FAA proposal: Supersonic airliners can fly over US cities if they’re quiet
FAA proposal: Supersonic airliners can fly over US cities if they’re quiet
美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）提案：超音速客机若足够安静，可飞越美国城市上空
A long-standing ban on commercial supersonic flights over the United States would be overturned in a new rule proposed by the US Federal Aviation Administration. That could pave the way for the possible return of commercial supersonic airliners—as long as such aircraft can reduce the ground-level impacts of their sonic booms. 美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）提出的一项新规，将推翻长期以来禁止商业超音速飞机在美国上空飞行的禁令。只要这些飞机能够降低音爆对地面的影响，此举将为商业超音速客机的回归铺平道路。
The FAA originally banned overland supersonic flights by civil aircraft in 1973, following US military tests involving supersonic flights over US cities such as Oklahoma City, Chicago, and St. Louis in the 1960s. But the Trump administration has championed the repeal of the ban to pave the way for supersonic airliners that could operate without disruptive sonic booms. So the FAA’s new rulemaking action on June 30, 2026, follows the direction of an executive order issued by President Trump on June 6, 2025. FAA 最初于 1973 年禁止民用飞机进行陆上超音速飞行，此前美国军方曾在 20 世纪 60 年代在俄克拉荷马城、芝加哥和圣路易斯等美国城市上空进行过超音速飞行测试。但特朗普政府一直主张废除该禁令，旨在为能够无干扰地进行超音速飞行的客机扫清障碍。因此，FAA 于 2026 年 6 月 30 日采取的新规则制定行动，是遵循了特朗普总统于 2025 年 6 月 6 日发布的行政命令。
The newly proposed rule would replace the 53-year prohibition with an interim “noise-based” certification standard requiring any sonic boom overpressure at the surface to be kept below 0.11 pounds per square foot. That proposed standard is based on the Colorado-based startup Boom Supersonic having demonstrated quiet Mach cutoff flights with its XB-1 aircraft—harnessing specific atmospheric conditions while flying just beyond supersonic speeds at higher altitudes so that the aircraft’s shockwaves are refracted upward into the atmosphere rather than traveling to the ground. 这项新提案将以一项临时的“基于噪音”的认证标准取代实施了 53 年的禁令，要求地面上的任何音爆超压必须保持在每平方英尺 0.11 磅以下。该拟议标准基于总部位于科罗拉多州的初创公司 Boom Supersonic 的演示成果，其 XB-1 飞机通过利用特定的气象条件，在高空以略超音速的速度飞行，使飞机的冲击波向上折射到大气层中，而不是传向地面。
For comparison, the Concorde supersonic airliner that flew commercial transatlantic flights between 1976 and 2003 created a sonic boom overpressure equivalent to 1.94 pounds per square foot when flying at a speed of Mach 2 at an altitude of 52,000 feet. A NASA fact sheet suggests that “some public reaction could be expected between 1.5 and 2 pounds” but rules out damage to buildings and other structures at one pound of overpressure. It further explains that humans have experienced sonic boom overpressure between 20 and 144 pounds without injury when supersonic aircraft flew at altitudes below 100 feet. 作为对比，1976 年至 2003 年间执行跨大西洋商业航班的协和式超音速客机，在 52,000 英尺高空以 2 马赫速度飞行时，产生的音爆超压相当于每平方英尺 1.94 磅。NASA 的一份情况说明书指出，“在 1.5 到 2 磅之间可能会引起公众反应”，但排除了在 1 磅超压下对建筑物和其他结构造成损害的可能性。报告进一步解释说，当超音速飞机在 100 英尺以下高度飞行时，人类曾经历过 20 到 144 磅的音爆超压而未受伤。
However, not everyone is sold on this proposed standard for allowing overland supersonic flights. Dan Rutherford, senior director at the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, told Aviation Week that the overpressure metric was previously discarded by United Nations experts in 2014 because “it doesn’t actually measure loudness or annoyance.” “I’m honestly surprised that the FAA would propose a rule this weak,” Rutherford told the publication. 然而，并非所有人都认可这一允许陆上超音速飞行的拟议标准。非营利组织国际清洁交通委员会的高级主任丹·卢瑟福（Dan Rutherford）告诉《航空周刊》，超压指标此前已被联合国专家在 2014 年弃用，因为“它实际上无法衡量响度或干扰程度”。卢瑟福对该刊物表示：“我真的很惊讶 FAA 会提出如此薄弱的规则。”
