There is zero need for supersonic airplane travel, especially in the era of climate change; time zone disruption keeps people from saving any time, practically, when using supersonic aircraft. Subsonic aircraft allow you to sleep it off in a comfortable lie-flat seat, rather than be awake in bright sunlight, in an Uber, in a city which won't let you check into your hotel to get actual sleep until 4 p.m.
Finally, it is not possible to eliminate the supersonic shock wave. That is a fundamental feature of supersonic travel. You can shape it, sure, but people aren't going to like
any* of the shapes. It's still the same amount of energy, disspiated over a very slightly longer amount of time.I don’t need a plane that flies faster. I need an airline that puts pure service before profit.
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2025-releases/2025-12-09-0...
And about the stolen land, what should we do about it? Never complain about anything? Have no laws?
Give all of your stolen land back, make all the reparations you owe people, and then go back to lecturing people online.
Calling this nimbyism is billionaire psyop lol
Of course that's the theory. The Trump Admin just allowed for a fairly audible boom.
On a site like HN this kind of progress should be praised not denigrated as antisocial.
Too bad because HN has been my “home” on the internet for 15 years.
Reddits owners are leftists, and I‘m afraid so is HN's.
It's not the hearing damage, it's the psychological stress.
Oh! Really?
Supersonic aircraft emit more carbon than traditional jets, and carry far fewer people to boot.
Here is just a taste: World’s oceans break June heat record: EU monitor: “The world’s oceans just experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead as El Nino and climate change drive temperatures even higher, scientists said on July 1.” https://www.straitstimes.com/world/worlds-oceans-break-june-...
I wonder what our ancestors did, lets say 500 years back. Did they have wildfires? Skiing?
I get the point about humans causing unprecedented harm to the planet. However, the examples themselves are not perfect. I know skiing may be age old, but not as an activity enjoyed by millions, and the fact we build ski resorts may be contributing to some bad things, no?
At this point, airlines make most of their actual profit from credit cards.
I forget who said it, but "airlines are banks that happen to fly planes" is true, at least profit wise.
1. Better, real-time atmospheric data that allows use of boom-refraction flight profiles to prevent the boom reaching the ground. This is a trick that Concorde sometimes used when conditions were right, but only works up to about Mach 1.2
2. Crazy 1950s-style airframe shaping like the X-59 that reduces boom but is impractical for an actual commercial transport.
Nothing is really new.
Go back to reddit to post your anti progress stuff. HN was supposed to be about tech and startups and improving the world.
It's basically unbearable at this point. Every single thread is full of this stuff. It's incredibly sad.
mattas•1h ago
majorchord•56m ago
> Several U.S. companies are working on a new generation of luxurious supersonic passenger aircraft with much quieter sonic booms and improved fuel efficiency
Robotbeat•18m ago