when did commercial air travel start

Birth of Aviation

The history of commercial aviation, the birth of commercial aviation.

Commercial aviation has changed the world immeasurably, facilitating world trade and economic growth, bringing people together in a way that was not possible before, and simply making the world a more connected place. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airlines in 2014 connected 3.3 billion people and 52 million tonnes of cargo over 50,000 routes, supporting 58 million jobs and delivering goods with a value of $6.8 trillion [ 1 ] . But when and where does commercial aviation find its inception?

COMMERCIAL AVIATION HISTORY

From the earliest beginnings, man’s ascent to flight has been one of gradual progress, accented by a handful of dramatic breakthroughs. The Wright Brother’s accomplishment would of course be one such breakthrough. Though several others can claim successful efforts at manned, powered flight prior to Kitty Hawk (see article, “First Human Flying Machines” ), the Wright Brothers hold a special place in history because of the profound and lasting impact of their achievement in relation to modern aircraft design (three-axis control).

Similarly, in the history of commercial aviation there is evidence of gradual evolution – from stunt plane and site seeing passenger flights to flying airboats that flew just a few feet above the water to the first real examples of modern air travel involving regularly-scheduled overland air service using land-based runways. And there are a few critical breakthroughs as well that would play a important role in the birth of a new industry. One of those breakthroughs was spurred on by a group of individuals in the mid-1920s led by the Guggenheims – a family who amassed a great fortune in the mining industry, and then turned their focus towards giving back to society. Together, they shared the vision of making passenger airtravel a sustainable reality, along with the spirit of boldness to make it happen. The elder Daniel Guggenheim would say of aviation at a 1925 groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the nation’s first school of aeronautics at a major American college, “I consider it the greatest road to opportunity which lies before the science and commerce of the civilized countries of the earth today.” [ 2 ]

Harry Guggenheim and Charles Lindberg leaving New Western Air Express plane in 1928. Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

Western Air Express pilot Jimmy James. [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

As such, when Western Airlines became part of Delta in 1986, Delta inherited bragging rights to the oldest ticket sold for passenger airtravel. No U.S. airliner in operation today can say it issued a ticket prior to the one sold in 1926 to Mr Ben Redman of Salt Lake City, Utah.

THE FIRST PASSENGERS

When Western Air Express pilot C.N. “Jimmy” James took off on his regular eight-hour mail delivery flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles on May 23, 1926 – almost exactly one year prior to the famous transatlantic flight of Charles Lindberg – he would do so carrying what was proudly referred to by Western Airlines CEO Arthur Kelly in 1961 as the “first commercial airline passenger”. [ 15 ] The recipient of this honor would be then president of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce Ben F. Redman who, along with his friend (and second passenger) J.A. Tomlinson, sat atop U.S. mail sacks, sported his own parachutes, and relied on a tin cup for the in-flight lavatory.

Source: “Western Airlines Marks Anniversary of S.L. Flight”, Salt Lake City Tribune , April 17, 1944, p.16

Later, Redman and James would appear with Elliot Roosevelt, son of President Roosevelt, as Elliot would receive the honor of being the 100,000th passenger flying from Los Angeles via Western Air Express on that same route. (See below)

Source: “Elliott Roosevelt Inspects Airlines”, Salt Lake City Tribune , September 25, 1933, p.22.

“They took off at 9:30am and five hours later landed at Las Vegas to refuel. Redman and Tomlinson staggered out of the plane to stretch their legs and would have been forgiven if they had refused to reboard; for a good portion of the trip they had flown through a dust storm, and both passengers were pale from fatigue and nervousness. But they also were game, and three hours later climbed more or less jauntily out of the M-2, waving to the crowd of photographers and reporters gathered at Vail Field to record the arrival.” [ 16 ]

Upon completion of the inaugural flight, a certificate signed by the pilot Jimmy James was presented. The certificate (shown below) confirms Redman as the first official passenger , as well as recording details of the flight including maximum altitude reached (12,000 feet), the maximum speed (130 mph), total flying time (8 hours), and Contract Air Mail Route (No. 4).

Certificate confirming Mr. Ben Redman of Salt Lake City, Utah as the first official passenger to fly on Western Air Express. This was presented in a ceremony after WAE’s inauguration of passenger service on May 23, 1926, which represented the first “regularly scheduled passenger flight” in the United States. Part of the BirthofAviation.org Collection. ( see preferred citation )

FIRST TRUE SUCCESS STORY IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

Perhaps most significant of all regarding Western Air Express’s inauguration of passenger service is that it marked the beginning of the first true success story in U.S. commercial aviation. For as mentioned there were a few early airboat ventures that did sell tickets for airtravel prior to 1926. Yet they would all end in bankruptcy, most going out of business shortly after their inception (see First U.S. Passenger Airlines ). The February 1976 edition of The Vintage Airplane thus declared, “Western Air Lines is the only survivor of airlines that pioneered commercial air transportation in the U.S. in the mid-twenties.” [ 17 ]

Vintage Art Poster shows a Western Air Express plane flying over the location where the Golden Gate Bridge now stands.

Helped by the Guggenheim grant, along with the infrasture and other innovations spawned by the model airline experiment over the next few years, Western would not only avoid bankruptcy but would go on to become an industry giant. After surprising many by posting a profit of $28,674.19 in its first year of operation, [ 18 ] [ 19 ] Western Air Express would the following year, in 1927, become the first airline in history to pay a cash dividend to its stockholders. [ 20 ] In 1928, it would post a profit of approximately $700,000. [ 21 ] And by 1930 it had become the largest airline in the nation by most overall standards of measurement – including fleet size, passengers carried, and route mileage with routes stretching 15,832 miles. [ 22 ] (That same year it would also introduce to the world of commercial aviation what was at the time by far the largest passenger plane in the world, the four-engined 32-passenger Fokker F-32, as shown below). [ 23 ]

Of course, the Guggenheim fund that helped fuel this success was never intended to provide an economic advantage to any one airline in particular, but rather to buoy the entire industry – and that is indeed what it did. The success of the model airline experiment would not only benefit Western but would in effect usher in the beginning of sustainable economic progress for all U.S. airliners through a number of key innovations.

One innovation of lasting impact achieved by the model airline would be the first weather reporting for passenger airplanes. In August 1927, the Daniel Guggenheim Committee on Aeronautical Meteorology was created to make pilots and meteorologists aware of each other’s specialties. The five-person committee, all of whom would achieve prominence in meteorology and two of whom would become chiefs of the Weather Bureau, recommended that the Guggenheim Fund equip a section of the airway system with weather reporting systems to prove the feasibility of such a system. Ultimately, it was decided to carry this out along the Western Air Express model air line route, resulting in an initial twenty-two reporting stations connected via telephone to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and soon later more would be added. These would serve all airmen, not just those of Western Air Express.

This project, involving collaboration from the Department of Commerce and the Weather Bureau, as well as the army, would add great benefit not only in economy of operation but also in safety. Lt. Col. G.C. Brant, at the time commandant of the Army Air Corps base at Crissy Field in San Francisco, would state, “The Guggenheim Experimental Airways Weather Service has done more to raise the morale of the Army Flying Corps than anything else that has happened since I became associated with it. Formerly a pilot did not know what was ahead, now he knows and is prepared.” [ 24 ]

A dazzling Lucille Ball is shown here after a flight on a Western Air Express Fokker F-10, a plane referred to as the “Queen of the Model Airline”.

Even though mail revenues still constituted the majority of income, and profitability solely from passenger service was still a few years away, the public relations impact, the technological advancements, and the lessons learned as a result of the model airline experiment would greatly facilitate eventual realization of profitability in the industry. Though there would be many ups and downs in the years to come, [ N 3 ] Western Air Express and the rest of the budding airline industry in America had positioned themselves on arguably the first path to sound economic success in the world of commercial aviation. Other carriers would soon follow Western Air Express’s lead in providing passenger service across the nation, with increasingly safe and cost effective passenger aircraft. America was officially on its way to emerging as a global leader. Western would even stake its claim not only as a domestic pioneer but as “ the world’s first economically successful venture in airplane transportation ” [ 27 ] . (See this referred to on Western’s First Anniversary Flight Postcard) . One of the reasons Western was able to make this claim is that although commercial aviation in Europe and other places around the globe got off to a quicker start in many areas including number of passengers carried, this didn’t translate to profits. As Tom D. Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, writes in Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age , “The pioneering postwar airline ventures in England, France, and Germany enjoyed some early successes. British and French air services carried sixty-five hundred passengers between London and Paris in 1920, with the three British operations carrying perhaps three times as many passengers as their French counterparts. At the same time, actual revenues amounted to only 17 percent of total costs.” [ 28 ] Many of these European ventures would not be long lived as a result of the unsound economics. And even many of those that did survive like KLM (officially the world’s oldest airline) would do so not because of economically successful operations in those days but because they were largely supported by government subsidies, unlike Western Air Express. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] [ N 4 ] As Woolley writes again in Airplane Transportation , “To secure consideration of the airplane as a commercial vehicle required, in Europe, direct financial assistance from government; in the United States, only evidence of its economic worth.” [ 31 ] And in 1936, Col. E.S. Gorrell, then president of the Air Transport Association of America, said of a partnership between five of the major airlines to build a 40-passenger super-airliner, “This contract marks a significant step for advancement of commercial aviation. Unlike every other country, where heavy government subsidies are devoted to the development and advancement of air transport aircraft, private enterprise in the United States, the individual operator, must carry this entire burden.” [ 32 ] [ N 5 ]

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

When C.G. Grey, the editor of the English aeronautical journal Flight , arrived in New York in January 1925 to gauge the state of aeronautics in the United States. he commented, “The general atmosphere of aviation in America impressed one as being in a state when something is about to happen. Not so much the calm before the storm, but rather the slump before the boom.” [ 33 ] These words would prove to be prophetic as the U.S. airline industry would grow exponentially after 1926. With less than 6,000 airline passengers in the United States recorded in 1926, this would grow to approximately 173,000 in 1929, and a decade later this number would be approximately one million passengers. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] [ N 6 ] Col. E.S. Gorrell again commented in 1936, “Air passenger traffic has increased at a more rapid rate in the United States than anywhere else in the world, largely due to superior aircraft and operations methods. In the past five years passengers carried on domestic and foreign airlines under the American flag have increased from 385,000 in 1930 to nearly 1,000,000 in 1935.” [ 36 ] Passenger airtravel had become a reality. The U.S. aviation industry would eventually go on to represent the largest single market in the world, accounting today for over one‐third of the world’s total air traffic [ 37 ] (in addition to claiming the world’s largest airline, American Airlines). It may also be said that an even brighter future yet awaits it. In fact, by the year following the upcoming centennial of that inaugural passenger flight of Western Air Express (2027), the FAA projects air travel demand in the U.S. to top 1 billion passengers per year. [ 38 ]

At the same time, the real birth of commercial aviation is not merely a story of a landmark flight or even that of a handful of pioneers and philanthropists. It is the story of a nation. In order to make possible the conditions for success, many pieces needed to come together. And this would involve one of the greatest collaborative efforts in all of human history

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESS

During the first decade or so following the Wright Brother’s first flight, America lagged behind Europe with regard to aviation. As C.V. Glines writes in an article published in the the November 1996 edition of Aviation History magazine:

The United States clearly was in the doldrums so far as aviation was concerned. By contrast, a year after the armistice, Britain and France were operating scheduled flights between London and Paris. The Germans had an all-metal transport 10 years before William Stout designed one for Henry Ford. The French had an internal airmail system that far outdistanced the United States’ fledgling airmail service. Italy’s Gianni Caproni had built a 100-passenger, eight-engine flying boat. And even the Russians, as far back as 1913, had a four-engine airliner designed by Igor Sikorsky that boasted an enclosed cockpit and passenger cabin, electric lights and a washroom. [ 39 ]

But even as America itself was founded in a story of “beating the odds”, so too would this generation of Americans rise up to meet the challenge before it – heeding the wisdom of the words spoken by one of the nation’s brightest businessmen and entrepreneurs of the time, Henry Ford: “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” A movement would soon take off in America that would change its fortunes – a movement that would find its impetus when the U.S. Government first began experimenting with the use of planes to transport mail.

In 1917 Congress, acting on a recommendation from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which would later become NASA, appropriated $100,000 for the creation of an experimental airmail service. This would include involvement from both the Army and the Post Office. One of the contributions from the Army was providing pilots to fly the mail planes – a particularly dangerous job. In fact, during the period the Post Office operated the air mail, the life expectancy of a Mail Service pilot was only four years, and thirty one of the first forty pilots were killed in action. [ 40 ]

The Army also assisted with the initial deployment of rotating beacons that would make it possible to fly the routes at night. The Post Office would take over soon afterwards, expanding the guidance system the following year to make transcontinental air service possible. By 1923, mail could be delivered from one coast to the other in two days less time than by train.

