The flagging " jet set " gained its second wind with the introduction in 1976 of the supersonic Concorde . Scheduled flights began on 21 January 1976 on the London – Bahrain oil executive route and the distinctly jet-set Paris – Rio de Janeiro ( via Dakar ) route . From November 1977 the Concorde was flying between standard jet set destinations , London or Paris to New York City ; passenger lists on initial flights were gossip-column material . The Concorde restored the term 's cachet : " From rock stars to royalty , the Concorde was the way to travel for the jet set , " according to the '' Nova '' retrospective special " Supersonic Dream " . However , the Concorde was doomed by its sonic boom , inability to achieve global fly-over rights because of the boom , its huge thirst for jet fuel , and a disastrous crash . The aircraft was retired in 2003 . Meanwhile , the Boeing 747 , densely packed with passengers , was the craft that took over and dominated air travel by reducing travel cost and increasing airport capacity , accelerating the social changes already brought about by the jet age
a disastrous crash
Air France Flight 4590
Jet set