TED - Why are airplanes slower than they used to be?

Why aren’t commercial flights getting faster? In 1996, a British Airways plane flew from New York to London in a record-breaking two hours and fifty-three minutes. Today, however, passengers flying the same route can expect to spend no less than six hours in the air — twice as long. So why, in a world where everything seems to be getting faster, have commercial flights lagged behind?

This interesting animated lesson that was created for TED Education, digs into the technological and environmental problems facing supersonic flight.

Our animation studio has been working with TED for many years and together we have created a large number of educational videos on a variety of subjects that range from science and art, to history and social issues.