But the "great white bird" was terrible for the environment and couldn't make a profit, even with round-trip fares averaging $12,000.įast forward: A handful of startups hopes a fresh approach - lightweight materials, efficient engine technologies and cleaner fuels - will make supersonic jets much cheaper to operate and thus economically viable for everyday travel.īoeing-backed Aerion is developing a supersonic business jet that will begin production in Florida in 2023 and should be ready for customer delivery by 2027.Yes, but: Engineers must first solve technical, business and environmental challenges that doomed previous efforts at supersonic travel, most notably the transatlantic Concorde.įlashback: British Airways and Air France flew the Concorde from 1976 to 2003 on international routes like New York to London in under three hours.The big picture: Affordable, sustainable, high-speed flight has the potential to revolutionize commercial air travel, just as the jet engine did in the late 1950s. Why it matters: High-speed air travel promises to shrink the planet, putting far-away vacation destinations within closer reach and enabling business travelers to attend meetings on another continent and return the same day. In a few years, it might be possible to fly from Washington, D.C., to Paris in four hours - instead of eight - or from San Francisco to Tokyo in just six hours aboard a new crop of supersonic jets.
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