Once the basic infrastructure was in place for airmail to work, the U.S. Government sought to transfer this service to private companies. As described in The Airline Handbook from Airlines for America (America’s oldest and largest airline trade association):

“Once the feasibility of airmail was firmly established and airline facilities were in place, the government moved to transfer airmail service to the private sector by way of competitive bids. The legislative authority for the move was granted by the Contract Air Mail Act of 1925, commonly referred to as the Kelly Act after its chief sponsor, Rep. Clyde Kelly of Pennsylvania. This was the first major step toward the creation of a private U.S. airline industry. [emphasis added]” [ 41 ]

Through a balance of government and private industry very much in harmony with the spirit of America, the stage was set for the dawning era in the history of aviation. The U.S. government through its numerous efforts to facilitate aviation nationwide would provide essentially a “hand up” to private enterprise, then largely get out of the way – even though it would step in once again though the Air Commerce Act of 1926 in order to provide needed coordination as well as a set of essential checks and balances. [ N 7 ] As described again in The Airline Handbook :

“The same year Congress passed the Contract Air Mail Act, President Calvin Coolidge appointed a board to recommend a national aviation policy (a much-sought-after goal of then Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover). Dwight Morrow, a senior partner in J.P. Morgan’s bank, and later the father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh, was named chairman. The board, popularly known as the Morrow Board, heard testimony from 99 people and, on Nov. 30, 1925, submitted its report to President Coolidge. The report was wide-ranging, but its key recommendation was that the government should set standards for civil aviation and that the standards should be set outside of the military. “Congress adopted the recommendations of the Morrow Board almost to the letter in the Air Commerce Act of 1926. The legislation authorized the Secretary of Commerce to designate air routes, to develop air navigation systems, to license pilots and aircraft and to investigate accidents. The act brought the government into commercial aviation as regulator of the private airlines that the Kelly Act of the previous year had spawned.” [ 42 ]

Through these acts of Congress in 1925 and 1926, the essential framework had been established, and the ground was ripe for the birth of a new industry. In fact, the initial Contract Air Mail (CAM) service carriers selected through this process would in time and through mergers and acquisitions go on to become key players in the airline industry, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Western Airlines (which as mentioned would eventually be acquired by Delta Airlines, who was also a CAM carrier beginning in 1934), Boeing, Pan Am, Trans World Airlines (TWA), Northwest Airlines, Braniff, Continental, and Eastern Airlines. These would also greatly influence the advancement of technology and infrastructure that would allow passenger airtravel to survive and prosper in the decades to follow.

Initial Contract Air Mail (CAM) Routes

Starting with an initial group of five, a total of 34 Contract Air Mail routes would eventually be established in the U.S. between February 15, 1926, and October 25, 1930.

The “first five” CAM contractors would include:

1926 – A WATERSHED YEAR FOR COMMERCIAL AVIATION

The aforementioned book Airplane Transportation by James Woolley was used as a textbook at the University of Southern California and several other schools. With contributing works from famed meteorologist Carl-Gustav Rossby and William P. MacCracken, Jr., the first federal regulator of commercial aviation appointed in 1926, its emphasis was to teach the business elements of the arising “new industry” to all those eager to acquire “knowledge of the airplane and its potentialities as an agency of commerce”. [ 43 ] In the opening of the first chapter, Woolley describes the state of commercial aviation in the eyes of the nation at the time:

“Within the past two years America has awakened to the presence of a new and vital agency in transportation; a medium, which, although at present only slightly understood, holds promise of development beyond grasp of the most vivid imagination. True, the airplane as a vehicle has been known to us for more than one-quarter century but its adaptation to commerce dates only from the termination of the World War and its economic worth had not been definitely established previously to 1926.” [ 44 ]

1926 was a watershed year for commercial aviation. It would be one of many key milestones, and one that would see the first economic successes.

As mentioned, 1926 would be the year of what has been referred to as the first true commercial passenger flight in the United States. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Association’s most recently published chronology dates back to that year (FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996), beginning with the Air Commerce Act. And in 1976 – coinciding with the nation’s bicentennial – the U.S. Post Office would issue the Commercial Aviation Commemorative Stamp marking the “golden anniversary of commercial aviation in the United States” with the description “Commercial Aviation, 1926-1976″ ( See the first day of issue cover for this stamp ).

The Commercial Aviation Commemorative Stamp issued by the U.S. Post Office in 1976

1926 being the year the “CAM” carriers would began carrying U.S. Air Mail under contract, the planes shown on the 1976 stamp were the first two to do so: the Ford-Stout AT-2 (upper) and Laird Swallow (lower).

Other groups, such as the Aviation Historical Society, would also honor 1926 as the true beginning of U.S. commercial aviation (as shown below).

An enveloper cover from the Aviation Historical Society Honoring the 50th Anniversary of U.S. Commercial Aviation

In addition to numerous legislative and general infrastructure advancements, there were other factors as well that led to the growth of passenger airtravel in the United States beginning in the mid-1920s. One of those can be attributed to the contributions of automobile pioneer Henry Ford. In 1925, Ford began a commercial cargo airlines called the Ford Air Transport Service and would be awarded the CAM6 and CAM7 airmail routes. Although not receiving one of the initial five routes, he would actually be the first of the carriers to begin operation in 1926, staking the company’s claim as “the world’s first regularly scheduled commercial cargo airline.” [ 45 ] He would soon abandon that venture however in favor of focusing on airplane manufacturing, selling its routes to Stout Air Services (which was eventually acquired by National Air Transport (NAT) who in turn became part of United Airlines).

It was in two primary areas that Ford would help shape the history of commercial aviation. The first of those was in airplane technology, through the introduction of the Ford Trimotor – the first all-metal, multi-engine transport in the United States and the first plane designed primarily to carry passengers rather than mail (having room for 12 passengers and cabins with high ceilings that didn’t require stooping).

The Trimotor’s three-engine design made for significant improvements in relation to speed and altitude – ultimately enabling it to become the first plane to be used for transcontinental passenger service, as well as the first plane to fly over the South Pole. Dubbed the “Tin Goose”, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were built between 1926 and 1933. And its impact on commercial aviation was immediate, with the design helping to make passenger airtravel potentially profitable for the first time. It would be labeled as the “first successful American airliner” and said to represent a “quantum leap over other airliners.”

Ultimately, the Great Depression ended Henry Ford’s short career as a major figure in American aviation. He would pass the baton to companies like Boeing, who introduced the Boeing 247 in 1933, and the Douglas Aircraft Company whose DC-3 would revolutionize air transportation for the next decades (along with Wright Aeronautical and Pratt and Whitney who would dominate the engine market for years to come). In the meantime, however, United Aircraft and Transport Corporation took over the Ford airmail routes in 1929 and the Ford Airplane Manufacturing Division closed for good in 1933. Though similar to the way Ford’s durable Trimotor planes seemed to last forever (One Trimotor 5-AT, built in 1929, was still being used in Las Vegas for sightseeing in 1991), [ 46 ] so was Ford’s impact on commercial aviation long lasting. Not only did the advancements in plane construction help move the industry forward, but Ford was also instrumental in a second important breakthrough: gaining the American public’s trust when it came to flying.

When the public saw that Ford had its name on airplanes used for passenger service, it gave an entirely new level of legitimacy to the idea of safe and reliable passenger airtravel. As famous 1920s and 1930s actor Will Rodgers would comment, “Now you know that Ford wouldn’t leave the ground and take to the air unless things looked pretty good to him up there.” [ 47 ]

Ford’s involvement in airplane manufacturing, coupled with the government legislation of 1925-1926, provided a stamp of approval in the eyes of the public and for the first time ever passenger flight began to be seen not as merely a novel and risky venture, but as a new and trustworthy way of travel. In fact, just as Ford traveled around the country through his “Reliability tours” to promote the idea that the automobile had come of age in America, so did he do the same for the airplane – in part through the aerial version of his Reliability Tours, the Ford National Reliability Air Tour.

CHARLES LINDBERG

The Airline Handbook describes the bold and revolutionary accomplishment:

“In planning his transatlantic voyage, Lindbergh daringly decided to fly by himself, without a navigator, so he could carry more fuel. His plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, was slightly less than 28 feet in length, with a wingspan of 46 feet. It carried 450 gallons of gasoline, which constituted half its takeoff weight. There was too little room in the cramped cockpit for navigating by the stars, so Lindbergh flew by dead reckoning. He divided maps from his local library into thirty-three 100-mile segments, noting the heading he would follow as he flew each segment. When he first caught sight of the coast of Ireland, he was almost exactly on the route he had plotted, and he landed several hours later, with 80 gallons of fuel to spare. Lindbergh’s greatest enemy on his journey was fatigue. The trip took an exhausting 33 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds, but he managed to remain awake by sticking his head out of the window to inhale cold air, by holding his eyelids open, and by constantly reminding himself that if he fell asleep he would perish. In addition, he had a slight instability built into his airplane, which helped keep him focused and awake. Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Field, outside of Paris, at 10:24 p.m. Paris time on May 21. Word of his flight preceded him and a large crowd of Parisians rushed out to the airfield to see him and his little plane. There was no question about the magnitude of what he had accomplished. The age of aviation had arrived.” [ 48 ]

As a young U.S. Air Mail pilot hired in 1925 by the Robertson Aircraft company (that would later become American Airlines) to fly the CAM-2 mail route between St. Louis and Chicago, Lindbergh was suddenly thrust into the spotlight as an American hero, as well as the first person to ever be in New York one day and Paris the next. It captured the imagination of the public in relation to the capabilities of modern airtravel, as well as the imagination of investors. Though many in years past had invested in aviation ventures that had failed, suddenly there was a rush to Wall Street to invest in aviation, with investments in aviation stocks tripling between 1927 and 1929.

After his legendary feat, Lindbergh was faced with enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. He gave numerous speeches, participated in parades, and received many awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross medal from President Calvin Coolidge, using his status as an American icon and international celebrity to further aviation along with other noble causes.

THE GUGGENHEIMS

As mentioned, the Guggenheim family also served as an important catalyst in the rise of commercial aviation. And this involved far more than generous financial contributions. The philanthropic efforts of the Guggenheims were far reaching and brought together some of the brightest minds in the nation. Tom Crouch writes again in Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age :

“Daniel Guggenheim began to discuss the possibility of expanding his involvement, spending several million dollars on the creation of a fund that would support civil aviation. Father and son, the Guggenheims discussed the idea with everyone from Orville Wright to Secretary of Commerce Hoover and President Coolidge. The decision to forge ahead had been made by January 1926. The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics would support aeronautical education; fund research in “aviation science”;promote the development of commercial aircraft and equipment; and “further the application of aircraft in business, industry and other economic and social activities of the nation.” Running it would be a blue-ribbon panel of leading figures from aviation, business, finance, and science, including the inventor of the airplane and a Nobel laureate in physics.” [ 49 ]

The fund would go on to create schools of aeronautics at major universities, including Stanford, MIT, and Harvard, among several others. The impact would be far reaching with respect to the research conducted, the technological discoveries made, and perhaps most importantly the development of the graduates – from pilots to engineers to meteorologists.

One of those graduates was Herbert Hoover, Jr., son of 31st President of the United States Herbert Hoover and eventual Secretary of State under President Eisenhower. Hoover won a fellowship from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund to study aviation economics at the Harvard Business School, and would focus on the economics of radio in the aviation sector. He would use that education to help Western Air Express, in cooperation with Thorpe Hiscock of Boeing, to develop the first ever air-to-ground radio while serving as Western’s communication chief.

Under his guidance, Western would also establish a system capable of guiding radio-equipped aircraft along 15,000 miles of airways across the Western U.S. And in 1930 he would be elected president of Aeronautical Radio Inc. – a non-profit alliance between Western Air Express, Boeing and American Airways that represented the airline industry’s single licensee and coordinator of radio communication outside of the government. This selection led to Time Magazine putting Hoover on the cover of its July 14, 1930 edition.

Herbert Hoover Jr (middle) with Western Air Express pilots Jimmie James (left) and Fred Kelly (right)

Even beyond education, the Guggenheim fund would make major contributions to the aviation industry. An example was its revolutionary breakthroughs in relation to “blind flight”, addressing the problems faced by pilots in three main areas: point-to-point navigation while in fog or above clouds, maintaining straight and level flight via instrument readings, the usage of ground facilities for take off or landing assistance in poor visibility conditions.

