Newsstand - Airbus Planning Supersonic Jet Twice As Fast As Concorde

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is planning a new supersonic airliner to succeed the Concorde, the company's chief engineer said in an interview in yesterday's edition of the German trade magazine Flugrevue. According to the engineer, Jean-Jacques Mirat, Airbus hopes to start construction at some future date of an aircraft that will fly twice as fast as the ageing Concorde and carry 250 passengers.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2000/12/976708340.html

Can anyone say "prohibitive economics"?

In our lifetime?

Originally posted by doc:
...at some future date...

Yeah, the year 3800 qualifies for "some future date". http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

I'll believe it when pigs fly. Ooops, that already happened http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Boeing Is Preparing Design for Jet
To Nearly Reach Speed of Sound
http://public.wsj.com/sn/y/SB979801858154729922.html

Why move 1 step at a time. This is a good oportunity. Why don't they just make the Airbus A380 goes supersonic.

Two metal birds with one stone.

Sure, if they had $20bn+ or a lot more to play with.

Or maybe the can buy the technology to make the B-70 Valkyrie (from North American, or is that Rockwell?) and convert that.

[This message has been edited by terenz (edited 01-19-2001).]

Boeing is developing designs for a high-speed aircraft that could nearly reach the speed of sound, reducing flying times by 15 percent to 20 percent, the president of the company's Commercial Airplanes division said Wednesday.

The designs could lead to a new family of aircraft for Boeing, said Alan Mulally, whose promotion to president and chief executive for commercial airplanes was announced Wednesday as part of a restructuring.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Boeing-Fast-Plane.html

Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - news) may scrap plans for a new superjumbo jet in favor of a smaller, faster and more advanced commercial airplane, analysts said.

That project, estimated to cost about $9 billion to develop, has been on the drawing board for years and could siphon off funds from the $4 billion 747X superjumbo program, say analysts who met with Boeing executives last week.

``They (Boeing) wouldn't say that, but it certainly sounds like that is possible,'' said Cai von Rumohr, an analyst at SG Cowen. ``This looks like a much more interesting target (than the 747X), so I think they'd certainly like to put more effort here.''
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010326/n26655542_2.html

The plane, dubbed a "sonic cruiser," will offer a "tremendous benefit" to airlines by flying faster and higher at operating costs that are similar to today's subsonic planes, said Alan Mulally, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, at a press conference.

The new plane would fly at a speed between Mach .95, or 95% of the speed of sound, and Mach .98, or 98% of the speed of sound - about 20% faster than today's planes, Mulally said.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/03/985955609.html

Airline Chiefs Interested in New Jet

Leading airlines backed a Boeing Co plan to build a radical high-speed airliner on Friday but said there was also room for Airbus Industrie's A380 superjumbo.

``We are excited that Boeing has taken on this challenge,'' James Goodwin, chairman and CEO of UAL Corp, which owns United Airlines.

Investors in Airbus majority shareholder EADS were unfazed, driving the company's shares 2.79 percent higher to 21.10 euros on Boeing's Thursday announcement that, while focusing on the new fast airliner, it would shelve the 747X, a touted rival to the giant A380.

``The Boeing decision to abandon the 747X only reinforces our belief that we can sell 750 A380 planes between now and 2019,'' Philippe Camus, one EADS's two chief executives, told Reuters in an interview.

But analysts pounced on the prospect of Boeing's fast plane fleecing the A380 of its business class, despite Airbus proposing that the superjumbo would have spacious facilities.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-boeing-airbu.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 03-30-2001).]

That article sure confirmed my feelings, that the Asian Airlines wouldbe VERY interested in this plane

SONIC CRUISER NO MARKETING PLOY

Some aerospace analysts have suspected elaborate plots behind Boeing's promotion of the 747X and Sonic Cruiser concepts.

According to those theories, the 747X might never have been more than a spoiler proposal to pressure Airbus's pricing of its A380, and the Sonic Cruiser may be intended only to draw attention away from Boeing's humiliating retreat from the superjumbo aircraft market.

Condit rejected both theories on Wednesday
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-transport-bo.html?searchpv=reuters

According to those in the meeting, the participants discussed the company's global strategy and "the threat" posed by its fiercest competitor, Airbus Industrie.

When it was over, lawmakers emerged united in their desire to protect the company and help it thrive even while acknowledging Boeing faces a difficult future.
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/business/22349_delegation10.shtml

Even with all this innovation, it's going to be a really long time before <1k mi domestic flights are going to be any faster.

It's unfortunate that we haven't advanced more quickly; it really isn't that impressive how long it takes to fly 700mi.