Why Aerion needed a Honda
There is a strange symmetry about the sad demise of Aerion at the weekend and the launch of the upgraded HondaJet Elite S this week. Although the link may not seem obvious. Aerion was targeting a niche of the ultra-rich and large companies willing to pay $120m for a supersonic aircraft.
Honda (at least so far) has focused on the very light jet market with its new version priced at $5.4m. Aerion (like most manufacturers) was also putting two of the three engines on upside down.
Aerion was formerly launched in 2003. Honda Aircraft Corporation in 2006. But both projects went back a lot further and were led from the start with phenomenal engineering talent. Michimasa Fujino, HondaJet’s CEO, joined the company’s aviation research division in 1984 after working on car electrical steering systems. Dr Richard Tracy, Aerion’s founder and chief technical officer, launched a company called Affordable Supersonic Executive Transport in 1991 and used technology f
The rise and fall of Aerion
Yuvan Kumar
28th May 2021, 9:35
It all began in 2004, when Texan billionaire Robert Bass decided to re-commercialise supersonic aerial travel by launching Aerion Supersonic. By 2021, it had a backlog of $11.2bn – or 93 orders – for its AS2 supersonic jet. And soon after announcing the near-hypersonic AS3, a new concept, the company ground to a halt, shutting down unexpectedly last weekend.
At $120m each, the Mach 1.4 AS2 promised to connect any two points on Earth
“in three hours or less” by 2027. Industry veteran Dr Richard Tracy spearheaded the vision for supersonic business travel, alongside ex-Gulfstream and Rolls-Royce engineer, Michael Hinderberger and others.
Aerion appeared to have a lot of momentum with season veterans, strong suppliers, and a headquarters site but was unable to convince financial markets.
Aerion appeared to have a lot of momentum with seasoned veterans, strong suppliers, and a headquarters site but was unable to convince financial markets.