US lawmakers in Congress have also been pushing forward the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act. That would require the FAA to allow for overland supersonic flights “so long as the aircraft is operated in such a manner that no sonic boom reaches the ground in the United States.” The bill passed the House on March 24, 2026, and is still awaiting a vote in the Senate. 美国国会议员也一直在推动《超音速航空现代化法案》。该法案要求 FAA 允许陆上超音速飞行，“只要飞机的操作方式确保没有任何音爆到达美国地面”。该法案已于 2026 年 3 月 24 日在众议院通过，目前仍在等待参议院投票。
Another way for quiet supersonic flight
实现安静超音速飞行的另一种途径
Meanwhile, NASA has been testing a different approach to quieter supersonic flight with the Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst—a needle-nosed experimental aircraft with an airframe designed to reduce the typical sonic boom to a sonic thump. NASA has relied on perceived levels of decibels (PldB) to evaluate sound levels, with the goal of consistently demonstrating sonic thumps around 75 PldB that would sound like a car door slamming about 20 feet away. 与此同时，NASA 一直在通过洛克希德·马丁公司的 X-59 Quesst 测试一种更安静的超音速飞行方法——这是一款针鼻式实验飞机，其机身设计旨在将典型的音爆降低为“音砰”（sonic thump）。NASA 依靠感知分贝水平（PldB）来评估声音水平，目标是持续展示 75 PldB 左右的“音砰”，听起来就像约 20 英尺外关车门的声音。
A NASA test pilot and mission integration manager previously told Ars that the X-59 aircraft’s future supersonic flight tests over US cities and towns nationwide would provide community feedback on perceived sound levels that could help inform regulations by civil aviation authorities. 一位 NASA 试飞员兼任务集成经理此前告诉 Ars，X-59 飞机未来在美国全国各城市上空的超音速飞行测试，将提供有关感知声音水平的社区反馈，这有助于为民航当局的监管提供参考。
The FAA still has time to further refine its proposed noise regulations for overland supersonic flights before attempting to finalize them by mid-2027. The agency also plans to propose another rule later this year that would set takeoff and landing noise standards for supersonic aircraft. FAA 仍有时间在 2027 年年中最终确定之前，进一步完善其针对陆上超音速飞行的拟议噪音法规。该机构还计划在今年晚些时候提出另一项规则，为超音速飞机设定起降噪音标准。
Legalization of quieter overland supersonic flights does not guarantee a successful comeback for commercial supersonic airliners. The Concorde supersonic airliner cut transatlantic flights between New York and London from seven hours to under three hours, but the aircraft’s massive fuel consumption made it difficult to sustain profitable operations—never mind recovering the more than $2.8 billion in development costs shared by the UK and French governments. 即使陆上超音速飞行合法化，也不保证商业超音速客机能成功回归。协和式超音速客机曾将纽约和伦敦之间的跨大西洋飞行时间从 7 小时缩短至 3 小时以内，但该飞机巨大的燃油消耗使其难以维持盈利运营，更不用说收回英法两国政府共同承担的超过 28 亿美元的开发成本了。
Boom Supersonic is developing a supersonic airliner called Overture with the goal of delivering the first aircraft to customers by 2029. The company has signed commercial agreements with American Airlines, Japan Airlines, and United Airlines that give the companies options to purchase the Overture aircraft. But Boom has also pivoted away from its main goal in recent months to produce natural gas turbines to power AI data centers. Boom CEO Blake Scholl has suggested that revenue from this side venture would help pay for the development costs of the Overture supersonic airline. At the same time, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has said he gives Boom a “50/50” chance of getting its supersonic airliner flying. Boom Supersonic 正在开发名为 Overture 的超音速客机，目标是在 2029 年前向客户交付首架飞机。该公司已与美国航空、日本航空和联合航空签署了商业协议，赋予这些公司购买 Overture 飞机的选择权。但近几个月来，Boom 也偏离了其主要目标，转而生产用于为人工智能数据中心供电的天然气涡轮机。Boom 首席执行官布莱克·肖尔（Blake Scholl）表示，这项副业的收入将有助于支付 Overture 超音速客机的开发成本。与此同时，联合航空首席执行官斯科特·柯比（Scott Kirby）表示，他认为 Boom 的超音速客机能够成功飞行的几率只有“50/50”。