How Air Traffic Control, technology and economics will shape the return of flights beyond the sound barrier
After the Concorde’s crash in 2000 and until 2010, not much has happened in the realm of civilian supersonic flights. However since 2019, we have been observing more movement on this matter: Boom Supersonic raised over $100 million to create passenger aircraft flying at Mach 1.7, and the ECHO 2 project is investigating integration of supersonic flights into the airspace.
Imagine the scenario: commercial supersonic planes flying through the Atlantic ocean on a regular basis, several times a day in the near future. Are we going to witness a new era of commercial supersonic travel sometime soon?
I discussed this with Yann Parent, an Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), who controlled Concorde flights and was on board the very last Concorde flight from Paris to New York.
Commercial flights exceeding the speed of sound – a new chapter in Air Traffic Control (ATC)
Will this scenario cause more workload, fatigue, and stress to ATCOs? How different will the operations be compared to what we know today? This would really depend on the number of flights departing and arriving daily from an airport. In Concorde times at Paris Charles de Gaulle, there were only one departing flight in the morning and one arrival in the evening. The impact on day-to-day operations was not significant. Considering 50 or 60 supersonic flights a day would be a different story.
Another key factor would be the technical performance of the future supersonic airframes and how they compare to other aircraft’s performance. What would be the minimum speed? Would the new aircraft fit into one of the existing wake vortex categories, or rather would they need a new category? In the case of Concorde, the minimum speed was much higher than other aircraft. The ATCOs at CDG had to increase separations because Concorde couldn’t reduce speed on downwind or on final as much as the other planes. If Concorde was too close to the preceding aircraft, the leading aircraft had to go around to give it priority. On departure, Concorde accelerated much faster than other aircraft, so the separation to the preceding aircraft had to be adapted too.
With one arrival and one departure per day, it did not create much of an issue for the operations. If we consider a busy airport with many more flights of a similar aircraft to Concorde, it would be different.
Regarding en-route, Concorde had its own tracks over the Atlantic ocean. In the lower levels of airspace, routes were shared with other traffic. Perhaps the job of an ATCO in an Area Control Centre would not be much different than it is now, but tower and approach controllers would experience more changes.
As for stress levels of ATCOs, it probably won’t be more difficult to deal with new types of aircraft than dealing with difficult weather like thunderstorms around the airport. Stormy weather is unpredictable and causes high stress levels for ATCOs. The reintroduction of commercial supersonic flights would probably not be as stressful, because the procedures, regulations and standards will follow along with the new aircraft types and ATCOs would be well prepared to deal with these new operations.
Adaptability, the key quality of an Air Traffic Controller
One of the most important qualities an ATCO must have in their career is adaptability. ATCOs have to be able to adapt to changing situations, weather conditions, and pilots’ mood. Every day is different. If we witness the new era of supersonic travel with new aircraft types and new kinds of performance, ATCOs will undoubtedly adapt to these new operations. The other people involved – pilots, mechanics, airport staff, and all others will adapt too.
Commercial supersonic travel coming soon?
Only 20 Concorde aircraft were ever built. Will it be different in the case of a future supersonic program? There is a high chance that the future commercial supersonic flights will have to be simply more costly than standard flights, therefore attractive to a limited number of passengers. These projects cost a lot of money. Before we see regular supersonic flights in the skies, a strong business case will have to be in place to justify the profitability of a new civilian supersonic program.
In the case of the Concorde, there was almost only one destination on the other side of the Atlantic ocean: New York City. Initially there were also other destinations like Dakar and Rio de Janeiro, but for various reasons the route network was reduced to Paris and London to New York. These flights were for busy businessmen, celebrities and those who were not discouraged by the return ticket price of approximately $13,000. This high price was a result of several factors: high fuel consumption, special maintenance, and the limited number of seats available.
Selecting destinations would be another key topic in this discussion. To which cities are wealthy passengers willing to fly and will these places be reachable considering the sonic boom – the loud sound, generated when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, creating a shock wave which produces a loud “boom” similar to a thunder. To protect the inhabited inland areas from the loud noise, Concorde was allowed to fly at supersonic speeds only over the ocean.
However in the United States, President Donald Trump just recently signed an executive order directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to lift the 1973 ban on supersonic flight over land. This event coincides with the American company Boom Supersonic, demonstrating its first supersonic flight equipped with a system that prevents an audible sonic boom reaching the ground.
While the dream of commercial supersonic travel is alive with promising technological developments and ambitious visions, its large-scale return depends on how and if we tackle operational, regulatory, environmental, and economic challenges. ATCOs will embrace this return, and a new era of supersonic flight may be on the horizon, perhaps more sustainable, more accessible, and more advanced aircraft than ever before. This will require careful planning, economic justification and global coordination across aviation.
