What might a flight in the Aerion supersonic business jet be like? Let’s consider a trip from Chicago to London. Eight passengers board for a 12 noon departure.

 

Minutes later the plane is lined up on Midway’s 6,500-foot runway 4R. Twin Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engines provide a prodigious kick in the pants and the nose wheel lifts off at 147 knots. You are up and away.

 

Fifteen minutes later, somewhere over Lake Huron and about 150 miles down range, you level at 45,000 feet. Speed builds quickly to .98 Mach, which is maintained until crossing into Labrador, Canada. And here comes the fun part. The throttles go forward and you are suddenly through Mach 1 and accelerating to Mach 1.5 over the next 167 nautical miles. Passengers can marvel at the bulkhead flight data display as the speed builds, or gather around a conference table for a meeting. Or perhaps trade e-mails with the home office.

Once at cruise speed, the pilots climb to the final altitude of Flight Level 510 for a quick Atlantic crossing (about two hours). A working lunch is served.

 

Approaching Ireland, the pilots throttle back to just shy of Mach 1 and prepare for the approach into Farnborough. In the back, passengers finish up calls stateside, where the work day is just concluding. Landing time is about 10:45 p.m. local (five hours and 42 minutes after takeoff). Still time for a night cap in the hotel lounge and a good night’s rest before a busy day. The worst effects of jet lag have been avoided by not flying through the night and a productive day has been preserved.