New era for air travel as ‘lightning speed’ ban lifted after 50 years – and it could mean flights are faster than ever

MAJOR changes could be coming to commercial flights after the FAA lifted a decades-old ban on their speeds.
Although once necessary to control noise levels, officials say new technology can correct the issue necessitating the ban in the first place.
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A new proposed rule would replace the current ban on overland supersonic flight in the US with one regulating noise limits instead.
This rule would focus on the noise made my supersonic planes while in flight, while a second would regulate their volume during landing and takeoff.
Officials say this move is being made possible by advancements in technology over the last half-century that can eliminate the sonic boom created by entering Mach 1 speeds.
“Advances in aerospace engineering, materials science, noise reduction, and new operational concepts will eliminate the old sonic boom,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
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“This means we can ultimately repeat the ban from the 1970s on supersonic flight over US territory while minimizing noise impacts to residents in communities along the route and near airports.”
The FAA is currently aiming to have both noise-based rules finalized by 2027, with the current supersonic ban having been in effect since 1973.
But this isn’t the only change the FAA is implementing, with the federal agency announcing major changes to all airport vehicles in May.
More than 200 US airports must now install transponders on all airport vehicles that will make their position and speed visible to air traffic control systems.
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These changes were made in the wake of a crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March which saw an Air Canada Express jet hit an airport rescue truck on a runway.
Both pilots onboard the jet died, with 41 passengers and crewmembers injured and rushed to the hospital in the aftermath.
Two Port Authority police officers on the truck were seriously injured with broken bones, but survived the incident.