In September 1929, a young U.S. Army lieutenant named James Doolittle took off from Mitchell Field in New York on a 15-minute test flight. When his wheels touched down, he had reached a major milestone in aviation history, being the first plane in history to take off, fly a precise flight path, and land, with its pilot not using any visual cues outside of his cockpit instruments. The instruments that made this possible included a very accurate barometer, an artificial horizon and gyroscope, and a radio direction beacon – all developed through research at the Guggenheim Full Flight Laboratory. Within the next decade, instrument flying would become routine for all airlines. One of the congratulatory telegrams sent to Harry Guggenheim upon this achievement came from famed explorer Robert E. Byrd, who sent the message from his camp on the Antactic ice cap. At the end, he added “I know of nothing that has done as much for the progress of aviation as your organization.” [ 50 ] The Guggenheim Fund would end in 1930, concluding very much in the same spirit of the U.S. government’s previous involvement in helping aviation to forge ahead. Daniel Guggenheim would state, “With commercial aircraft companies assured of public support and aeronautical science equally assured of continual research, the further development of aviation in this country can best be fulfilled in the typically American manner of private business enterprise.” [ 51 ]

Though the fund would cease, however, its impact would live on – as would the Guggenheim’s work through other avenues. The Guggenheim foundation for example established such entities as the Cornell-Guggenheim Aviation Safety Center at Cornell University where important research took place in relation to collision avoidance, crash fire protection, and other aspects of safety improvement. The Guggenheim Medal fund would be awarded annually to individuals making exceptional contributions to aviation, with the first going to Orville Wright. And the Guggenheims sponsored much of the research of Dr. Robert J. Goddard, upon which all modern developments of rockets and jet propulsion was based.

Arguably though, the greatest impact of the Guggenheim legacy remains that of the decision to provide funding to a courageous group of aviation trailblazers and the establishment of the world’s first “model airline”. Together, the Guggenheims and Western Air Express would pioneer the first semblences of airtravel as we know it today – year round, regularly scheduled, overland service using landplanes – and pave the way for the first truly self sustaining and economically successful model in commercial aviation.

The legacy and impact of the Guggenheim Fund would live on many years past the end of the model airline experiment, as would that of Western which would go on to establish many industry firsts [ N 8 ] . In fact, Western would eventually take on the label of “America’s senior air carrier” as well as the “oldest continuously operating airline in the US” [ 52 ] [ 53 ] [ N 9 ] at the time of its acquisition by Delta in 1986. Even as it became part of the Delta family, the innovations and progress of Western, much of which was derived from its earliest years, [ N 10 ] would carry on not only in spirit but in everyday business operations. To this day, for instance, Delta continues Western’s Salt Lake City hub operations, which is the same location from where that first passenger flight of Western Air Express took place in 1926 – an event that would set in motion the first true success story in commercial aviation.

When history is remembered, what generally emerges to the forefront are not necessarily the “firsts”, but the events, discoveries. and individuals that had the most powerful influence in shaping the future.

Christopher Columbus was not the first to discover America. Yet the fact that his name looms larger in history than many of those who proceeded him – including the Vikings led by Leif Erickson, the waves of Carribean explorers like the Taino tribe, and potentially even Monks like St. Brendan who it is believed made the journey in the sixth century – is because of the unparalleled impact of his explorations. Christopher Columbus opened up a new continent to Spain and, ultimately, all of Europe. His discovery had a profound and lasting impact on the trade routes of the day. And his voyages would ultimately reshape the known world.

Similarly, Henry Ford did not invent the automobile and yet his name is synonymous with it. For it is he who changed the landscape of a nation, and world, by making the automobile an affordable reality to the average person. Through use of the assembly line technique of mass production, and by lowering costs as opposed to pocketing profits from the resulting cost savings, Ford’s company would go on to lead the American industry to produce three quarters of all automobiles in the world by 1950.

Taking transportation to the next level would be the Wright Brothers, even though technically they were not the first to fly manned aircraft. In addition to those lifted by hot air balloon and airships such as Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier who flew the first manned free balloon flight on November 21, 1783, there are others who flew heavier-than-air crafts in the rough form of the modern day airplane beginning in the early 1800s. And while many of the pioneers who did so would make significant contributions to the science and eventual realization of powered flight (which the Wright Brothers themselves would even rely upon), the Wright Brothers hold a special place in history because of the unique impact they had on airplane design. While other early inventors experimented with the shifting of a persons weight to control or steer the plane, for instance, the Wright Brother’s revolutionary invention of “three-axis control” would make fixed-wing powered flight truly possible for the first time ever and would be adopted universally in aircraft design moving forward. Tom D. Crouch, who as mentioned holds the position of senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, described why the invention of the Wright Brothers is given precedence as first to achieve “powered, heavier-that-air flight” over the work of competing inventor Augustus Moore Herring, saying “Herring’s 1898 motorized machine represented nothing more than the culmination of the hang-gliding tradition. Having made his brief powered hops, he found himself at a technological dead end.” [ 54 ]

In a similar way, there were various early attempts to launch the world of commercial aviation, ranging from paid sightseeing flights on crop dusters to a handful of failed airboat ventures. But perhaps the most significant breakthrough came via a great American success story – that of the Guggenheims and Western Air Express, and of the movement of the mid-1920s that involved one of the greatest collaborations in human history. From the legislation that laid the early groundwork to the humble beginnings of a two-passenger inaugural flight in an open cockpit atop mail sacks to the investments made by many, this is a story of American ingenuity, of the unique American balance between government and private enterprise, and of the spirit of the American West.

These truths are emphasized not merely in the spirit of American patriotism, but more so in the spirit of the model airline experiment – that the success of one might benefit many (also an American principle). For the hope is that the blueprint discovered here might lead others to greater successes, whether nations or groups of individuals or other generations of Americans. After all, it is poetic that the movement which brought forth the kind of advancements that would connect the world as never before, was done through such a great collaboration of people. The profound words found on the website for the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company seem most fitting in this regard, describing one of the true motivations that drove the two brothers to pursue their dream of building their flying machine: “Seen from above, the artificial boundaries that divide us disappear. Distances shrink, the horizon stretches. The world seems grander and more interconnected.” [ 55 ] And Western Air Express pilot Al DeGarmo said of his friend and famed Hollywood actor Will Rogers, “He believed air travel was key to this country’s growth. Air travel was something everyone would be doing one day, he said, and it would help break down differences that divided nations.” [ 56 ]

Today the Wright Brothers are recognized as among the greatest of the pioneers of flight – though it wasn’t until after they died that they were finally credited over such men as Samuel Pierpont Langley as being the first to build a heavier-than-air craft capable of manned powered flight. It sometimes takes time for the truest heroes of history to be appropriately honored. Hopefully this story of the beginning of commercial aviation will be told with greater attention paid to these great men and women who took the baton from the Wright Brothers and brought aviation to the next stage of development. For while the Wright Brother’s sought and achieved sustainable (and controlled) flight, these pioneers of the mid-1920s sought and achieved sustainable economic growth that would make it possible to take the innovations of the Wright Brothers and turn them into the means of forever changing the world of global transportation.

• ^ It is worth noting that the Guggenheims didn’t expect to be paid back for this loan and in fact told Western Air Express founder Harris Hanshue this was more in the nature of a grant. However, Hanshue refused to accept the money as a gift and insisted on inserting a clause into their agreement that stipulated Western was to repay the loan within eighteen months at 5% interest. Hanshue also put up some $100,000 in public-utilities securities to guarantee the loan.
• ^ Robert Serling writes on pages 6-7 of The Only Way to Fly: The Story of Western Airlines America’s Senior Air Carrier , “…there is one thing to be noted about all these early airline efforts [prior to 1926] – every one involved the use of flying boats, not landplanes. Airfields throughout the United States, with few exceptions, were too primitive, inadequate, and actually dangerous to warrant confidence on the part of the public or airmen themselves. Not until the government – prodded by the growing demand for regular air mail service-established lighted airways and modest airport improvements did scheduled air transportation become feasible between inland cities.”
• ^ It should be noted that the road to prosperity for Western and the industry in general was not only filled with successes, but involved setbacks as well. One particularly dark chapter in the history of the commercial aviation industry occurred during the 1930s, though the Air Mail Act of 1930 that consolidated all of the air mail routes to only three companies (United Airlines, TWA, and American Airlines) and the resulting investigation of a 1930 meeting (the so-called Spoils Conference) involving postmaster general Walter Brown and representatives of the three airlines to whom he would later award the air mail routes. This would be referred to as the Air Mail Scandal and Air Mail Fiasco by the American Press as the actions under the new legislation were accused by many of being a corrupt effort of conspiracy to monopolize the air mail. Though allegations relating to this were never proven, there was enough room for suspicion to convince President Franklin D. Roosevelt to cancel the contracts altogether and have the Army Air Corps take over the service. This would not only negatively impact the airline industry in general, but would have disastrous results in many ways since Air Corps’ airplanes could not meet the demands of night flight, let alone bad weather. There were many deadly crashes and lost lives, until finally later the same year Congress passed the Air Mail Act of 1934, which returned most air mail routes to the major airlines as well as gave some routes to smaller airlines.
• ^ While Western Air Express greatly benefitted from infrastructure improvements and other provisions of the government, it was able to attain profitability without any direct government subsidies. It also received a low interest 5% loan of $155,000 to be paid back over 2 years courtesy of the Guggenheim Fund in 1927, which enabled it to purchase three Fokker passenger planes. Even after the first of its two annual loan payments was made to the Guggenheims in 1928, WAE was still able to report a net profit of nearly $700,000 on $1.4 million in total revenue (most of this though still coming from mail revenue at the time).
• ^ This cooperative agreement between five competing airlines marked the first time in the history of aviation that major airlines combined their experience and finances for the development of an experimental plane to meet future needs. And the joint effort was a giant success. It is estimated that had each of the five airlines carried out development efforts separately, it would have cost them approximately $2,000,000 more, the equivalent of four additional experimental planes.
• ^ US Department of Commerce statistics report 1,176,858 passengers flew on US commercial airliners in the year 1938. American operated scheduled air carriers would also set all-time records that year for the number of miles flown and passengers and express carried, according to reports received by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (as cited in Popular Aviation , September 1939. p.26).
• ^ Some of this power given to government would be rescinded in 1978 through the Airline Deregulation Act passed by the U.S. Congress which removed government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from commercial aviation. While this regulatory control was probably needed in the early years of US aviation, deregulation in 1978 had a positive impact of driving airfare to more affordable rates, and consequently dramatic growth in passengers flown. As Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer pointed out in 2011, “In 1974 the cheapest round-trip New York-Los Angeles flight (in inflation-adjusted dollars) that regulators would allow: $1,442. Today one can fly that same route for $268.”
• ^ Western Airlines was the first to develop and use air-to-ground radio (1929), the first to have weather reporting stations (1927), first to fly 10 years without injury to a passenger (1926-1936), the world’s first profitable air transportation system (1926), the first airline in history to pay a cash dividend to its stockholders (1927), the first “regularly scheduled, year-round, overland passenger service” in the U.S. (1926), the first to offer in-flight meals (1928), the first to have flight attendants in U.S. domestic service (1928), the first to introduce commercial four-engine transports, the first to feature airborne television, the first to offer limousine service, and the first to provide log books for passengers.
• ^ At the time of Western’s merger with Delta, there was some controversy between Western and United Airlines over which was officially the oldest. United was originally formed by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, a partnership between Boeing Airplane Company and Pratt & Whitney. The larger corporation officially established an operating division known as United Air Lines on July 1, 1931. That same year, however, it would purchase Varney Airlines. While Western preceded Varney in relation to the introduction of passenger service, Varney beat out Western (by a margin of 11 days) in flying “fixed routes” with respect to airmail delivery.
• ^ Many of the learnings and advancements of the Model Airline experiment became an ongoing part of Western’s business operations moving forward. As Robert J. Serling writes in The Only Way to Fly , “The so-called Model Airway experiment never really ended; rather, it gradually was absorbed into Western’s normal operations, and the lessons learned were incorporated into the airlines procedures and policies.”
• ^ A Global Mindset for Commercial Aviation’s Next Century . Retrieved 2014-12-12.
• ^ Daniel Guggenheim quoted in C.V. Glines, “The Guggenheims: Aviation Visionaries,” Aviation History 6 (November 1996)(as cited in Tom D. Crouch, Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age , (New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 17, 2004)), p.238).
• ^ Richard O. Hallion, Legacy of Flight: The Guggenheim Contribution to American Aviation , University of Washington Press. 1977. p. 88.
• ^ The National Aviation Hall of Fame: Harry Guggenheim , Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Robert E. Dallos, “Pioneer Western Pilot Recalls Day It All Began : Airline Has Come a Long Way Since 1st Flight in 1926”, Los Angeles Times , April 06, 1986
• ^ Beating the Odds: The First Sixty Years of Western Airlines , Western Airlines, 1985
• ^ Delta Flight Museum: Western Historical Timeline , Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Hallion, p. 87.
• ^ “Western Airlines Marks Anniversary of S.L. Flight”, Salt Lake City Tribune , April 17, 1944, p.16.
• ^ “S.L. Will Commemorate First Commercial Flight”, Salt Lake City Tribune , December 12, 1934, p.36.
• ^ Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame: Harris M. Hanshue . Retrieved 2014-11-11.
• ^ “Officials, Public Laud ‘Unique’ Air Terminal”, Salt Lake City Tribune , June 18, 1961, p.14.
• ^ Robert J. Serling, The Only Way to Fly: The Story of Western Airlines America’s Senior Air Carrier , (Garden City, New York:Doubleday & Company, 1976), p.40.
• ^ Claude Gray, “The Old West”, The Vintage Airplane , February 1976, p.12.
• ^ Serling, p.76.
• ^ Ibid, p.94.
• ^ Grant quote from Bowie, “Weather and The Airplane,” p.17 (as cited in Hallion, p. 97).
• ^ James G. Woolley and Earl W. Hill, Airplane Transportation (Hollywood, Calif.:Hartwell, 1929), p.45.
• ^ Ibid., 69.
• ^ Ibid., foreward.
• ^ League of Nations, Inquiries into the Economic Administration and Legal Situation of International Aerial Navigation (geneva: League of nations, 1930), p.8; Ronald Miller and David Sawer, The Technical Development of Modern Aviation (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968) p.13 (as cited in Tom D. Crouch, Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age , (New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 17, 2004)), p.209).
• ^ Crouch, p.209-210
• ^ Carlos A. Schwantes, Going Places: Transportation Redefines the Twentieth-century West, (Indiana University Press, 2003), p. 8.
• ^ Woolley, p.21.
• ^ “Five Airlines Unite to Finance Super-Ship” , Berkeley Daily Gazette , March 19, 1936, p.8
• ^ Nick Komons, Bonfires to Beacons: Federal Civil Aviation Policy under the Air Commerce Act, 1826-1938 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1978), 66 (as cited in Crouch, p.239.).
• ^ Andrew R. Thomas, Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service, and Safety , Apress. 2011, p.22.
• ^ Popular Aviation , September 1939. p.26
• ^ Global Airline Industry Program: Airline Industry Overview , Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Airlines For America . Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Charles Perrow, Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies (Princeton University Press 1999), p.125
• ^ Airline Handbook Chapter 1: Brief History of Aviation . Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Woolley, foreward.
• ^ Ibid., 1.
• ^ Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company Founder And Aviation Pioneer”
• ^ Century of Flight: Commercial Aviation 1920 to 1930 . Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Nick Komons, Bonfires to Beacons: Federal Civil Aviation Policy under the Air Commerce Act, 1826-1938 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1978), 67 (as cited in Crouch, p.249.).
• ^ Crouch, p.237.
• ^ Telegram, Byrd to HFC, Sept. 27, 1929, DGF Papers, box 2 (as cited in Hallion, p. 124).
• ^ Delta Flight Museum: Family Tree . Retrieved 2014-07-04.
• ^ Crouch, p.220 (as cited in First in Flight? Americanscientist.com retrieved 7-4-14)
• ^ The Wright Story , Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co. retrieved 7-4-14.
• ^ Beating the Odds: The First Sixty Years of Western Airlines , Western Airlines , 1985, p.5.

