Comment by jmward01

I think aviation as a whole is ripe for massive disruption. I think the end result will be much smaller planes that do point to point but the exact 'how will it happen' is still an unknown. This will force regulatory changes too since a lot more smaller = totally different airspace management and cockpit requirements (please allow autonomous!). My personal bet for the disruptor to do it is is on electric. Look at the graph of battery capacity/kg/year and it is clear that electric will out-pace JET-A in the not distant future. The benefits are massive when that happens since (as the article points out) developing engines is a huge part of the challenge. Electric engines are going to be vastly easier to design and certify and provide massive new options since they can be mounted in new ways making aircraft more efficient and cheaper to build and operate. They will also likely change the altitudes and speeds that aircraft fly at since the same issues that impact turbofan engines don't impact electric (there are other issues obviously though).