Launching a commercial airliner via an aircraft carrier definitely falls into a big idea category. It could be a big idea, that if implemented, with a few tweaks for efficiently launching a land based airplane could save the airline industry a lot of money.
 
A lot of us white knuckle our way through an airplane takeoff fixated on how such a large craft can possibly get airborne - much less stay that way. The answer to how they currently get off the ground is the use of a heck of a lot of fuel as the engines are powered hard to reach high speeds required for rotation - or lifting the massive machine off the runway.
 
Ever conscious of the high cost of aviation fuel and the carbon footprint left by the powerful thrust of the engines, the engineers at Airbus have been thinking about alternative solutions to get us airborne more efficiently.
 
Their thinking turned towards how fighter aircraft are speedily and efficiently launched off aircraft carriers - via a steam catapult. Instead of steam, the Airbus engineers are thinking about using linear induction electric motors the same kind of motors that power high speed trains to be the accelerator to get planes off the ground.
 
Airplanes would sit on a platform that runs along a track instead of the conventional runway. The platform accelerates to the needed take off speed and that is the point the aircraft can become airborne powered by its own engine power. All this on a “runway” that is a third shorter than a conventional one.
 
This futuristic idea dubbed “Eco-Climb” has a lot of benefits if it becomes a reality. The most obvious is saving money on fuel. Take-off is the most inefficient part of flight as aircraft engines are optimized for cruising altitudes; working hard to get them off the ground uses a lot of fuel.
 
The Economist reports:
“Altogether, according to Airbus’s back-of-the-envelope calculations, Eco-climb would reduce fuel consumption by 3% on a typical 900km (560-mile) flight, even with existing aircraft designs. But it would also allow for the design of lighter aircraft, with smaller engines, which would cut fuel consumption, noise and emissions further.”
 

The idea is marching towards reality as General Atomics, a military contractor has successfully built and tested a linear induction motor based launch system. They are now in the process of scaling the system to accommodate the various aircraft operated by the U.S. Navy.
 
The question in everyone’s mind is no doubt what a catapult launch would feel like in a commercial carrier. Would we feel the incredible g-forces that military aviators feel as they launch off their carriers or would they include some kind of comfort based abatement measures for the passengers? The engineers believe the smooth operation of the linear induction system would keep the g-forces at a comfortable level for passengers, but no doubt that will fail to reassure some passengers.
 
Only time will tell as this futuristic big idea develops. If the idea is proven viable and put on a fast track to save precious resources and address the airline’s carbon footprint it’s possible we could see this within a generation.

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^{Sources:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21564826-future-airliners-could-be-catapulted-sky-electric-motors
http://www.treehugger.com/aviation/civilian-airplanes-could-one-day-take-off-electric-catapults.html
US Navy/Public Domain}