What do dinosaurs and super sonic passenger jets have in common? They are both extinct. When the realistic thought of supersonic passenger travel was first introduced in the 1950s, it seemed like a compelling breakthrough in the field of commercial aviation. During this era, American manufacturers created a competitive advantage at the end of the World War II, an advantage that has survived to the present day. For all practical purposes, US technology since 1945 has set the standards for international air operations. (Szondy, 2014) The idea of utilizing super sonic technology to routinely fly from London to New York in three hours is a great testament to the evolution of aviation. Modern technology may have finally caught up with the dream of Mach speed commercial airline travel is possible and new designs are back on the drawling board. In this paper we will explore the dream of traveling faster than the speed of sound and examine the benefits and hurdles of utilizing super sonic commercial travel.
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To highlight this, we look back at the Concorde disaster that occurred on July 25th, 2000 at its debut during the Paris Flight Demonstration ("disaster," 2013) With all 100 passengers killed on board, including four ground fatalities, and complete destruction of the multi-million dollar aircraft, the highly tragic incident dissuaded investors, coupled new FAA supersonic flight restrictions halted the Concorde program. In addition the high costs to initialize production of aircraft that have the ability to travel at supersonic speeds will demand much higher-ticket prices, which are predicted at almost four times the cost of the average first class seat on a standard commercial airlines today. The market for such services would tend to eat up any profits due to the demand for production, fuel and maintenance. (Thompston,
The immediate financial repercussions of the terrorist attacks were astronomical. Makinen (2002) reports airlines received a $15 billion federal aid package. Additionally, insurance ...
The Airline Industry is a fascinating market. It has been one of the few industries to reach astounding milestones. For example, over 200 airlines have gone out of business since deregulation occurred in 1978. Currently, more than 50% of the airlines in the industry are operating under Chapter 11 regulations. Since 9/11, four of the six large carriers have filed for and are currently under bankruptcy court protection. Since 9/11 the industry has lost over $30 billion dollars, and this loss continues to increase. Despite the fact that the airline industry is in a state of despair, JetBlue has become the golden example, a glimpse of what the industry could be.
According to the International Air Transport Association, 2001 was only the second year in the history of civil aviation in which international traffic declined. Overall, it is believed that the IATA membership of airlines collectively lost more than US$12 billion during this time (Dixon, 2002).
As airline industry is a competitive marketplace, the airline companies use new technologies to improve their efficiency and decrease the overhead costs, including ‘advanced aircraft engine technology, IT solutions, and mobile technology’ (Cederholm 2014). The technology changes including technology improvement, new innovation and disruptive technology. The disruptive technology need to meet the characteristics of ‘simplicity, convenience, accessibility and affordability’ (Christensen 1995). The technology changes would bring both opportunities and threats to airline companies. Since Labour cost and fuel costs occupy 50% of most airlines operating cost (Groot 2014). Therefore, if new technologies could be disruptive in the two aspects, there will be important changes to current airline
We use dinosaurs to represent the changes in nature that have occurred throughout time. Studies found that although the “oldest rock did not show evidence of life, the progression of plant and animal life that changed in recognizable intervals, from ancient life, age of reptiles to the age of mammals” (Dino Nature Metaphor, slide 6), measured the age of the earth. When we think of dinosaurs in relation to nature, we think of that very powerful force that controls the cycle of life. Nature was able to yield such magnificent ferocious creatures that walked the earth and then take them back when they served nature’s purpose. Dinosaurs fit perfectly in nature’s constant
Many people are amazed with the flight of an object, especially one the size of an airplane, but they do not realize how much physics plays a role in this amazing incident. There are many different ways in which physics aids the flight of an aircraft. In the following few paragraphs some of the many ways will be described so that you, the reader, will realize physics at work in the world of flight.
Most of us see aviation as a means of transportation and an alternate mode of travel. Boeing’s businesses are clearly doing one of the things that core businesses are suppose to do. They are making lots of cash. For many years Boeing has been the leader, earning an average cash flow of a billion dollars or more each year. This gives lots of options to maximize shareholders values. This company just seems to have lots of outside areas of interest too. Maybe you’re bored sitting around the house and had a craving for some pizza. Did you ever wonder how it’s stays so hot in twenty minutes after the drive leaves the restaurant? It’s the space-age thermal incubator, one of the many things the food industry acquired from Boeing space and communication program. There were two events that made a significant change in the history of modern aviation. The Wright Brother’s first flight and William Boeing, born October 1, 1881 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the founder, owner, President, and Chairman of the board from 1916-1934. He took advantage, in 1903, of small risky ventures and made a big financial gain. He lived until 1956 long enough to see the company go into the jet age.
