Groups Urge FAA To Block Supersonic Aircraft

A coalition of 28 public interest groups led by the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity sent a letter to the FAA asking the agency to refrain from removing the ban on overland supersonic flight or supporting rulemaking that might lead to the revival of supersonic aircraft on Tuesday. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the letter comes in response to the FAA’s move to update authorization procedures for supersonic test flights over land in the U.S. The letter (PDF) cites climate damage, air pollution, and noise as the primary reasons to for the groups’ opposition to supersonic flight.

“The world is burning, and supersonic planes would pour jet fuel on the fire,” said Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney Clare Lakewood. “It would be madness to sabotage our shot at preserving a livable climate so the ultra-rich can take faster flights.”

Between NASA’s Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) project and commercial companies like Boom Technology, Aerion Supersonic and Spike Aerospace, development of supersonic passenger aircraft has seen a resurgence in recent years. As previously reported by AVweb, the FAA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on revised regulatory procedures for obtaining approval to test supersonic aircraft last June as mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.