What will planes look like in the future

The buzz: It'll fly you from Tokyo to San Francisco in less than six hours. Boom, a Denver—based startup, is poised to produce Overture—the first civilian supersonic jet since the Anglo-French Concorde was retired almost two decades ago. One potential customer is Japan Airlines , an early investor in the company, which gives it an option to buy up to 20 of the seat airliners.

The aircraft would fly at just over twice the speed of sound—Mach 2. Still, the idea of flying from the East Coast to London in half the current time, or from the West Coast to Asia is hard to resist, especially as Boom promises to make it a pleasant ride, with each passenger getting an oversized window. Overture has some possible competition from Exosonic, a Silicon Valley startup founded by Stanford grad and aerospace engineer Norris Tie.

Exosonic's goal is to develop a seat plane that can fly supersonically overland and overwater with a muted sonic boom, thus overcoming the main hurdle to putting the plane into wider service in the U. It is still in the concept-design stage with the first commercial flight targeted for , but the entrepreneurs behind it are gaining attention for their innovative approach.

Airbus recently unveiled a scale model of a prototype design that it claims can reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent while carrying hundreds of people. This story was last published in September Some of these ideas are ingenious! A personal entertainment system. The crucial next step towards ensuring the aircraft industry becomes greener is the full electrification of commercial aircraft. Making announcements via things like Facebook is currently the peak of technological savviness for most airlines.

But some of them are beginning to introduce built-in individual entertainment centers in their aircraft. The Dutch company AirFi equips low-cost airlines with a special wireless system that uploads passenger information directly to your device.

It offers you the chance to read in-flight magazines, select movies to watch, order food, and make duty-free purchases. Luckily for all of us, aircraft designers are currently working on creating much more comfortable conditions for all kinds of travelers and especially long-distance ones. We at Bright Side picked out some of the best innovations that may soon be coming to your next flight.

Some of these are ingenious! Making announcements via things like Facebook is currently the peak of technological savviness for most airlines. But some of them - the ones that keep a keen eye on new technologies emerging in the airline industry - are beginning to introduce built-in individual entertainment centers in their aircraft.

You can even connect your own device to them through the LAN network inside the aircraft. The Dutch company AirFi equips low-cost airlines with a special wireless system that uploads passenger information directly to your device.

It offers you the chance to read in-flight magazines, select movies to watch, order food, and make duty-free purchases. Many passengers make use of Netflix or Amazon to keep themselves entertained during a flight.