20 years after Concorde’s last flight, airlines aim to restart supersonic air

But the race comes at a crucial moment. Airline revenue was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, putting pressure on companies to find more revenue sources as they slowly recover. As climate change accelerates, carriers are facing pressure to expand their operations while keeping carbon emissions to a minimum.

Meanwhile, technical challenges remain. Jet engine technology, noise regulations and the shortage of clean and alternative aviation fuel will make it difficult for airlines to get government approvals on aircraft and keep ticket prices low, critics said. Bold corporate claims of bringing back supersonic travel will run headlong into scientific challenges for years to come, they added.

“These manufacturers are trying to reinvent supersonic aircraft,” said Dan Rutherford, director of the aviation program at the International Council on Clean Transportation. “But they can’t reinvent the science — and the science is actually pretty damning.”

Supersonic travel has captured the imagination of aviators for decades. In 1947, U.S. Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly at supersonic speeds, inspiring commercial aviation companies to follow suit. In 1962, the British and French governments signed a pact to develop a supersonic jetliner, called the Concorde.

In 1976, the Concorde made its commercial debut with two airlines — British Airways and Air France. Over the next two decades, the plane grew into a symbol of luxury life. Champagne, caviar, lobster and lamb were on the menu. Hollywood celebrities, athletes and business moguls were photographed boarding the plane. The jet would fly at 60,000 feet, getting passengers from New York to London in just around three hours, cutting travel time nearly in half.

Despite the glamour and speed, significant problems plagued the jet. It created a sonic boom that was so loud that airlines were able to fly above the speed of sound only over water. The jet consumed huge amounts of fuel, forcing ticket prices up; a round-trip airfare between New York and London cost $12,000 in the early 1990s.

The jet’s engines also were noisy, drawing anger from residents that lived near airports with Concorde jets. And in 2000, an Air France Concorde flight from Paris to New York burst into flames, crashing into a hotel shortly after takeoff and killing 113 people, creating an image problem that was hard to recover from.

“It was more expensive to run [and] too large to be economically viable,” said Iain Boyd, a…