Slow Going for Next Supersonic Jet

July 17 -- When it comes to air travel, many consider the supersonic Concorde to be the Ferrari of airplanes. Although it was introduced into commercial service nearly 30 years ago, it's still the only passenger plane to travel at twice the speed of sound.

But despite its unparalleled ability to zip travelers through the air faster than any other passenger plane, some aviation experts consider the infamous aircraft to be no better than a 30-year old sport utility vehicle (SUV).

"They guzzle fuel, they're noisy, they threaten the upper atmosphere [with polluting emissions], and they're expensive," says Alan Bender, professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

And like SUVs, the high-performance planes have been marred lately with technical problems.

Last Monday, a British Airways Concorde was forced to return to Heathrow Airport outside of London after it developed engine problems 90 minutes into its supersonic flight to New York. Richard Goodfellow, a spokesman for the airline, says the flight did not have to declare an emergency landing nor were any of its passengers or crew in any danger during the flight back.

Goodfellow also says that the airline's engineers are investigating the cause of the "minor technical problem" but it hasn't stopped or affected its daily transcontinental supersonic flights.

Supersonic Stall

Still, industry experts say that such ongoing problems are not only dulling the Concorde's once-chic luster, but it could mark the beginning of the end for supersonic travel.

Already, some aviation analysts note that many of the major airplane makers have put off any research and development of next-generation supersonic transports.

"During the '90s there was a lot of interest in developing the successor to the Concorde," says Paul Jackson, an aviation analyst with Jane's Information Group, publisher of Jane's All the World's Aircraft. But 10 years later, he says much of that interest has produced nothing more than beautifully drawn artists' conceptions.