The House of Representatives unanimously voted to legalize supersonic flight in a major shift in aviation policy. Supersonic passenger flights have been banned under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules since 1973 due to noise concerns.
The bill, called the “Supersonic Aviation Modernization (SAM) Act,” directs the FAA to revise regulations within one year of the legislation’s enactment. It allows for civil aviation aircraft to operate at speeds of Mach 1 or higher as long as no sonic boom reaches the ground.
“For decades, FAA regulations have held back American innovation and supersonic flight,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) said upon the bill’s House passage. “My legislation, the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act, puts a stop to that and safely unleashes the next era of aerospace innovation. The Senate must act and swiftly pass my legislation to codify President Trump’s executive order and ensure the U.S. is the world’s leader in supersonic aviation.”
Nehls’s bill codifies President Trump’s June executive order on the matter. “For more than 50 years, outdated and overly restrictive regulations have grounded the promise of supersonic flight over land, stifling American ingenuity, weakening our global competitiveness, and ceding leadership to foreign adversaries,” the order says. “Advances in aerospace engineering, materials science, and noise reduction now make supersonic flight not just possible, but safe, sustainable, and commercially viable.”
The order directs the FAA to take steps to “repeal the prohibition on overland supersonic flight.”
In October, Lockheed Martin, in partnership with NASA, completed the first flight of the X-59, described as a “revolutionary, quiet supersonic aircraft designed to pave the way for faster commercial air travel.”
The X-59 is considered a “one-of-a-kind supersonic aircraft” that can fly at supersonic speeds while “reducing the sonic boom to a gentle thump,” Lockheed Martin explained. In doing so, the airframe overcomes “one of the primary barriers to supersonic commercial flight, which is currently restricted over land due to noise concerns.”
