The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its 1973 ban on civilian supersonic flights over American land with a new standard based on noise levels.

The proposed change could allow civilian aircraft to fly faster than Mach 1 over the United States as long as they remain within specified sound limits. The FAA aims to finalize the new rules by the middle of 2027.

The change could allow companies such as Boom Supersonic and Spike Aerospace to operate a new generation of quieter passenger jets over land.

The FAA published notice of the planned change on Tuesday.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said advances in technology could remove the traditional loud sonic boom associated with supersonic flight.

He said this would allow the agency to repeal the decades-old ban while limiting noise effects on communities located near airports and along flight routes.

Public opposition to loud sonic booms was the main reason the FAA restricted civilian supersonic flight over US land.

During the 1960s, aircraft travelling faster than the speed of sound, around 660 miles per hour at high altitudes, created shock waves that reached the ground as loud cracks or thunder-like booms.

Tests conducted during that decade, including sonic boom experiments in Oklahoma City, found that repeated booms broke windows, damaged property and led to thousands of public complaints.

When the FAA introduced the ban in 1973, it said available technology could not adequately protect the public from sonic booms. The agency therefore prohibited civilian aircraft from operating above Mach 1 over US territory.

Air France and British Airways introduced Concorde several years after the ban took effect.

The airlines were allowed to operate flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, provided the aircraft remained below the speed of sound while flying over US land.

The London-to-New York service became Concorde’s only consistently profitable route, supported largely by business travellers and celebrities, according to a former British Airways network planner writing for Forbes in 2021.

Several US companies are now developing passenger aircraft designed to produce quieter sonic booms while using fuel more efficiently than earlier supersonic jets.

Colorado-based Boom Supersonic says United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines have placed pre-orders for its Overture aircraft.

The Overture is designed to carry between 60 and 80 passengers.

Atlanta-based Spike Aerospace is developing a smaller aircraft called the Diplomat, which is intended to carry up to 18 passengers.

Both companies say their aircraft could complete future transatlantic flights in less than four hours.

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