Boeing steps up supersonic jet investment

Boeing has made a “significant investment” to help the Nevadabased jet startup Aerion develop and commercialize a sleek, pointynosed supersonic business jet it is calling the AS2, the companies announced Tuesday.

An Aerion spokesman said Boeing will gain two board seats as part of the investment, suggesting the Chicagobased aerospace giant is spending significant time and resources to acquire a long-term stake in the company. The precise terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The announcement came days after a contract between Aerion and Lockheed Martin had expired, a Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said. Lockheed Martin competes closely with Boeing in the defense aerospace market but has relatively little commercial business. The new partnership will give Aerion not only extra funding but also access to Boeing’s engineering, manufacturing and flight test resources, which are more attuned to the commercial market.

“Through this partnership that combines Aerion’s supersonic expertise with Boeing’s global industrial scale and commercial aviation experience, we have the right team to build the future of sustainable supersonic flight,” Boeing vice president Steve Nordland said in a statement.

Nordland was not available for an interview, a Boeing spokeswoman said.

The two companies are trying to create a market for supersonic air travel that has been absent since the Concorde, a European-made supersonic jet, was put to rest in 2003 amid spiraling costs and flagging sales. The two companies say the AS2 will be ready for first flight by 2023, after which they hope to usher in “a new era of supersonic travel.” The company says it hopes to deliver 300 of them over the first decade of production.