A Comprehensive Chronological Account of the History of Commercial Aviation

The history of commercial aviation is a fascinating journey that spans over a century. This timeline showcases the progress, milestones, and accomplishments achieved in the world of aviation. From humble beginnings to the technological marvels of today, the innovation and advancements in this industry have shaped the way we travel and connect with the world.

In the early 20th century, pioneers such as the Wright brothers paved the way for the future of aviation. Their groundbreaking achievements in controlled, powered flight laid the foundation for the commercial aviation industry. With each passing decade, technology continued to evolve, propelling the industry forward.

One of the major milestones in commercial aviation occurred in 1952 when the world’s first commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, made its inaugural flight. This groundbreaking aircraft introduced jet propulsion and opened up new possibilities for faster, more efficient air travel. The Comet’s success paved the way for the development of other jet airliners, revolutionizing the industry.

Throughout the years, aviation companies continued to push the boundaries of technology. The development of supersonic jets, like the Concorde, in the 1960s showcased the industry’s commitment to innovation and speed. This era also witnessed advancements in safety measures, air traffic control systems, and the introduction of computerized flight management systems, further enhancing the efficiency and reliability of commercial aviation.

Today, commercial aviation continues to soar to new heights. With advancements in aircraft design, materials, and technology, air travel has become more accessible, comfortable, and environmentally friendly. The introduction of fuel-efficient engines and the exploration of electric and hybrid aircraft mark the industry’s commitment to a sustainable future.

The commercial aviation industry has come a long way since its early beginnings. From the Wright brothers’ first flight to the modern marvels of today, the timeline of aviation is filled with exceptional accomplishments and technological advancements that have propelled our world forward. As we look to the future, the sky is truly the limit for the continued progress and innovation in this remarkable industry.

The Wright Brothers’ First Flight

The Wright Brothers’ first flight is a significant milestone in the timeline of commercial aviation history.

Their innovative technology and dedication to progress revolutionized the field of aviation and paved the way for the incredible accomplishments we see today.

Their Journey

Orville and Wilbur Wright’s journey towards the first flight was marked by years of experimentation and rigorous testing of their prototype aircraft. They believed that controlled, powered flight was achievable and set out to prove it.

December 17, 1903

On December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers achieved their goal. They successfully flew a powered aircraft for approximately 12 seconds, covering a distance of 120 feet.

This groundbreaking flight proved that human flight was possible and sparked the beginning of a new era in aviation. The Wright Brothers’ accomplishment laid the foundation for the advancements in technology and engineering that would follow.

Their historical flight not only marked a major milestone in aviation but also inspired countless innovators and aviators to push the boundaries of what was thought to be possible.

Today, we honor the Wright Brothers’ first flight as a pivotal moment in the history of aviation, a testament to human innovation and the progress we have made in the field of flight.

Early Pioneers in Commercial Aviation

The history of commercial aviation is marked by a series of milestones and accomplishments that have shaped the industry as we know it today. The early pioneers in this field played a crucial role in the progress and development of commercial aviation. These individuals and their innovations paved the way for the technology and advancements that we see in the industry today.

The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, are widely recognized as the pioneers of aviation. In 1903, they successfully achieved powered flight with their aircraft, the Wright Flyer. This breakthrough accomplishment paved the way for the future of aviation and inspired many others to pursue their dreams of flight.

Juan Trippe and Pan American World Airways

Juan Trippe was a visionary and entrepreneur who founded Pan American World Airways in 1927. He played a crucial role in the development of the commercial aviation industry by establishing one of the first international airlines. Under Trippe’s leadership, Pan Am introduced numerous innovations and pioneered new routes, making international air travel more accessible and convenient for people around the world.

These early pioneers and their contributions to commercial aviation set the stage for the advancements and innovations that we continue to see today. Their vision, passion, and determination laid the foundation for the technology and progress that now allows us to travel across the globe in a matter of hours. Through their accomplishments, they shaped the timeline of commercial aviation and brought the world closer together through air travel.

The Birth of Commercial Airlines

The birth of commercial airlines marks a significant milestone in the history of aviation. It represents a progression of technological advancements and innovation that have allowed humanity to travel long distances in a convenient and efficient manner.

Commercial aviation has its origins in the early 1900s when aircraft were first used for transporting passengers and cargo. These early pioneers paved the way for the accomplishments and progress that we see in the industry today.

Timeline of Commercial Aviation History:

• 1902: The first successful powered flight was achieved by the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur.
• 1914: The first scheduled commercial flight took place between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, using a Benoist XIV aircraft.
• 1927: Charles Lindbergh made history with the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.
• 1933: The Boeing 247, the first modern airliner, was introduced, featuring an all-metal construction and other technological advancements.
• 1952: The first commercial jet aircraft, the de Havilland Comet, entered service with BOAC, revolutionizing air travel with its speed and efficiency.
• 1970: The introduction of the Boeing 747, the “Jumbo Jet,” marked a new era in commercial aviation with its larger capacity and long-haul capabilities.

These milestones in commercial aviation history have led to the development of modern aircraft and the establishment of airlines around the world. The continuous advancements in technology and innovation have made air travel a crucial part of global transportation.

Commercial Aviation Today:

In the present day, commercial aviation has become an essential industry, connecting people and businesses across the globe. The introduction of new aircraft models, such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, have further improved the efficiency, comfort, and sustainability of air travel.

Moreover, the rise of low-cost carriers has made air travel more accessible to a wider range of passengers, contributing to the growth and competitiveness of the industry.

The birth of commercial airlines has greatly impacted the world, enabling people to explore new destinations, fostering economic growth, and cultivating cultural exchange. As technology continues to advance, we can expect further progress and innovation in the field of commercial aviation.

The Era of Supersonic Flight

In the timeline of commercial aviation, the era of supersonic flight is marked by significant milestones and technological accomplishments. It represents a period of progress and innovation in the field of aviation.

Introduction of the Concorde

One of the most revolutionary breakthroughs during this era was the introduction of the Concorde, a supersonic passenger airliner. Developed jointly by British and French aerospace companies, the Concorde was capable of reaching speeds of Mach 2.04, more than twice the speed of sound. Its first flight took place in 1969, and it quickly became a symbol of technological achievement and luxury in air travel.

Commercial Success and Global Impact

The Concorde’s commercial success and global impact cannot be overstated. It represented a major leap forward in both aviation technology and travel experience. With its sleek design and advanced engineering, the Concorde provided travelers with the ability to transatlantic flight in just a few hours, reducing travel times significantly. However, due to various factors, including high operating costs and noise regulations, the Concorde was ultimately retired in 2003.

Despite its retirement, the Concorde left a lasting legacy in the aviation industry. Its technological innovations and advancements paved the way for future developments in supersonic flight. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in supersonic travel, with companies exploring new technologies and designs for faster and more efficient passenger aircraft. The era of supersonic flight continues to inspire and drive progress in aviation.

The Boeing 747: The “Jumbo Jet”

The Boeing 747, also known as the “Jumbo Jet,” is one of the most iconic and influential aircraft in aviation history. Its introduction in 1969 marked a significant milestone in the timeline of commercial aviation, and its impact on the industry continues to be felt today.

The development of the Boeing 747 represented a major leap in technology, innovation, and progress. It was the first wide-body commercial aircraft, capable of carrying a large number of passengers and cargo over long distances. The 747 introduced new levels of comfort and convenience for air travelers, with its spacious interior and luxurious amenities.

Boeing’s accomplishments with the 747 were not only limited to its size and capacity. The aircraft also introduced several groundbreaking features and technologies. One notable innovation was the use of high-bypass turbofan engines, which significantly increased fuel efficiency and reduced noise levels. This new engine technology revolutionized the aviation industry and set a new standard for commercial aircraft.

Timeline of the Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 has played a significant role in shaping the commercial aviation industry. Its ability to transport large numbers of passengers and cargo has opened up new possibilities for long-haul travel and international trade. The Jumbo Jet has become a symbol of both the power of human engineering and the interconnectedness of our world.

The Concorde: A Milestone in Aviation

The Concorde was an iconic aircraft that represented a major innovation in commercial aviation history. Its accomplishments and milestones in technology have left a lasting impact on the industry.

Achievements and Technological Milestones

The Concorde was a supersonic passenger jet that could travel at speeds of up to Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. This breakthrough in speed allowed for significantly reduced travel times, making it possible to fly from London to New York in just under three and a half hours.

In addition to its speed, the Concorde had several other technological advancements. Its delta wing design and advanced aerodynamics allowed for stable and efficient flight at high speeds. It also had a sophisticated digital flight control system that improved handling and safety.

The Concorde’s engines were another remarkable achievement. The aircraft was powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines, which were the first production engines with afterburners to be used in civilian aircraft. These engines provided the necessary thrust to propel the Concorde to supersonic speeds.

Impact on Aviation and Progress

The Concorde represented a significant leap forward in aviation technology and demonstrated what was possible in terms of speed and efficiency. Its success paved the way for further advancements in supersonic travel, and it sparked a new era of innovation in the industry.

While the Concorde was a technological marvel, it faced numerous challenges throughout its operational history. Rising fuel costs, environmental concerns, and the tragic crash of Air France Flight 4590 in 2000 eventually led to its retirement in 2003. However, its legacy as a milestone in aviation remains intact.

The Concorde’s place in aviation history is undeniable. It pushed the boundaries of what was possible in terms of speed and technology, and it will always be remembered as a groundbreaking aircraft that changed the aviation industry forever.

The Era of Low-Cost Airlines

Low-cost airlines have revolutionized the commercial aviation industry with their innovative business models and affordable fares. The emergence of these airlines has democratized air travel, making it accessible to a broader range of passengers than ever before. This era in aviation history represents a significant milestone in the progress of the industry.

