With a decrease in amenities, regular delays, and high-profile stories about bad customer experiences, air travel has lost some of its historical glamour. But can Americans’ fondness for flying be reignited? Or will the nation’s other great love – the road trip – continue to reign supreme?

Business execs suffer from a ‘perennial time-scarcity problem’, so it’s no surprise that they’re looking for ways to minimise wasted moments. Surf Air aims to save them hours at airports, offering unlimited flights on private business jets between selected European cities from £2,500 per month.

We may have faster and larger planes than in the past, but the air travel experience is still notoriously slow. With this in mind, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines are swapping paper and digital tickets for biometrics in the hopes of increasing convenience without sacrificing security.

In 2013, over 3 billion passengers took to the skies. As airlines aim to make flying as simple as taking the train, could everything people would normally associate with air travel – endless queues, bad food, cramped, uncomfortable seats – be about to change for the better?