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Drag and lift are related. Wings work by literally displacing lots of air towards the ground.

If you go slower, you need bigger wings (also no one really wants longer, slower flights in cramped airplane cabins).

Unless it's cargo. Cheaper than "normal air" / faster than sea shipping is a reasonable niche.

I don't know if it's a big enough niche. There are quite a lot of costs to air cargo aside from marginal fuel efficiency and somehow developing novel cargo-specific aircraft has to translate into both increased profits for Boeing/Airbus and decreased costs to shippers. Keeping in mind that these slower craft would be unsuitable for some of the most profitable uses of air freight today. I'm not sure it makes sense.

I guess that's part of the reason we still see propeller planes around (often with the military).

Answering to a cousin comment, buses and trains can't compete when you need to cross water :)

Well, there are boats. Passenger sailing as a means of travel is not especially popular these days.

If slower meant cheaper tickets I can guarantee that people would want to use it.

The lower cost, slower mode niche would have to compete with buses and trains, with the added penalty of TSA security theater. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm still not sure the financials work out.

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