The New Era of Supersonic Travel May End Before It Even Begins

The dream of flying passengers faster than the speed of sound gave birth to Concorde in the 1970s, only for the nightmare of making a profit to snuff it out less than three decades later.

Companies competing to build a successor to the iconic jet may find that the biggest hurdle isn’t technology or economics, but the hefty carbon footprint that’s the result of such eye-watering speeds -- especially with mainstream plane and engine makers saying electric airliners may soon be within reach.