A man holds a V-shaped model aeroplane above his head and runs through a field, eventually letting go and watching as it glides a few metres above the ground.

‘This is not a private jet for the ultra-wealthy ... we want to get the economy of the plane down so that anybody who flies can fly fast’

When children of her age were pursuing conventional professions like medicine and engineering, Anny Divya dreamt of dominating the cockpit. Her family and friends panned the idea but Divya, with support from her parents, fulfilled her dream at the age of 19. She is now the world's youngest woman commander to captain a Boeing 777 airplane.

The US investigates how the flight from Toronto almost landed on a taxiway with four planes on it.

These days, every element of flying feels like a financial calculation. Is shelling out $80 for an extra six inches of legroom in premium economy good value? Is it worth paying $50 to check a bag into the hold? How about $12 for a mediocre sandwich? Or $4 for a bottle of water? Many frugal travelers would answer “no” to all of the above. But there is one perk that might be worth paying a considerable sum for: wiping out jet lag.

On September 26, 1973, an Air France Concorde flew from Washington, DC, to Paris — marking the first nonstop supersonic flight by the Anglo-French airliner. A few years later, Air France and British Airways put the cutting-edge jet into service — making daily flights from Europe to the US. But times change, and eventually the old bird was retired from service after nearly 30 years.

Your flight is still getting delayed, you might just be a little less angry about it.

Last month, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved an application from Airbus' Marco Prampolini and Yohann Coraboeuf for an "ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method of aerial locomotion." In other words, Airbus just patented a hypersonic jet. Airbus expects the jet to reach speeds as high as Mach 4.5 — or 4 1/2 times the speed of sound.