A supercritical airfoil is designed for delaying the shock wave and the onset of wave drag when the aircraft in flying in subsonic speed. The supercritical airfoil usually has a flattened upper surface, a highly cambered or curved aft section and greater leading-edge radius.
By using the supercritical airfoil, jet aircraft could have a higher critical Mach number without having a large sweep angle which benefits the low-speed aerodynamic characteristics and also improves the fuel efficiency.
Typical examples of aircraft using the supercritical airfoil design are the Boeing 777,787 and all the Airbus commercial jet fleet.
Todays discussion What is a supercritical airfoil? Which aircraft has it?