As the comedian Louis CK pointed out one night on ‘The Late Show,’ a trip across the United States used to take the best part of a year and might cost you your life, but now it can be done in a few hours in comfort and great safety.
Great advances in aviation transport have lowered the costs of air travel and increased its availability to more customers. But since the dawning of the jet age, the individual time spent on passenger air travel has not been significantly reduced and it really won’t be for some time to come.
There were commercial efforts for supersonic flights on the Concorde in the early 2000’s as Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) capabilities were assessed, but by the end of May 2003 the last Concorde flights due to lack of traction in the industry. During that time, I was lucky enough to be a passenger on one of the Air France Concorde flights from JFK to Paris CDG… nearly 15 years ago.
James Hardie and Captain JF Michel on a Concorde supersonic transatlantic flight on August 16th, 2002.
The Sound Barrier is the Barrier
When it comes to the speed of aircraft, the sound barrier really is the barrier that’s not easily overcome in terms of economics, technology and regulations surrounding sonic booms produced. Most passenger aircraft are not going to go twice as fast any time soon because of that, although research is being done in partnership with NASA to make it possible in the future.
Example of a Sonic Boom flight display that’s currently under research and development by Rockwell Collins and NASA to help pilots reduce or mitigate sonic boom impacts in future supersonic flights.
Making the Most of the Journey
In the modern connected world, is time saved on travel now the most important factor in improving the journey? Or is time made by making the best use of the space you find yourself in? What is the utility value of the space? To read, to write, to be entertained, to talk, to rest?
Today the world considers mobility as a service along the passenger journey, which is viewed as a continuous and easy to plan chain of events. This allows the connected traveler to bring their ‘desk’ or ‘leisure space’ with them along the way.
The challenge is to understand this and be part of the enablement that makes this all happen, a vision where travel has been so simplified that it will not matter that you are travelling. It will just another space to be in. You may not be able to compete easily on speed but you can compete on space and utility.
When that happens, what difference does it really make if time is not considered wasted while travelling? Instead it is put to good use, a useful transitioning of location rather than the lost journey time. The opportunity now exists to enable that journey space to be a better place to be for that period of time.
James Hardie is responsible for Rockwell Collins ARINCDirect services in Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), based in the UK. ARINCDirect was established in the USA in 2003 to provide direct access for business jet operators to ARINC communication services. Additional services, such as flight planning, were quickly established and continue to be developed. He took responsibility for the ARINCDirect business development in EMEA in early 2006 and has worked with various flight departments across the region providing and developing products and services to meet their needs. Now part of the Rockwell Collins IMS business unit, he has worked for ARINC for over 14 years and has been involved in various projects related to airline and business aircraft operations and communications. He also has a background as a pilot with a CPL(A) and military helicopter experience.
Original article