Technological Advancements

Low-cost airlines have leveraged advancements in technology to drive their success. From the use of online booking platforms to automated check-in processes, these airlines have embraced cutting-edge technology to streamline operations and reduce costs. This has allowed them to offer lower fares while maintaining profitability, leading to their rapid expansion and popularity among travelers.

Timeline of Accomplishments

The timeline of low-cost airlines is filled with notable milestones and achievements that have shaped the industry. In the late 20th century, Southwest Airlines in the United States became a trailblazer, introducing a low-cost business model and setting the stage for the rise of other carriers around the world. In the 21st century, budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet in Europe, AirAsia in Asia, and JetBlue Airways in the United States have made significant contributions to the low-cost airline industry.

These airlines have expanded their route networks, introduced innovative pricing strategies, and embraced new technologies to enhance the customer experience. Through their achievements, they have demonstrated that low-cost airlines can be both profitable and customer-focused.

Overall, the era of low-cost airlines represents a pivotal point in aviation history. By challenging the traditional airline business model and embracing innovation, these airlines have transformed the way people travel. Today, millions of passengers worldwide benefit from the affordable fares and increased accessibility that low-cost carriers offer.

The Growth of Air Travel in Asia

The history of aviation in Asia has been marked by numerous milestones and significant progress in commercial air travel. Over the years, the region has witnessed remarkable innovation and accomplishments that have shaped the industry and opened up new possibilities for travel.

Asia’s aviation timeline dates back to the early 20th century when the first commercial flights began operating. Since then, the region has seen substantial growth in the number of airlines, airports, and routes available to travelers.

One of the most significant accomplishments in Asian aviation history was the establishment of the first commercial airline in Japan in 1923. This marked the beginning of a new era in air travel, providing a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people across the country.

In the following decades, countries like China, India, and Malaysia also embraced the potential of aviation and made significant contributions to its progress. The introduction of larger and more advanced aircraft, such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380, further revolutionized the industry and allowed for increased capacity and improved passenger experience.

Asia’s aviation industry has also witnessed the emergence of low-cost carriers, providing affordable travel options for a growing number of people. The rise of budget airlines has contributed to the democratization of air travel, making it more accessible to a wider range of travelers.

Today, Asia boasts some of the busiest airports in the world, with major hubs like Beijing, Tokyo, and Dubai serving as critical connections for travelers from around the globe. The region’s airlines are renowned for their outstanding service and commitment to passenger satisfaction.

Looking ahead, Asia’s aviation industry will continue to thrive and evolve. With advancements in technology, such as the development of supersonic aircraft and the exploration of electric-powered planes, the future of air travel in Asia holds exciting possibilities for further growth and innovation.

In conclusion, the history of aviation in Asia is filled with significant accomplishments and milestones that have shaped the industry’s progress. From the establishment of the first commercial airline to the rise of low-cost carriers, Asia’s contribution to commercial air travel cannot be ignored. As the region continues to evolve, the future of aviation in Asia promises even greater achievements and advancements.

The Emergence of Budget Carriers

As commercial aviation history progressed, technology continued to advance, leading to the emergence of budget carriers. These low-cost airlines revolutionized the travel industry by offering affordable fares to a wider range of passengers.

These budget carriers achieved great accomplishments by implementing innovative strategies and embracing advancements in technology. They focused on cost-efficient operations, such as using a single aircraft type, reducing turnaround times, and maximizing seat occupancy. Additionally, budget carriers pioneered the use of online booking systems, making it easier for customers to find and purchase affordable tickets.

The establishment of budget carriers has had a significant impact on the commercial aviation industry. They have increased competition, forcing traditional airlines to lower prices and improve their services to remain competitive. Their success has also democratized air travel, allowing more people to experience the benefits of flying.

The Impact of Computer Reservation Systems

Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) have played a crucial role in the commercial aviation industry, revolutionizing the way airlines and passengers interact. This innovation has had a significant impact on the milestones and history of aviation, shaping the industry’s accomplishments and progress.

CRS allows airlines to efficiently manage flight schedules, seat inventory, and passenger bookings. By automating these processes, airlines can streamline operations and improve customer service. Passengers can now easily book flights, select seats, and manage their reservations, all from the comfort of their own homes or via travel agencies.

One of the key benefits of CRS is its ability to provide real-time availability and pricing information. This has empowered travel agents and customers to compare prices from different airlines, simplifying the booking process and increasing competition within the industry.

CRS has also facilitated the introduction of loyalty programs for frequent flyers. With the help of these systems, airlines can track the travel patterns and preferences of their customers, allowing them to offer personalized promotions and rewards. This has not only improved customer loyalty but has also allowed airlines to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior.

In addition to streamlining operations and enhancing customer service, CRS has also contributed to the overall safety and security of air travel. These systems enable airlines to efficiently manage passenger information, including passport details and travel history, ensuring compliance with government regulations and minimizing the risk of security breaches.

Overall, the advent of Computer Reservation Systems has had a profound impact on the commercial aviation industry. It has transformed the way airlines interact with passengers, revolutionizing the booking process and shaping the industry’s history. The constant progress and advancements in these systems continue to drive innovation and further enhance the travel experience for both airlines and passengers alike.

The Challenges of Air Traffic Control

Air traffic control is an essential component of the commercial aviation industry, ensuring the safe and efficient movement of aircraft in the sky. Over the years, air traffic control has faced numerous challenges and has constantly evolved to meet the demands of an ever-growing industry.

Innovation and Progress

As the aviation industry progressed, air traffic control had to keep pace with the technological advancements. The introduction of radar in the mid-20th century was a significant milestone in air traffic control. Radar allowed controllers to track aircraft in real-time, providing them with accurate information on their position, altitude, and speed.

Furthermore, the implementation of computer technology revolutionized air traffic control operations. The development of computerized systems enabled controllers to handle a larger volume of air traffic and improved the accuracy and efficiency of their work.

Technological Advances and Accomplishments

The timeline of air traffic control is marked by several technological achievements. In the 1970s, the introduction of communication and surveillance technology paved the way for advanced systems such as the Mode S transponder and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B).

These technologies provided controllers with enhanced surveillance capabilities and improved communication with aircraft. They allowed for greater situational awareness, enabling controllers to manage air traffic more effectively and reducing the risk of collisions.

Another significant accomplishment in air traffic control was the implementation of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures. PBN and RNP utilize satellite-based navigation systems, allowing for more precise and efficient routing of aircraft. These procedures have increased airspace capacity and reduced fuel consumption, benefiting both airlines and the environment.

Throughout its history, air traffic control has faced numerous challenges, but it has continuously adapted and innovated to overcome them. The commercial aviation industry owes many of its accomplishments and milestones to the dedication and professionalism of air traffic controllers and the development of advanced technologies.

The Rise of Middle Eastern Airlines

The history of commercial aviation in the Middle East is one of innovation, progress, and milestones. Middle Eastern airlines have played a significant role in shaping the global aviation industry through their dedication to technology and continuous improvement.

Early Beginnings

In the early years of aviation, the Middle East saw the establishment of its first airlines. For example, in 1945, Middle East Airlines (MEA) was founded in Lebanon. MEA quickly became one of the leading airlines in the region, pioneering air travel and connecting the Middle East with Europe and other parts of the world.

Other Middle Eastern airlines also emerged during this time, such as Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) in 1945 and Iran Air in 1946. These airlines laid the foundation for the growth and development of the region’s aviation industry.

The Middle Eastern airlines have always been at the forefront of adopting new technologies in aviation. They have embraced advancements in aircraft design, navigation systems, and passenger amenities, making air travel more efficient and comfortable.

One significant milestone was the introduction of jet aircraft in the 1960s. Middle Eastern airlines were quick to incorporate this new technology into their fleets, allowing for faster and more economical long-haul flights. This opened up new possibilities for global connectivity and marked a major milestone in aviation history.

Global Expansion and Accomplishments

Over the years, Middle Eastern airlines have made remarkable accomplishments and expanded their reach globally. They have become known for their world-class service, luxurious amenities, and state-of-the-art aircraft.

Emirates, for instance, has emerged as one of the world’s largest airlines, connecting passengers to over 150 destinations across six continents. Qatar Airways has earned numerous accolades for its outstanding service and has become a leading global carrier.

These accomplishments reflect the commitment of Middle Eastern airlines to excellence and their continuous efforts to improve the overall passenger experience.

In conclusion, the rise of Middle Eastern airlines has been a story of innovation, progress, and notable achievements. Their dedication to technology, history, and a commitment to excellence has propelled them to the forefront of the global aviation industry. Middle Eastern airlines continue to shape the future of air travel, setting new milestones and exceeding expectations.

The Evolution of In-Flight Entertainment

In the timeline of aviation history, one of the significant progressions has been the evolution of in-flight entertainment. As technology advanced, commercial airlines have continuously strived to enhance the passenger experience by offering various forms of entertainment during flights.

Throughout the history of commercial aviation, several accomplishments and milestones can be observed in the field of in-flight entertainment. From the early days of basic magazines and newspapers provided to passengers, to the present-day state-of-the-art personal entertainment systems, the industry has come a long way.

Here are some key milestones in the evolution of in-flight entertainment:

• 1950s: The introduction of in-flight music systems marked the beginning of in-flight entertainment. Airlines installed phonographs on board to provide passengers with a selection of music during their flight.
• 1960s: In-flight movies became popular, with airlines beginning to feature classic films on small screens mounted in the cabin. Passengers could enjoy watching movies during their journey.
• 1980s: Video cassette players were introduced, allowing airlines to offer a wider range of movies and television shows to passengers. Portable video players were handed out, and passengers could choose from a selection of tapes during their flight.
• 1990s: The introduction of in-seat audio and video systems revolutionized in-flight entertainment. Passengers could now choose from a wide range of movies, TV shows, and music on their own screens in front of them.
• 2000s: With the rise of personal electronic devices, airlines started equipping aircraft with power outlets and offering Wi-Fi connectivity. Passengers could bring their laptops, smartphones, and tablets on board and access a variety of entertainment options through streaming services.
• Present: In-flight entertainment systems have reached new heights, with advanced touchscreen displays, noise-canceling headphones, and an extensive library of movies, TV shows, music, and games. Passengers can personalize their entertainment experience and enjoy high-quality content throughout their journey.

The evolution of in-flight entertainment showcases the continuous efforts made by the aviation industry to enhance the passenger experience. From simple music systems to state-of-the-art entertainment options, technology has played a significant role in shaping the in-flight entertainment landscape.

The Development of Air Cargo

Air cargo has played a significant role in the innovation and progress of commercial aviation. Throughout history, the transportation of goods by air has achieved numerous accomplishments and milestones.

In the early stages of aviation, the focus was primarily on carrying passengers. However, as the industry evolved, the potential for air cargo became evident. The first documented air cargo flight took place on November 7, 1910, when pioneer aviator Philip Parmelee carried a package of silk from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio.

The development of air cargo continued to gain momentum as the aviation industry grew. In 1920, United Parcel Service (UPS) was founded, becoming the first company to provide scheduled air cargo services. This marked a significant milestone in the history of air cargo, as it demonstrated the feasibility and practicality of transporting goods by air.

Throughout the timeline of commercial aviation, air cargo has achieved various milestones. The introduction of specialized cargo aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-3 in the 1930s, further revolutionized the industry. These aircraft were specifically designed to carry large quantities of goods and played a crucial role in supporting military efforts during World War II.

The advent of containerization in the 1950s was another milestone in the development of air cargo. This innovation allowed for easier handling and increased the efficiency of loading and unloading goods. This advancement significantly contributed to the growth of air cargo and expanded its capabilities.

In recent years, the use of technology and automation has further propelled the development of air cargo. Advanced tracking systems, automated warehouses, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have all revolutionized the industry. These advancements have improved efficiency, speed, and security, making air cargo a reliable and efficient mode of transportation for goods.

In conclusion, the development of air cargo has been a testament to the innovation and progress in the aviation industry. From humble beginnings to advanced technologies, air cargo has achieved significant milestones throughout its history. It continues to play a crucial role in global trade, providing a fast and efficient means of transporting goods around the world.

The Advent of Airline Alliances

In the commercial aviation history timeline, the advent of airline alliances represents a significant milestone in the progress and innovation of the industry. To understand the significance of airline alliances, it is important to look back at the history and accomplishments of commercial aviation.

Since the early days of aviation, airlines have continuously strived to expand their networks and offer more destinations to their customers. This drive for expansion led to the formation of various airline alliances, which allowed multiple airlines to collaborate and provide passengers with a wider range of travel options.

One of the earliest airline alliances was the Star Alliance, which was formed in 1997. This alliance consisted of five airlines and aimed to provide seamless travel experiences through interline agreements and code-sharing partnerships. The success of the Star Alliance paved the way for the formation of other alliances, such as SkyTeam and Oneworld.

Airline alliances have revolutionized the way people travel by offering travelers a more convenient and efficient way to reach their destinations. Through interline agreements, passengers can book flights on multiple airlines with a single ticket, enjoy smoother transfers, and have their baggage checked through to their final destination.

