Blake Scholl on Supersonic Flight and Fixing Broken Infrastructure - Live at the Progress Conference

Scholl proposes a radical airport redesign with underground terminals and above-ground airside operations, modeled on a crossbar switch. The design would eliminate tugs, reduce infrastructure, and enable faster passenger flow. He identifies the core problem as socialized airports with revenue caps ($5.60 per passenger) that force reliance on retail revenue, plus lack of privatization and proper business models.

• •Put terminals underground with skylights, airside above ground with arrival/departure runway flow
• •Jetways become escalators from below; planes pull forward without tugs
• •Fix baggage handling to eliminate carry-ons: bag teleports from Uber trunk at origin to destination
• •Create supersonic-specific terminals with 15-minute guarantee from arrival to boarding
• •Privatize airports and develop new revenue models beyond the $5.60 passenger fee cap

Scholl argues that post-9/11 security measures are largely ineffective theater, sharing a story of his wife accidentally carrying a box cutter through three major airports. He identifies two actual security improvements—reinforced cockpit doors and passenger willingness to fight back—while advocating for trusted traveler programs and rolling back most screening requirements.

• •Box cutter made it through SFO, Seattle, and Heathrow undetected—security doesn't actually stop threats
• •Only two real improvements since 9/11: reinforced cockpit doors and passengers knowing to fight back
• •Regulations are a one-way door: bureaucrats face no penalty for perpetuating security theater but career risk for reducing it
• •International harmonization spreads worst rules globally to support passenger connections
• •Advocate for trusted traveler programs and pre-9/11 style access for frequent flyers with clean records

Scholl argues that traffic congestion—costing Americans over a month per year—persists because we've failed to apply price systems to roads. He advocates for universal toll roads to eliminate 'induced demand' problems, comparing free roads to free grocery stores that would inevitably have lines and shortages.

• •Average American spends more than a working month per year sitting in traffic
• •Traffic engineers cite 'induced demand' but real problem is lack of variable pricing
• •Every road should be a toll road with dynamic pricing to manage congestion
• •Comparison: if grocery stores were free and tax-funded, we'd have the same induced demand arguments
• •License plate reading and mailed tickets can handle enforcement for non-compliant vehicles

Drawing from his experience at both Amazon and Groupon, Scholl contrasts Amazon's long-term thinking with Groupon's quarterly desperation. At Amazon, they'd accept Q4 inventory hits for long-term cash flow gains. At Groupon, he was pressured to spam customers every quarter, damaging long-term value. Customer-centricity was Amazon's cultural trump card for resolving any debate.

• •Amazon would take discounted CD inventory knowing it hurt Q4 but helped Q1 and long-term cash flow
• •Groupon CEO would demand 'send more email' every soft quarter, emailing same customer 3-4 times daily
• •Amazon maintained operational excellence moment-to-moment while making all major decisions for long-term
• •Customer-centricity was the cultural trump card that every Amazon employee could use to win debates
• •Long-term thinking while maintaining short-term vigilance is key to sustainable growth

Scholl argues that both Concorde and Apollo were impressive tech demos, not viable products, because they were government-specified rather than commercially driven. Concorde flew 52% full over 27 years with $20,000 inflation-adjusted fares and uncomfortable seats. He advocates that supersonic should have started with private jets, not 100-seat airliners, to enable an innovation S-curve.

• •Concorde was a joint French-British government venture—'usually when they collaborate, it's a war'
• •100 uncomfortable seats at $20,000 per ticket (inflation-adjusted) in the 1970s with no premium travel market
• •Flew only 52% full over 27 years; only 14 aircraft ever entered service
• •Should have started with supersonic private jets for coast-to-coast, enabling gradual innovation
• •Government-led projects create cost-insensitive supply chains and perpetuating bureaucracies

Scholl explains how supersonic transforms travel patterns: North Atlantic red-eyes become comfortable daytime flights, and Pacific routes save two full days on round trips. A Tokyo meeting trip drops from three calendar days to 24 hours with no jet lag because you never change time zones.

• •North Atlantic flights become daytime trips instead of too-short overnight flights
• •Tokyo meeting example: currently requires leaving Saturday for Monday meeting (3 days total)
• •With supersonic: leave Sunday 8AM from SFO, arrive Monday 8AM Tokyo (6 hours later, same day to your body)
• •Do full day of meetings, overnight flight back, return in 24 hours with no jet lag
• •Pacific routes save two full calendar days on round trips

Scholl reveals how aerospace manufacturing is optimized for congressional votes rather than efficiency. A 3D-printed turbine blade quote: $1M and 6 months, with parts spending more time on trucks between states than on machines. His solution: vertical integration with all process steps under one roof, reducing iteration time from 6 months to 24 hours.

• •Turbine blade quote: $1M, 6 months delivery—but only 24 hours of actual machine time
• •Parts travel between factories in different states; more time on trucks than machines
• •Supply chain is congressionally optimized: one process step per district to maximize votes
• •Boom's solution: $2M machine, all steps under one roof in Denver factory, 24-hour iterations
• •Fast iteration enables design freedom and risk-taking; 6-month delays force conservative, slow decisions

Scholl describes how LLMs are revolutionizing regulatory compliance in aerospace. What previously required specialized engineers spending two months on 100-page lightning protection test plans now takes minutes with AI plus quick human editing. This transforms teams from change-averse to innovation-friendly by making iteration inexpensive.

• •LLMs excel at filling regulatory paperwork with proper citations and formatting
• •Lightning strike test plan: previously 2 months of specialized work, now minutes with AI + editing
• •Enables shift from large armies of 'turn the crank' talent to small creative teams
• •Teams become change-friendly instead of change-averse because iteration is now cheap
• •Combine with vertical integration and embedded software engineers for maximum iteration speed

Scholl provides a rapid-fire update on 2025 progress: broke the sound barrier in January and February, announced boomless cruise technology, presented to the Oval Office (model still there), and achieved repeal of the 50-year supersonic ban over US land via executive order in just 115 days. All barriers are now removed.

• •January-February 2025: broke sound barrier twice, announced boomless cruise technology
• •February 10: announced boomless cruise; invited to West Wing that night
• •Airplane model presented to Oval Office and remains there permanently
• •June 6, 2025: 50-year ban on supersonic flight over US land repealed via executive order (115 days total)
• •All regulatory and technology barriers removed—'throttles all the way forward'