[cjcartlidge]

Profit, Profit, Profit....

It's sad that the 747-400 which was introduced in 1988 is still the fastest commercial aircraft currently.

Aviation reminds me of the Formula 1 of the skies in its current rule set! (All about fuel saving)

[xenophonf]

As someone who travels for a living, the speed of the plane isn't that big of a deal. It's the fact that to get from North America to just about anywhere Africa, I have to detour through Europe, which is a complete waste of my time. I would much rather have better routes than faster planes. (For example, I could get to West Africa in ~12 hours from the east coast of the U.S. if the routes existed. That's a nice overnight flight, landing in the afternoon. I wouldn't have to waste a full day stuck in a plane, no new technology required.)

[fennecfoxen]

And yet air travel is cheaper and more accessible to more people than ever. A faster plane doesn't do you much good if you can't afford the ticket.

[Argorak]

I don't see the problem? There's just no one willing to pay the premium to fly at top speed.

There were faster in that time, but they all went out of business.

[cjcartlidge]

No problem just a statement of fact.

Goals in greater efficiently have never been as exciting as goals for greater speed (with disregard for efficiency).

[Argorak]

Ah, okay, excitement, I can agree with.