Editing Tupolev Tu-144 (section)

===Economic inefficiency===
Global trends facilitated the transition of jet transportation from a luxury available only to the elite, to a widespread form of mass transportation. Although the [[1973 oil crisis]] did not directly impact decision-making processes within the Soviet Union, the expansion of Soviet air travel in the late 1970s made the supply of aviation fuel a growth constraint, and it was obvious that potential Western buyers were heavily dissuaded by high fuel prices. By the late 1970s, Soviet promotional efforts shifted to the [[Ilyushin Il-86]], a more economically efficient [[jumbo jet]] that went on to become the country's flagship airliner.{{sfn|Moon|1989|pp=153–154}} Moon notes that in 1976, Aeroflot was promoting the Il-86 over the Tu-144, despite the latter's incipient and long-awaited entry into service.{{sfn|Moon|1989|pp=173,181}}

G.A. Cheryomukhin, an aerodynamics engineer who took part in the design and certification of Tu-144,<ref name="AyzatullovaSudakov2020" />{{rp|page=88}} wrote that the Ministry of Civil Aviation was concerned that the continuation and expansion of the SST's operation would have forced the Ministry to make significant long-term investments.<ref name="AyzatullovaSudakov2020" />{{rp|page=91}}

Moon concluded that economic efficiency alone would not have doomed the Tu-144 altogether; continuation of token flights for reasons of political prestige would have been possible, if only the aircraft itself would have allowed for it, but it did not.{{sfn|Moon|1989|pp=199–200}} The Tu-144 was to a large extent intended to be, and trumpeted as, a symbol of Soviet technological prestige and superiority.