4 ms·

I'm inclined to be skeptical of the prospects of this for all sorts of reasons (airport noise, viability of the "all premium" business concept). But they are no

by rst 9y ago

I'm inclined to be skeptical of the prospects of this for all sorts of reasons (airport noise, viability of the "all premium" business concept). But they are now reporting contracts with airlines, including nonrefundable deposits, and the airlines that put money down are presumably familiar with all the costs you mention, and probably had someone go over the math.

olympus 9y ago
I'm sure the airlines know exactly what they are getting. The passengers are going to be the mad ones when they find out they can't afford a ticket. When this happens the demand will plateau for the few high-demand routes that can sustain this price of ticket, and Boom won't get another order past the original 76 pre-orders.
- Gustomaximus 9y ago
  The airlines know what they are getting and the passengers are going to be the mad when they can't afford a ticket? This doesn't make sense to me. The airline should have a netter idea of what passengers can and cant afford. Is they are confident enough to order planes, I feel its safe to assume the demand is there. More importantly I'd like to know what the cost and payment down is. If its $100k you might have many taking a high risk punt. If its $20m you've got some real commitment and confidence.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- robbiemitchell 9y ago
  > The passengers are going to be the mad ones when they find out they can't afford a ticket Business travelers will be buying these. They'll have a travel budget, the trip will be justified, and the company card will pay. It will pass through silently and might eventually show up in a travel policy that states how only executives are allowed to book supersonic flights. Not only won't the passengers be mad, they might even be more likely to fly given the reduced travel time. It will now be much faster from NYC to London than to the Bay.
- paulie_a 9y ago
  Considering the airlines financial history of government bailouts and bankruptcy I wouldn't be so sure.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> But they are now reporting contracts with airlines, including nonrefundable deposits Partial payments like that are an investment in the chance that Boom will deliver something exceptional; they avoid not being in the first wave if Boom succeeds. It doesn't mean they think the chances of Boom producing a worthwhile product are > 50%.

by rst 9y ago

olympus 9y ago

I'm sure the airlines know exactly what they are getting. The passengers are going to be the mad ones when they find out they can't afford a ticket. When this happens the demand will plateau for the few high-demand routes that can sustain this price of ticket, and Boom won't get another order past the original 76 pre-orders.

Gustomaximus 9y ago
The airlines know what they are getting and the passengers are going to be the mad when they can't afford a ticket? This doesn't make sense to me. The airline should have a netter idea of what passengers can and cant afford. Is they are confident enough to order planes, I feel its safe to assume the demand is there. More importantly I'd like to know what the cost and payment down is. If its $100k you might have many taking a high risk punt. If its $20m you've got some real commitment and confidence.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
robbiemitchell 9y ago
> The passengers are going to be the mad ones when they find out they can't afford a ticket Business travelers will be buying these. They'll have a travel budget, the trip will be justified, and the company card will pay. It will pass through silently and might eventually show up in a travel policy that states how only executives are allowed to book supersonic flights. Not only won't the passengers be mad, they might even be more likely to fly given the reduced travel time. It will now be much faster from NYC to London than to the Bay.
paulie_a 9y ago
Considering the airlines financial history of government bailouts and bankruptcy I wouldn't be so sure.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> But they are now reporting contracts with airlines, including nonrefundable deposits Partial payments like that are an investment in the chance that Boom will deliver something exceptional; they avoid not being in the first wave if Boom succeeds. It doesn't mean they think the chances of Boom producing a worthwhile product are > 50%.