Aerion chief operating officer Michael Henderson believes that the Aerion design will be successful even if current US rules prohibiting supersonic travel over the continent remain in place. Preliminary designs, using Aerion-developed analysis tools, show an aircraft capable of cruising with the same efficiency and range at Mach 0.95 over land as M1.5 over water. The aircraft would have a top cruise speed of M1.6, although the airframe would be capable of handling M1.8. With an OEM on board, Henderson says the company will launch a preliminary design effort to "add enough to be able to make [performance] guarantees".