innovative rockets on nearly a monthly basis (Starship). I predict that SpaceX will fly people to Mars before a single passenger flies on a Boom supersonic airliner.
Not too much of a prediction. SpaceX plans to have people on Mars in 2025
Go United! If airlines and people never took chances, we would be back over 100 years.
The concorde crashed because a piece of another airliner was on the runway–that caused the crash!! Nothing else.
As for the Soviet TU-144–when the Soviet pilots were flying their plane at the Paris Air Show–a French Mirage was flying next to the TU-144 ”IN THE CLOUDS”—the Soviet pilots had no idea there was a plane in the air near them causing the TU-144 to make an extremely steep nose-dive..causing the crash.
The French and the Soviet Union had an agreement to keep this matter closed until the end of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet TU-144 would have been a good supersonic airliner.
The Tu144 could not fly sustained supersonic without reheat / afterburner and was as a result a gas hog that lacked range.
Sadly for Concorde the B order book that was never made. Had it been, the minor wing modifications and other upgrades that added 500 plus miles of range through efficiency. That allowed deeper penetration into Europe or from Paris and London further into the US.
Sorry, but United does not have a good track record when it comes to advertising its fleet. Years back, when United was going through delays and cost overruns for the 787, that didn’t stop United from listing the aircraft in its current fleet. For example, the 787 was displayed in the Hemisphere’s fleet pages, showing a pic and giving all the stats…followed by a small asterisk: “Will enter service in…”. It was complete B.S. and borderline deceptive. This might yet be another fleet example where honestly is an inconvenience. Shame on United.
Next quarter, CEO Scotty will announce the new United-Federation agreement to buy 20 warp drive starships. Beam me up, Scotty!
Hey Matthew, I have a random question. I am flying LAX to DEN next week, and would like to try the Star Alliance lounge in TBIT. Can I go through security in TBIT (or T4 if I want to use my Clear) or do I have to go through T7 security if I’m flying United?
Couldn’t agree more! This type of thing appeals to the casual traveler or aviation geek but that’s about it. Anyone who is an actual frequent US east coast to EU traveler knows this really doesn’t solve existing issues with the current speed of flight and certainly doesn’t appreciably change things from the Concord. To be honest, I actually would prefer a slightly longer flight to the EU so I can sleep more!
Now, if they are able to fly supersonic over land and increase range so US east coast can make it to Asian without the need to refuel? That’s a game changer that business travelers would pay a significant premium for. I cannot stress enough how amazing it would be to make flights to Asia the same length as they are to the EU currently.
I had the honor and pleasure of flying on Concorde at Mach 2.2 from New York to London in April 2003. The British Airways flight on “Alpha Delta” was mind blowing, from arriving in London in less than 3 hours to the breathtaking view of the curvature of the Earth high in the stratosphere at 60,000 feet. Of course the start of the flight with a high speed full throttle afterburner takeoff is something I will never forget as long as I live. Bravo Boom and United for keeping the dream alive!