Airline and travel industry profitability has been strapped by a series of events starting with a recession in business travel after the dotcom bust, followed by 9/11, the SARS epidemic, the Iraq wars, rising aviation turbine fuel prices, and the challenge from low-cost carriers. (Narayan Pandit, 2005) The fallout from rising fuel prices has been so extreme that any efficiency gains that airlines attempted to make could not make up for structural problems where labor costs remained high and low cost competition had continued to drive down yields or average fares at leading hub airports. In the last decade, US airlines alone had a yearly average of net losses of $9.1 billion (Coombs, 2011).
Travelling at a speed twice that of sound might seem to be something futuristic; however, this feat has already been achieved almost 40 years ago by the world’s only supersonic passenger aircraft-The Concorde. Concorde brought a revolution in the aviation industry by operating transatlantic flights in less than four hours. The slick and elegant aircraft with one of the most sophisticated engineering was one of the most coveted aircrafts of its time. However, this was all destined to end when Air France Flight 4590 was involved in a tragic disaster just outside the city of Paris on July 25, 2000. The crash killed 113 people, but more disastrous was its impact. The belief and confidence people had with Concorde gradually started to fade, and finally Concorde was grounded after two and a half years of the crash. Official reports state that the main cause of the crash was a piece of metal dropped by a Continental aircraft that flew moments before Concorde, but, over the last decade, the report has met a lot of criticism, and many alternative hypotheses have thus been proposed.
Beginning with one restaurant, Sonic has become the largest drive-in chain in the United States. While they are smaller than their competitors, they are still leading in sales growth, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Sonic restaurants saturate the southern U.S. This gives them the opportunity to expand to other area. However, Sonic is reluctant due to the colder climates and their basis as a drive-in restaurant. Sonic should look at adding or combining capabilities to it’s restaurants to increase competitiveness and make it easier for them to expand into other areas without limiting themselves.
As Boeing’s CEO, Frank Shrontz promised to increase earnings and return on equity. Boeing had a history of making money when its competitors did not, but Mr. Shrontz wanted higher returns. The airline industry was characterized by large cash outflows for R&D and manufacturing and long payback periods over long life cycles for each new airframe design. Companies had to have deep pockets to keep the operation going while waiting for a return on their investments. If Mr. Shrontz could increase the return on equity for Boeing, it would increase the likelihood of Boeing’s continued success well into the future.
Tom, Y. (2009). The perennial crisis of the airline industry: Deregulation and innovation. (Order No. 3351230, The Claremont Graduate University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 662-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304861508?accountid=8364. (304861508).
...Another way to decrease the disturbance over the wings are to move the wings lower than the horizontal stabilizer or visa versa to allow the shock waves moving over each wing to miss each other. Most aircraft today do not have enough fuel to maintain the speed of sound for great distances. Engineers have designed a brand new aircraft known as the F-22, which has the ability to fly an entire mission at supersonic speeds. The speed of light is unattainable by aircraft due to drag. We have no materials that could with stand the heat caused by the friction of the air moving over its body, nor materials strong enough to be able to take the enormous drag. Today there is no thrust capability that would allow for the speed of light. Although aircraft has proved such things as time dilation it is still impossible for an aircraft to travel at 900,000 miles per second.
The Concorde Plane Project The Concorde was the fastest commercial plane to ever fly the skies to date and although it now has an infamous legacy, there were high hopes of its commercial success from the engineers who designed and developed this supersonic airplane. Designed to break the sound barrier and decrease travel speed immensely, the Concorde achieved its goals early on. For many years the Concorde had a stellar record of no incidents, crashes or fatalities. While the Concorde never amounted to the commercial success that designers had originally hoped, it was considered to be a safe and reliable airplane.
6. Owen K. Concorde and the Americans : international politics of the supersonic transport. Washington u.a: Smithsonian Inst. Press; 1997.