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Why are airplanes slower than they used to be? - Alex Gendler

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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? Alex Gendler details the problems facing supersonic flight.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Alex Gendler
  • Director Michael Kalopaidis, Alexia Roider
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Storyboard Artist Jeanne Bornet
  • Animator Maria Savva
Avatar for juan manuel quitian caicedo
Lesson in progress

supersonic airplanes

I feel that airplanes should be banned because they cause a lot of havoc and are very noisy.

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Avatar for Татьяна Логинова
Lesson completed

I think it's the easiest way to ban it. Human thought does not stand still, it is constantly evolving. I think that today's return to hydrocarbon fuel will give a great impetus to the search and development of new, alternative, and most importantly, cheap fuels, and this will lead to a reduction in the cost of flights


Avatar for Yoha Pulido
Lesson in progress

I agree with you, they're very noisy, I´ll hope technology continues to advance and make them quieter.