I once asked a top American airlines executive why air travel hadn't moved forward at all in terms of speed. It takes as long to get from New Zealand to the US as it did 40 years ago. He was very sniffy. "Our customers aren't saying they want to travel faster," he said.
I didn't believe him. One only has to be around Americans a short time to hear "oh I'd love to go to New Zealand... but it's such a long way."
The true reason of course is the commercial flop that was the Concorde speedy planes between the UK and the US, and the reality that for all its glamour the airlines business is not a profitable one. They have little to spend on R&D and less inclination to enter into anything that might turn out to be another Concorde.
Still you do wonder. It took me abt 24 hours to travel from Washington to rarotonga. Should it be that long? I have my doubts.
Still I am now in Rarotonga where it is a slice of paradise...
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