Cost aside, one of the biggest drags to travel is the sheer amount of time it takes to get to your destination.
Boeing unveiled on Tuesday a rendering of its concept for a hypersonic passenger plane. The plane could, in theory, get passengers from Los Angeles to Tokyo in three hours, or from New York to London in as little as two. Those flights currently take 11 and 7 hours, respectively.
The hypersonic plane could theoretically fly as fast as Mach 5, which is just under 3,900 miles per hour. Even the competitor that is the farthest along in the development of a high-speed passenger plane, Aerion Corporation, is only expected reach Mach 1.5.
The passenger concept could have military or commercial applications; this is just one of several hypersonic vehicle concepts spanning a wide range of potential applications company engineers are studying. Engineers are working companywide to develop enabling 
technology will position the company for the time when customers and markets are ready to reap the benefits of hypersonic flight.
“We’re excited about the potential of hypersonic technology to connect the world faster than ever before,” said Kevin Bowcutt, senior technical fellow and chief scientist of hypersonics. “Boeing is building upon a foundation of six decades of work designing, developing and flying experimental hypersonic vehicles, which makes us the right company to lead the effort in bringing this technology to market in the future.”
The concept, along with other visions of Boeing’s future, will be on display at Farnborough Air show in July.
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