Future of Transportation

Supersonic

• Boom
  • Japan Airlines invested; United Airlines ordered Boom Overture;
  • ETA: 2023
  • Supersonic aircraft fly higher than other aircraft, cruising at up to 60,000ft. At this altitude, you fly above most of the turbulence, allowing a smoother ride than on subsonic aircraft.

Electric

Electric Aircraft

Autonomous Flights

https://www.xwing.com/

Advanced material and technologies.

Notably 787/350.

• composite fuselage: lighter, more fuel efficient; not as susceptible to fatigue, can be pressurize at lower(6000ft, comparing to 8000ft) altitude.
• better engines: quieter, both inside(passengers) and outside(group communities)

Super Long Flights

• ETOPS: longer non-stop flights. E.g. 20 hours from Singapore to New York.
• Qantas is targeting direct flights to New York and London from Sydney by 2022. Berth may be added.

The Largest/Smallest Airliners Being Phased Out

These aircraft/categories are disappearing:

• Turboprops: American retired the last Dash 8 on July 4, 2018; still operating in US: Ohana by Hawaiian's ATR and Alaska Horizon's Q400
• 50 seaters: CRJ200 and EMB-135/145
• 4-engines: Delta and United phased out their 747s in 2017; 340s are being phased out; 380 is hard to sell