Furthermore, airline alliances have enabled airlines to offer loyalty programs that provide passengers with additional benefits and rewards. Frequent flyer programs, which were first introduced by American Airlines in the 1980s, have become an integral part of airline alliances, allowing customers to earn and redeem miles across multiple member airlines.

The advent of airline alliances has not only benefited passengers but also airlines themselves. Through alliances, airlines have been able to increase their market share, expand their route networks, and achieve cost savings through codeshare agreements and joint ventures.

• Codeshare agreements allow airlines to sell seats on each other’s flights, opening up new routes and destinations.
• Joint ventures enable airlines to share costs, combine resources, and collaborate on operations, leading to increased efficiency and competitiveness.

Overall, the advent of airline alliances has played a crucial role in the progress and development of the aviation industry. It has paved the way for increased connectivity, expanded travel options, and enhanced customer experiences. As the aviation industry continues to evolve, airline alliances will likely remain an important factor in shaping the future of commercial aviation.

The Shift to More Fuel-Efficient Aircraft

Innovation and technology have played a significant role in the history of commercial aviation. Over the years, there have been numerous accomplishments and milestones that have marked the progress of aviation. One important aspect of this progress is the shift towards more fuel-efficient aircraft.

The aviation industry has recognized the need for more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. This has driven the development and adoption of aircraft that consume less fuel and produce fewer emissions. The innovations in aircraft design and engine technology have led to significant advancements in fuel efficiency.

One of the notable milestones in the history of fuel-efficient aircraft is the introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This aircraft marked a major shift in the industry, as it was the first commercial airplane to extensively use lightweight composite materials in its construction. These materials, combined with advanced aerodynamics and efficient engines, allowed the Dreamliner to achieve a fuel efficiency improvement of up to 20% compared to previous aircraft.

Another significant development in fuel efficiency is the adoption of more efficient engines, such as the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engine. This engine incorporates advanced technologies, such as geared turbofan architecture, which significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The PW1000G engine has been widely adopted by aircraft manufacturers and has further improved the fuel efficiency of commercial aircraft.

Furthermore, the use of advanced systems and technologies, such as winglets and improved flight control systems, has also contributed to the fuel efficiency of modern aircraft. Winglets, which are small, vertical extensions at the tips of aircraft wings, reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency. Improved flight control systems allow for more precise and optimized flying, further reducing fuel consumption.

Overall, the shift to more fuel-efficient aircraft represents a significant step forward in the aviation industry’s efforts to reduce its environmental impact. These innovations and advancements have not only made flying more sustainable but have also contributed to the overall progress of aviation. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect further improvements in fuel efficiency and environmental sustainability in the future.

The Rise of Low-Cost Long-Haul Airlines

The commercial aviation industry has seen a significant timeline of progress throughout history, driven by advancements in technology and innovation. One of the most notable milestones in this history is the rise of low-cost long-haul airlines.

Traditionally, long-haul flights have been associated with high costs, making them inaccessible to many travelers. However, with the introduction of low-cost long-haul airlines, this perception has changed dramatically.

Low-cost long-haul airlines emerged in the early 2000s, challenging the dominance of traditional airlines and revolutionizing the way people travel. These airlines pioneered a new business model that focused on offering affordable fares for long-haul flights, opening up new possibilities for travelers around the world.

Technology and Innovation

The success of low-cost long-haul airlines can be attributed to advancements in technology and innovation. These airlines leveraged the latest aircraft models, equipped with fuel-efficient engines and advanced navigation systems, to minimize operating costs and offer lower fares to passengers.

In addition to technological advancements in aircraft, low-cost long-haul airlines also introduced innovative cost-saving measures. They adopted a no-frills approach, eliminating unnecessary services and amenities to reduce costs. Passengers were charged for additional services such as baggage allowance and in-flight meals, allowing them to personalize their travel experience and only pay for what they truly needed.

The Impact on Commercial Aviation

The rise of low-cost long-haul airlines has had a profound impact on the commercial aviation industry. These airlines have disrupted the traditional market, forcing traditional airlines to adapt to the changing landscape. To remain competitive, many traditional airlines have introduced their own low-cost subsidiaries or adopted a hybrid model, offering both full-service and low-cost options.

Low-cost long-haul airlines have also played a significant role in democratizing air travel. They have made long-haul flights more accessible to a wider audience, opening up new opportunities for leisure and business travel. This has led to an increase in global connectivity and tourism, contributing to economic growth in many countries.

In conclusion, the rise of low-cost long-haul airlines is a significant milestone in the commercial aviation history timeline. Through technological advancements and innovative business models, these airlines have revolutionized the way people travel, making long-haul flights more affordable and accessible to a larger audience.

The Impact of Deregulation

The history of commercial aviation is full of milestones and accomplishments, but one of the most significant changes came with the deregulation of the industry. Before deregulation, the aviation industry was heavily regulated, with strict rules and regulations governing everything from routes to fares.

However, in 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act was passed in the United States, leading to a wave of progress and innovation in the aviation industry. This deregulation allowed airlines to operate more freely, resulting in increased competition and lower fares for passengers.

With deregulation, airlines were able to offer new routes and destinations, leading to a boom in air travel. This opened up opportunities for both business and leisure travelers, who now had more options and flexibility when it came to planning their trips.

Furthermore, deregulation spurred innovation in aviation technology. Airlines began investing in new aircraft and systems, leading to advancements in efficiency, safety, and comfort. This led to the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes, reducing the environmental impact of air travel.

Overall, the impact of deregulation on commercial aviation history cannot be overstated. It revolutionized the industry, creating more opportunities for both airlines and passengers. It paved the way for progress and innovation, leading to a more accessible and efficient aviation system.

The Effects of 9/11 on the Aviation Industry

The events of September 11, 2001, had a profound impact on the aviation industry. This tragic day not only reshaped the world but also led to significant changes in commercial aviation, affecting its innovation, milestones, technology, and accomplishments.

Increased Security Measures

One of the most visible and immediate effects of 9/11 was the implementation of enhanced security measures in airports worldwide. Governments and aviation authorities introduced stricter passenger screening processes to ensure the safety of air travel. These measures included the introduction of baggage screening machines, reinforced cockpit doors, and increased surveillance throughout airports.

Decreased Passenger Confidence

The 9/11 attacks severely impacted passenger confidence in air travel. The fear of terrorism led to a significant decrease in demand for air travel, resulting in lower passenger numbers and financial losses for airlines. It took the industry years to regain the trust and confidence of the traveling public.

This decline in passenger confidence forced airlines to adapt to new market conditions. They had to focus more on cost-cutting measures, such as reducing the number of flights and optimizing routes, to maintain profitability.

Despite the challenges, the aviation industry managed to recover gradually. Airlines and aviation authorities continued to implement advanced technologies, such as biometric identification systems and improved security screening techniques, to enhance passenger safety and restore confidence in air travel.

The effects of 9/11 on the aviation industry serve as a reminder of the resilience and adaptability of this sector. Despite facing one of the most challenging periods in its history, the industry continued its commitment to innovation and achieved significant milestones in the timeline of commercial aviation.

The Growth of the Middle Eastern Airlines Market

The Middle Eastern region has seen significant growth in the aviation industry over the years, with many milestones and technological advancements shaping its progress. The commercial aviation history timeline of the Middle Eastern airlines market is a testament to the region’s commitment to innovation and growth.

One of the key milestones in the history of Middle Eastern airlines was the establishment of Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) in 1945. Saudia played a pivotal role in connecting the region to the world, and its growth paved the way for other airlines to follow suit.

Throughout the years, Middle Eastern airlines have continuously embraced technology and innovation to enhance their services and improve customer experience. The introduction of jet aircraft in the 1960s marked a significant turning point in the region’s aviation history, allowing for faster and more efficient travel.

In the 1970s, the emergence of Gulf Air as a major player in the Middle Eastern airlines market further contributed to the growth of the industry. Gulf Air’s expansion and the introduction of new routes helped to connect the Gulf countries to the rest of the world.

The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the rise of Emirates Airlines, which quickly became one of the world’s leading airlines. Emirates’ innovative approach to aviation, coupled with its strategic location in Dubai, allowed it to compete on a global scale.

• 1985: Emirates Airlines is established
• 1990: Qatar Airways is launched
• 1994: Etihad Airways is founded

These Middle Eastern airlines have since become synonymous with luxury, comfort, and exceptional service, leading to their steady growth and expansion into new markets.

In recent years, the Middle Eastern airlines market has continued to evolve and adapt to changing customer demands. The introduction of new aircraft models, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777X, has allowed airlines to offer even more comfortable and efficient flights.

Furthermore, the Middle Eastern region is investing heavily in airport infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of passengers. The construction of new airports and the expansion of existing ones have contributed to the region’s status as a major aviation hub.

Overall, the growth of the Middle Eastern airlines market is a testament to the region’s commitment to innovation and progression. With its rich history and continuous advancements, the Middle Eastern airlines market continues to play a significant role in shaping the future of commercial aviation.

The Emergence of Ultra-Long-Haul Flights

In the commercial aviation timeline, the emergence of ultra-long-haul flights stands as one of the greatest accomplishments and milestones in the history of aviation. This progress in technology has allowed aircraft to travel longer distances and connect far-flung destinations like never before.

Advancements in Aircraft Design and Fuel Efficiency

The evolution of aircraft design and technology has played a significant role in the development of ultra-long-haul flights. The introduction of lightweight composite materials, improved aerodynamics, and advanced jet engines has made it possible for airplanes to fly farther and more efficiently than ever before.

Fuel efficiency has also been a key factor in enabling these long-distance flights. Airlines have invested in more fuel-efficient aircraft models, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, which consume less fuel per passenger and have longer ranges. These advancements in fuel efficiency have made ultra-long-haul routes economically viable for airlines.

Expansion of Route Networks

The emergence of ultra-long-haul flights has also led to the expansion of route networks. Airlines are now able to offer direct flights between previously inaccessible destinations, eliminating the need for layovers and reducing travel times. This has opened up new opportunities for both business and leisure travelers, allowing them to reach their destinations faster and more conveniently.

The table above highlights some of the significant milestones in the history of ultra-long-haul flights. These achievements demonstrate the continuous advancements in aviation technology and the increasing capabilities of aircraft to fly longer distances without the need for refueling.

The emergence of ultra-long-haul flights has revolutionized the way people travel and has brought the world closer together. With ongoing advancements in technology and aircraft design, the future holds even greater possibilities for extended range flights, changing the way we explore the world.

The Expansion of Air Routes

In the history of commercial aviation, the expansion of air routes has been a key driver of innovation and progress. With advancements in technology and the accomplishments of pioneers in aviation, commercial airlines have been able to connect the world like never before.

Milestones in Air Route Expansion

Throughout the timeline of aviation, several significant milestones mark the expansion of air routes. These milestones have shaped the commercial aviation industry and paved the way for global connectivity.

The Impact of Air Route Expansion

The expansion of air routes has had a profound impact on global travel and trade. It has made it possible for people to travel to far-flung destinations and has facilitated the growth of tourism and business around the world. The accessibility provided by commercial airlines has not only connected people physically, but it has also fostered cultural exchange and economic development.

The Future of Commercial Aviation

Commercial aviation has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Over the years, technology and innovation have driven major milestones in the aviation industry, transforming it into what it is today. As we look ahead, there is no doubt that the future of commercial aviation will continue to be shaped by these advancements.

With each passing year, new technologies are being developed and integrated into aircraft design and operations. From more efficient engines to lightweight and durable materials, these advancements are aimed at improving fuel efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing passenger comfort.

In the coming decades, we can expect to see even more progress in the field of aviation. With the rise of electric and hybrid propulsion systems, aircraft will become quieter and more environmentally friendly. This will not only benefit the planet but also provide a more enjoyable flying experience for passengers.

Another area where we can expect significant advancements is in the field of autonomous flight. With the development of sophisticated autonomous systems, pilots will be able to rely on technology to handle routine tasks, allowing them to focus on critical decision-making. This will enhance safety and efficiency in commercial aviation operations.

Furthermore, the future of commercial aviation will see the emergence of supersonic travel. Companies are already working on developing supersonic aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound, shortening travel times and opening up new possibilities for long-distance travel.

Looking back at the accomplishments and milestones of commercial aviation history, it is clear that the industry is constantly evolving. The future holds even greater potential for technological advancements and innovation. As we continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, there is no doubt that the future of commercial aviation will be bright and full of exciting possibilities.

When did commercial aviation start?

The era of commercial aviation began in 1914 with the launch of the first scheduled airline service across Tampa Bay in Florida, USA.

What was the first commercial airplane?

The first commercial airplane was the Benoist XIV, a small seaplane designed by Thomas Benoist. It was used for the first scheduled commercial airline service in 1914.

