United Airlines CEO Says Overture Will Miss Boom’s 2029 Schedule

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Boom Supersonic’s Overture will take longer than the company’s 2029 schedule, raising questions about when the planned supersonic passenger jet could enter service.

“’29 is their official timeline,” Kirby said in an interview posted Wednesday, Oct. 28. “It’s not going to happen in ’29. It’s going to take longer.”

Kirby did not identify which 2029 milestone he meant. Boom’s earlier plans set Overture’s type certification in 2029, while another timetable anticipated the aircraft carrying its first passengers that year.

United has agreed to buy 15 Overture aircraft once they meet the airline’s requirements, with an option to purchase 35 more. Boom has not announced a new date for either milestone.

Boom is also developing Superpower, a 42-megawatt natural-gas turbine for AI data centers. On Oct. 22, Boom announced it had completed Sprint Core, a prototype turbine core intended for both Superpower and Symphony, the engine planned for Overture.

Boom planned to test Sprint Core at Colorado Air and Space Port and expected to fire it before Thanksgiving 2026. The Colorado factory is making parts while construction continues, and Boom expects the facility to be fully operational by early 2027.

The company targets first Superpower customer deliveries in mid-2027. Its production goals are one gigawatt, or 25 turbines, by 2028 and two gigawatts, or 50 turbines, by 2029.

The launch partnership with Crusoe ended in September. Boom named Crusoe as Superpower’s launch customer in 2025, with a planned order of 29 turbines totaling 1.21 gigawatts. On Sept. 25, Boom CEO Blake Scholl said the two companies would no longer launch the turbine together.

Boom’s 2025 plan tied Superpower revenue to financing Overture’s certification and delivery. The next stated milestone for the turbine program is Sprint Core’s expected first firing before Thanksgiving 2026.