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The purpose of this paper is to show how an airline sees the SST engines from the 1967 perspective. With the British-French Concorde only months away from first flight, and the major United States SST design decisions made, the age of commercial supersonic flight has practically arrived. Afterburning turbojets will provide the power for both transport airplanes. A review is made, therefore, of some of the technological and operational complications which face the users of this equipment. Among these are the questions of how to deal with the noise problem, what the new higher engine operating temperatures will mean, and what might need to be done in the event of a performance “bust” of the airplane-engine combination. An attempt is made to identify the real problems and separate them from the imaginary ones: finally, the review ends on an optimistic note considering the resources and creative problem solving abilities of the industry itself.

The purpose of this paper is to explore one part of the 1972 commercial air transport picture. New jet engine and aircraft technology will be available which offers substantial advantages in operating economics. A major portion of the improvement will come by way of the engine redesigns. Higher bypass ratios, higher turbine inlet temperatures, and substantially advanced structural concepts point in the direction of lower direct operating costs. An analysis is made using these “new technology” engines on older fleets of large jet transports. Results show that the domestic operators have little to gain. Longer range, intercontinental operators may find the engine conversion attractive for some route segments where range is critical. Engine maintenance costs, among other costs, associated with reengining are considered. Finally, using these results, an estimate is made of an airplane size which will maximize the cost-reduction potential of the engines.