Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new noise-based certification standard for supersonic aircraft on Tuesday, marking the Trump administration’s latest step toward lifting decades-old restrictions on commercial flights faster than the speed of sound.The proposal follows President Donald Trump’s June 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate the return of civil supersonic aviation. The rule would replace outdated regulations with standards based on an aircraft’s noise performance rather than a blanket prohibition on overland supersonic flight.Since 1973, the Federal Aviation Administration has generally prohibited civilian aircraft from flying faster than Mach 1 over the United States because of disruptive sonic booms. The agency now says advances in aerospace engineering, aircraft design, and flight techniques have made that decades-old ban obsolete.
“Restoring supersonic flight over land isn’t just about speed, it’s about unleashing American innovation and ushering in a Golden Age of Travel,” Duffy said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are working at lightning speed to safely enable the next quantum leap in aviation technology.”
