Administration calls regulation meant to curb sonic boom noise pollution “stifling”
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to repeal an over-50-year-old ban on supersonic air travel. The order also directs the agency to develop new regulations for commercial supersonic passenger travel. Congress recently introduced legislation to do the same.
The regulation preventing supersonic airliners was put in place in April 1973 after France and the U.K. were conducting tests for the Concorde, the first supersonic passenger aircraft that boasted speeds of over Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. However, the sonic booms created by the aircraft were so loud that the U.S. banned its use to prevent the potentially thousands of noise violations that would come from widespread use of the aircraft.
Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said that repealing this ban was necessary to “revolutionize supersonic aviation in the United States.”
“The U.S. used to be the global leader in this technology, but stifling regulations have grounded progress for generations. The reality is that Americans should be able to fly from New York to LA in under four hours,” he said.
Director Kratsios added that “advances in aerospace engineering, material science, and noise reduction” by new startups working on faster-than-sound passenger aircraft can make supersonic travel “safe, sustainable, and commercially viable.” He noted that the longstanding American ban on such flights had “grounded supersonic passenger flight and weakened our global competitiveness in aviation.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For President Trump to receive God’s wisdom as he facilitates technological advancements.
- For members of Congress as they crafted legislation to support to development of supersonic travel.
Sources: The Independent, Tech Crunch