How did commercial aviation evolve over the years?

Commercial aviation has evolved significantly over the years, with advancements in aircraft design, technology, and airline operations. It has gone from using small seaplanes for short distances to using large jets for global travel. The introduction of jet engines in the 1950s revolutionized the industry, making air travel faster and more efficient.

What were some major milestones in commercial aviation history?

Some major milestones in commercial aviation history include the introduction of the Boeing 747, the world’s first jumbo jet, in 1970, the founding of low-cost airlines like Southwest and Ryanair in the 1970s, and the development of supersonic commercial jets like the Concorde in the 1960s.

What challenges has commercial aviation faced throughout its history?

Commercial aviation has faced numerous challenges throughout its history, including economic recessions, oil price fluctuations, terrorist attacks, and the impact of global pandemics. Airlines have also had to navigate changing regulations, competition, and environmental concerns.

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The world's first commercial airline

The first commercial flight shortened travel time by more than 90 minutes.

Launching the first commercial airline

The first commercial airline pilot, flying boats, the first commercial flight, many more passengers, additional resources, bibliography.

On Jan. 1, 1914, the world's first scheduled passenger airline service took off from St. Petersburg, FL and landed at its destination in Tampa, FL, about 17 miles (27 kilometers) away. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was a short-lived endeavor — only four months — but it paved the way for today's daily transcontinental flights.

The first flight's pilot was Tony Jannus, an experienced test pilot and barnstormer, according to the International Air Transport Association . The first paying passenger was Abram C. Pheil, former mayor of St. Petersburg. Their short flight across the bay to Tampa took 23 minutes. They flew in a "flying boat" designed by Thomas Benoist , an aviation entrepreneur from St. Louis, according to the State Historical Society of Missouri .

Percival Elliott Fansler, a Florida sales representative for a manufacturer of diesel engines for boats, became fascinated with Benoist's progress in designing aircraft that could take off and land in the water. The two men started corresponding, and eventually Fansler proposed "a real commercial line from somewhere to somewhere else," according to Tampapix.com , a web-based amateur historical archive about Tampa.  

Fansler proposed that the airline fly between St. Petersburg and Tampa. At that time, a trip between the two cities, sitting on opposite sides of Tampa Bay, took two hours by steamship or up to 12 hours by rail. Traveling by automobile around the bay took about 20 hours. But a flight would take about 20 minutes.

Fansler tried to interest Tampa officials in the venture, but they turned him down. He got a better reception in St. Petersburg, enticing several investors. Benoist arrived in St. Petersburg on Dec. 12, 1913, followed by his hand-picked pilot, Tony Jannus.

Jannus was already a popular figure in aviation. He was rather debonair and his daredevil flights led him to become "the epitome of the romantic flyer." The Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society describes Jannus as someone "known as a fearless daredevil and admirer of women, running from angry fathers with pointed shotguns and dating movie stars, Jannus took risks in love and war."

Jannus gave flying exhibitions, tested military planes and flew long-distance airplanes and airboats. He piloted the first tests of airborne machine guns. On March 1, 1912, he carried Capt. Albert Berry aloft to make the first parachute jump from an airplane. Then by 1913, at age 24, he had become one of the principal stockholders in the Benoist Aircraft Company.

A Model 14 Benoist airboat was shipped to St. Petersburg by train. It weighed 1,250 lbs. (567 kilograms), was 26 feet (8 meters) long and had a wingspan of 44 feet (13 m). It was powered by a Roberts 6-cylinder, in-line, liquid-cooled, 75-horsepower engine. The airplane had a top speed of 64 mph (103 km/h). The hull was made of three layers of spruce with fabric between each layer. The wings were made of spruce spars with linen stretched over them. The plane was built to hold only a pilot and one passenger side-by-side on a single wooden seat.

The first flight went off on New Year's Day, 1914, with much pomp and circumstance. An estimated 2,000 people paraded from downtown St. Petersburg to the waterfront to watch as the first ticket was auctioned off. Pheil, then in the warehouse business, won with a bid of $400 (a value equal to more than $11,200 today).

Just before the flight, Fansler made a brief speech, saying, “What was impossible yesterday is an accomplishment today, while tomorrow heralds the unbelievable,” the Tampa Bay Times reported. After several more speeches and many photographs, Jannus and Pheil squeezed onto the small wooden seat. As they took off, Jannus waved to the cheering crowd.

He flew the plane no higher than 50 ft (15.2 m) over the water. Halfway to Tampa, the engine misfired, and he touched down in the bay, made adjustments and took off again. As the plane landed at the entrance of the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa, Jannus and Pheil were swarmed by a cheering, clapping, and waving crowd of about 3,500.

Pheil went about his business and placed an order of several thousand dollars for his wholesale company. At 11 a.m., Jannus and Pheil flew back to St. Petersburg. The entire trip had taken less than an hour and a half.

The airline made two flights daily, six days a week. The regular fare was $5 per person (about $140 in today's dollars) and $5 per 100 pounds of freight. Tickets sold out for 16 weeks in advance. Benoist added a second airboat and flights were extended to the nearby cities of Sarasota, Bradenton and Manatee. Tony Jannus' brother, Roger, was the second pilot.

The airline operated for nearly four months, and carried a total of 1,205 passengers. Passenger interest declined rapidly when Florida's winter residents began heading back north in late March. On April 27, Tony and Roger Jannus flew their last flight before leaving Florida, putting on an air show over Tampa Bay.

The brothers continued to give exhibitions, perform tests of aircraft, and train other pilots. On Oct. 12, 1916, Tony Jannus was training Russian pilots when his plane crashed into the Black Sea. His body was never recovered.

Roger Jannus also died while flying. He crashed on Sept. 4, 1918, during air patrols over France.

In 1964, the Tampa and St. Petersburg Chambers of Commerce established the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society in honor of Tony Jannus.

There are numerous books delving into the secrets of today's commercial airlines. But for a thorough read that focuses on the history of commercial flight, consider T. A. Heppenheimer's " Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation " (Wiley, 1995). For an easy-to-read historical guide to planes with illustrations, we recommend H. Barber's " The Aeroplane Speaks " (CGR Publishing, 2020), originally published in 1917. Michael Coscia's " Wings Over America: The Fact-Filled Guide to the Major and Regional Airlines of the U.S.A " (Bluewater Press, 2009).

• IATA 2022. "The story of the world's first airline." https://www.iata.org/en/about/history/flying-100-years/firstairline-story/
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. "The World's First Scheduled Airline" https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/early_years/early_years01.cfm
• First Flight Society. "Tony Jannus." https://firstflight.org/tony-jannus/

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The Evolution and History of Commercial Flights

Introduction.

The uniquely human pursuit of reaching for the skies and beyond has marked important turns in our history. One of the most revolutionary elements of this journey has been the development of commercial flights. Transforming from a beguiling fantasy to reality, commercial aviation has morphed into a vital element of our global society. In this extensive piece, we will delve deep into the evolution and history of commercial flights, exploring the technological advances, milestone events, key personalities, and exceptional aircraft that have colored this story.

Part 1: Early Beginnings

The inception of commercial aviation dates back to the early 20th century when the Wright Brothers made their historical pioneering flight in 1903. This marked an important milestone in mankind’s ambition to fly. The first initial commercial flights were mainly dedicated to mail services. In 1919, KLM, considered the oldest airline still in operation, was established. A year later, the first licensed international commercial flight ran from London to Paris, overcoming significant technical and logistical challenges.

Part 2: Dawn of the Jet Age

Following World War II, commercial aviation witnessed significant advances. The introduction of long-range aircraft like the Douglas DC-3 transformed airlines from a luxury service into a practical means of travel, thereby spurring the growth of the tourism industry. The real advance came in the 1950s with the dawn of the jet era, a radical revolution instigated by the debuting Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. These aircraft set new benchmarks in speed, range, comfort, and efficiency.

Part 3: The Golden Age of Commercial Photography

The 1960s and 1970s are often referred to as the ‘Golden Age of Air Travel’, a time when flying commercial was a significant event characterized by sumptuous service, fashionable attire, spacious seats, and gourmet meals. Iconic aircraft such as the Boeing 747, the first wide-body ‘jumbo’ jet, further punctuated this era. The Concorde, a monumental engineering landmark, offered supersonic commercial service beginning in 1976, halving transatlantic travel time.

Part 4: Transformation and Expansion

The late 20th century heralded a transformative era with the advent of Low-Cost Carriers, providing economical air travel options, therefore democratizing air travel and opening it to mass markets. Regulatory reforms like the U.S Airline Deregulation Act in 1978 liberalized the industry by promoting competition, leading to more routes and lower fares.

Part 5: Modern Commercial Aviation

The 21st century has seen an unprecedented surge in commercial aviation marked by technological advancements. Newer aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, offer improved fuel efficiency, range, and passenger comfort. The introduction of in-flight Wi-Fi, improving in-flight entertainment, and personalizing passenger experience have become the norm.

Part 6: Future Prospects

Looking ahead, aside from surmounting challenges such as environmental concerns and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, there are exciting prospects for commercial aviation. Supersonic commercial travel may make a comeback with companies like Boom Supersonic developing aircraft targeting reduced travel times. Fully electric aircraft and autonomous flying are other areas under active consideration and development, aimed at making air travel greener and more efficient.

In a little over a century, commercial aviation has evolved from fantastical contraptions of wood and fabric into complex machinery capable of ferrying us across continents in comfort and speed. Looking back at the milestone events and breakthroughs, we can truly appreciate the phenomenal evolution of commercial flights. As we stand on the precipice of a future shaped by ever-evolving technology, the sky is literally not the limit.

The history of commercial flights is an exciting testament to human ingenuity, bravely pushing the frontiers of what we can achieve. It highlights how much we have grown and arguably, how much more we can.

As we continue to soar, we look forward to what the future holds, confident in the knowledge that the spirit of innovation and progress that has characterized aviation’s past will continue to define its future.

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History of Flight: Breakthroughs, Disasters and More

By: Aaron Randle

Updated: February 6, 2024 | Original: July 9, 2021

For thousands of years, humans have dreamed of taking to the skies. The quest has led from kite flying in ancient China to hydrogen-powered hot-air balloons in 18th-century France to contemporary aircraft so sophisticated they can’t be detected by radar or the human eye.

Below is a timeline of humans’ obsession with flight, from da Vinci to drones. Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for liftoff.

1505-06: Da Vinci dreams of flight, publishes his findings

Few figures in history had more detailed ideas, theories and imaginings on aviation as the Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci . His book Codex on the Flight of Birds contained thousands of notes and hundreds of sketches on the nature of flight and aerodynamic principles that would lay much of the early groundwork for—and greatly influence—the development of aviation and manmade aircraft.

November 21, 1783: First manned hot-air balloon flight

Two months after French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier engineered a successful test flight with a duck, a sheep and a rooster as passengers, two humans ascended in a Montgolfier-designed balloon over Paris. Powered by a hand-fed fire, the paper-and-silk aircraft rose 500 vertical feet and traveled some 5.5 miles over about half an hour. But in an 18th-century version of the space race, rival balloon engineers Jacques Alexander Charles and Nicholas Louis Robert upped the ante just 10 days later. Their balloon, powered by hydrogen gas, traveled 25 miles and stayed aloft more than two hours.

1809-1810: Sir George Cayley introduces aerodynamics

At the dawn of the 19th century, English philosopher George Cayley published “ On Aerial Navigation ,” a radical series of papers credited with introducing the world to the study of aerodynamics. By that time, the man who came to be known as “the father of aviation” had already been the first to identify the four forces of flight (weight, lift, drag, thrust), developed the first concept of a fixed-wing flying machine and designed the first glider reported to have carried a human aloft.

September 24, 1852: Giffard's dirigible proves powered air travel is possible

Half a century before the Wright brothers took to the skies, French engineer Henri Giffard manned the first-ever powered and controllable airborne flight. Giffard, who invented the steam injector, traveled almost 17 miles from Paris to Élancourt in his “Giffard Dirigible,” a 143-foot-long, cigar-shaped airship loosely steered by a three-bladed propeller that was powered by a 250-pound, 3-horsepower engine, itself lit by a 100-pound boiler. The flight proved that a steam-powered airship could be steered and controlled.

1876: The internal combustion engine changes everything

Building on advances by French engineers, German engineer Nikolaus Otto devised a lighter, more efficient, gas-powered combustion engine, providing an alternative to the previously universal steam-powered engine. In addition to revolutionizing automobile travel, the innovation ushered in a new era of longer, more controlled aviation.

December 17, 1903: The Wright brothers become airborne—briefly

Flying from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. Each brother flew their wooden, gasoline-powered propeller biplane, the “Wright Flyer,” twice (four flights total), with the shortest lasting 12 seconds and the longest sustaining flight for about 59 seconds. Considered a historic event today, the feat was largely ignored by newspapers of the time, who believed the flights were too short to be important.

