Supersonic: the Future of Aerospace Careers

If you are lucky and talented enough to be an engineer in the aerospace industry, prepare for a supersonic explosion of career opportunities, as faster than sound flight looks to be making a comeback. The demise of the Concorde saw the end of supersonic passenger air travel, but some engineering innovations look to bring this state of the art aviation technology back into the mainstream.

Supersonic Speeds coming to Business Travel

One of the main reasons for the failure of the Concorde was its high maintenance costs, which, when combined with declining passenger numbers, caused the business model supporting the jet to falter. There isn’t as much investment risk with the smaller jets used in business travel, so this is the area earmarked for a supersonic travel renaissance.

The Boston-based aerospace engineering firm, Spike Aerospace, is developing a supersonic jet capable of making the trip from New York City to London in 3 to 4 hours — half of the 6 to 7 hour travel time when using a subsonic jet. Vik Kachoria, Spike Aerospace’s founder, noted the growing market demand for faster business travel.

“A supersonic jet will help businesses manage operations and make investments more dynamically. It will bring them closer to their customers, more often. The current fastest jet around for business use is Gulfstream G650, which can go at Mach .875. Our aircraft is designed to fly at 1.6 mach, which is twice the speed of any other aircraft out there, hence reducing the air travel time to about half,” said Kachoria.

An Option for Aircraft Rental Services?

The new business jet, known as the Spike S-512, is expected to retail from $60-80 million, and will carry anywhere from 12 to 18 passengers. With that price, it wouldn’t be a surprise if aircraft rental companies, like NetJets, purchase the model to enhance their service offerings to business travelers.

If these innovations in supersonic aerospace engineering inspire you to take your career to the next level, talk to the recruiting experts at The Talley Group. As one of the top engineering staffing agencies in Washington State, they are a great source for Seattle engineering jobs. Give them a call or send them an email today!