1907: The first helicopter lifts off

French engineer and bicycle maker Paul Cornu became the first man to ride a rotary-wing, vertical-lift aircraft, a precursor to today’s helicopter, when he was lifted about 1.5 meters off the ground for 20 seconds near Lisieux, France. Versions of the helicopter had been toyed with in the past—Italian engineer Enrico Forlanini debuted the first rotorcraft three decades prior in 1877. And it would be improved upon in the future, with American designer Igor Sikorsky introducing a more standardized version in Stratford, Connecticut in 1939. But it was Cornu’s short flight that would land him in the history books as the definitive first.

1911-12: Harriet Quimby achieves two firsts for women pilots

Journalist Harriet Quimby became the first American woman ever awarded a pilot’s license in 1911, after just four months of flight lessons. Capitalizing on her charisma and showmanship (she became as famous for her violet satin flying suit as for her attention to safety checks), Quimby achieved another first the following year when she became the first woman to fly solo across the English channel. The feat was overshadowed, however, by the sinking of the Titanic two days earlier.

October 1911: The aircraft becomes militarized

Italy became the first country to significantly incorporate aircraft into military operations when, during the Turkish-Italian war, it employed both monoplanes and airships for bombing, reconnaissance and transportation. Within a few years, aircraft would play a decisive role in the World War I.

January 1, 1914: First commercial passenger flight

On New Year’s Day, pilot Tony Jannus transported a single passenger, Mayor Abe Pheil of St. Petersburg, Florida across Tampa Bay via his flying airboat, the “St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.” The 23-mile flight (mostly along the Tampa Bay shore) cost $5.00 and would lay the foundation for the commercial airline industry.

1914-1918: World war accelerates the militarization of aircraft

World War I became the first major conflict to use aircraft on a large-scale, expanding their use in active combat. Nations appointed high-ranking generals to oversee air strategy, and a new breed of war hero emerged: the fighter pilot or “flying ace.”

According to The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft , France was the war’s leading aircraft manufacturer, producing nearly 68,000 planes between 1914 and 1918. Of those, nearly 53,000 were shot down, crashed or damaged.

June 1919: First nonstop transatlantic flight

Flying a modified ‘Vickers Vimy’ bomber from the Great War, British aviators and war veterans John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first-ever nonstop transatlantic flight. Their perilous 16-hour journey , undertaken eight years before Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic alone, started in St. John's, Newfoundland, where they barely cleared the trees at the end of the runway. After a calamity-filled flight, they crash-landed in a peat bog in County Galway, Ireland; remarkably, neither man was injured.

1921: Bessie Coleman becomes the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license

The fact that Jim Crow-era U.S. flight schools wouldn’t accept a Black woman didn’t stop Bessie Coleman. Instead, the Texas-born sharecropper’s daughter, one of 13 siblings, learned French so she could apply to the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. There, in 1921, she became the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. After performing the first public flight by a Black woman in 1922—including her soon-to-be trademark loop-the-loop and figure-8 aerial maneuvers—she became renowned for her thrilling daredevil air shows and for using her growing fame to encourage Black Americans to pursue flying. Coleman died tragically in 1926, as a passenger in a routine test flight. Thousands reportedly attended her funeral in Chicago.

1927: Lucky Lindy makes first solo transatlantic flight

Nearly a decade after Alcock and Brown made their transatlantic flight together, 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh of Detroit was thrust into worldwide fame when he completed the first solo crossing , just a few days after a pair of celebrated French aviators perished in their own attempt. Flying the “Spirit of St. Louis” aircraft from New York to Paris, “Lucky Lindy” made the first transatlantic voyage between two major hubs—and the longest transatlantic flight by more than 2,000 miles. The feat instantly made Lindbergh one of the great folk heroes of his time, earned him the Medal of Honor and helped usher in a new era of interest in the possibilities of aviation.

1932: Amelia Earhart repeats Lindbergh’s feat

Five years after Lindbergh completed his flight, “Lady Lindy” Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean , setting off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland on May 20, 1932 and landing some 14 hours later in Culmore, Northern Ireland. In her career as an aviator, Earhart would become a worldwide celebrity, setting several women’s speed, domestic distance and transcontinental aviation records. Her most memorable feat, however, would prove to be her last. In 1937, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific ocean and was never seen or heard from again.

1937: The Hindenburg crashes…along with the ‘Age of Airships’

Between WWI and WWII, aviation pioneers and major aircraft companies like Germany’s Luftshiffbau Zeppelin tried hard to popularize bulbous, lighter-than-air airships—essentially giant flying gas bags—as a mode of commercial transportation. The promise of the steam-powered, hydrogen-filled airships quickly evaporated, however, after the infamous 1937 Hindenburg disaster . That’s when the gas inside the Zeppelin company’s flagship Hindenburg vessel exploded during a landing attempt, killing 35 passengers and crew members and badly burning the majority of the 62 remaining survivors.

October 14, 1947: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier

An ace combat fighter during WWII, Chuck Yeager earned the title “Fastest Man Alive” when he hit 700 m.p.h. while testing the experimental X-1 supersonic rocket jet for the military over the Mojave Desert in 1947. Being the first person to  travel faster than the speed of sound has been hailed as one of the most epic feats in the history of aviation—not bad for someone who got sick to his stomach after his first-ever flight.

1949: The world’s first commercial jetliner takes off

Early passenger air travel was noisy, cold, uncomfortable and bumpy, as planes flew at low altitudes that brought them through, not above, the weather. But when the British-manufactured de Havilland Comet took its first flight in 1949—boasting four turbine engines, a pressurized cabin, large windows and a relatively comfortable seating area—it marked a pivotal step in modern commercial air travel. An early, flawed design however, caused the de Havilland to be grounded after a series of mid-flight disasters—but not before giving the world a glimpse of what was possible.

1954-1957: Boeing glamorizes flying

With the debut of the sleek 707 aircraft, touted for its comfort, speed and safety, Seattle-based Boeing ushered in the age of modern American jet travel. Pan American Airways became the first commercial carrier to take delivery of the elongated, swept-wing planes, launching daily flights from New York to Paris. The 707 quickly became a symbol of postwar modernity—a time when air travel would become commonplace, people dressed up to fly and flight attendants reflected the epitome of chic. The plane even inspired Frank Sinatra’s hit song “Come Fly With Me.”

March 27, 1977: Disaster at Tenerife

In the greatest aviation disaster in history, 583 people were killed and dozens more injured when two Boeing 747 jets—Pan Am 1736 and KLM 4805— collided on the Los Rodeos Airport runway in Spain’s Canary Islands. The collision occurred when the KLM jet, trying to navigate a runway shrouded in fog, initiated its takeoff run while the Pan Am jetliner was still on the runway. All aboard the KLM flight and most on the Pan Am flight were killed. Tragically, neither plane was scheduled to fly from that airport on that day, but a small bomb set off at a nearby airport caused them both to be diverted to Los Rodeos.

1978: Flight goes electronic

The U.S. Air Force developed and debuted the first fly-by-wire operating system for its F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter plane. The system, which replaced the aircraft’s manual flight control system with an electronic one, ushered in aviation’s “Information Age,” one in which navigation, communications and hundreds of other operating systems are automated with computers. This advance has led to developments like unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, more nimble missiles and the proliferation of stealth aircraft.

1986: Around the world, without landing

American pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager (no relation to Chuck) completed the first around-the-world flight without refueling or landing . Their “Rutan Model 76 Voyager,” a single-wing, twin-engine craft designed by Rutan’s brother, was built with 17 fuel tanks to accommodate long-distance flight.

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The History of Commercial Flight: How Global Travel Took off

This is how commercial flights went from being exclusively for the wealthy to the mainstream and affordable option they are today.

DALLAS - Flying has become the transport of choice for business travelers and holidaymakers across the globe and is now considered one of the fastest, most convenient, and safest forms of long-distance travel.

But how did commercial flights go from being exclusively for the wealthy to the mainstream and affordable option they are today? Artemis Aerospace guides us through the different decades of air travel and how it has shaped modern-day living.

Listen to this article:

The First Commercial Flight

The first ever passenger flight took off in May 1908 when Wilbur Wright carried Charles Furnas just 2000 feet across the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Just one year later, the first airline in the world, the German airship company DELAG, was founded.

In 1914, the world’s first scheduled passenger service, an airboat piloted by Tony Jannus, set off from St. Petersburg, Florida, and landed at Tampa, around 17 miles away. The service only ran for four months, but it had unlocked the appetite of those keen to tap into the novelty of air transport.

A New Era of Aviation

However, it wasn’t until the 1920s that commercial flights carrying paying passengers started to become commonplace with the introduction of the multi-engine airplane, the Lawson C-2, which was specifically built to carry passengers.

During this time, more and more start-up airline carriers were being established, some of which are still in operation today. These include KLM in the Netherlands (1919), Colombia’s Avianca (1919), Qantas in Australia (1920), and Czech Airlines (1923).

Aircraft from this period would land frequently to refuel and fly at lower altitudes due to unpressurized cabins. This made traveling by plane noisy, cold, and expensive. Flying times were lengthy, and turbulence was frequent. Passengers regularly experienced air sickness, and many airlines hired nurses to reduce anxiety and tend to those affected.

In 1935, one of the world’s oldest airlines, Qantas, operated its first international passenger flight, traveling from Brisbane to Singapore. From there, British-owned Imperial Airways connected this flight to the UK. This was to set the wheels in motion for creating a regular travel route between Australia and the UK in the coming decades.

Despite flying being incredibly dangerous and extremely expensive during this period, it was still a fashionable way to travel for the rich. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the number of airline passengers grew from just 6,000 in 1930 to nearly half a million by 1934; the aviation industry was well on its way to becoming hugely important to the global economy.

Innovation That Revolutionized Air Travel

The introduction of the Douglas DC-3 in 1935 also had a big impact on the future of commercial flight. The propeller-driven airliner was a larger and much improved aircraft compared to its predecessors. Faster and more reliable, it could carry up to 32 passengers and had a cruising speed of 207 mph with a range of 1500 miles. This made it popular with well-established airlines, including Delta, TWA, American, and United, who soon added the aircraft to their fleets.

During the 1940s, the onset of WWII meant commercial aviation developments slowed considerably. However, by the end of the decade, the industry was heading towards a new era as Pan Am began operating its fleet of Boeing 307s, which featured the first-ever pressurized cabin.

This transformed air travel for passengers, allowing them to enjoy a comfortable experience at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Major airlines were now ramping up their advertising spending and offering travelers smooth journeys to far-flung destinations and business hubs, including Pan Am’s iconic New York-London route.

The Golden Age of Air Travel

The 1950s and 1960s heralded the age of jet engine aircraft, and with it came an upsurge in commercial flights, airline carriers, and international flying routes.

Commercial air travel was booming, and major airlines were fiercely competitive, offering passengers more and more inflight perks, including lavish silver-service meals and fine wines.

Pan Am was a front-runner in pioneering and marketing the very best air travel had to offer. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and introduced ground-breaking changes to the industry, such as adding jet aircraft to their fleets and utilizing computerized reservation systems.

In the 1960s, work began on creating the world’s first supersonic aircraft and what would eventually become an iconic symbol of commercial flight, the Concorde. Offering transatlantic flights in just 3.5 hours, the aircraft was a hit with business travelers and royalty alike. However, tickets were extremely expensive and only a privileged few could afford to travel via Concorde.

The Rise of the No-frills Airline

Seeing a gap in the market for making air travel more accessible to everyday people, British-owned Laker Airways, founded in 1966 by Freddie Laker, was one of the first airlines to start offering a budget alternative by adjusting its inflight offer.

Using the budget airline business model that is commonplace today, Laker was able to offer lower fares by reducing inflight services and luxuries, such as free meals. The airline also found innovative ways to reduce fuel consumption and engine wear by introducing the reduced thrust take-off technique and faster climbs to obtain the optimum flying altitude in as little time as possible. Sadly, the airline was a casualty of the 1980s recession and subsequently went bankrupt.

However, it paved the way for budget travel and opened a world of possibilities for millions more people to get the chance to travel by air.   

Today, the world’s largest low-cost carrier is Southwest Airlines in the US. Synonymous with budget travel, the company’s low-cost domestic and short-haul offer has undoubtedly inspired many other well-known brands to tap into the no-frills market, including Ryanair and EasyJet.

Air Travel for the Masses

Larger and more economical aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, had also made cheaper air travel possible. Airlines were now able to carry more passengers than ever before, meaning ticket prices could be sold at a reduced rate. Holidaying abroad was no longer reserved for the rich.

This change in dynamics meant airlines now started to look for different ways to retain the luxurious service and long lunches that had been synonymous with the golden age of travel, without compromising on providing a budget alternative.

First-class cabins, sophisticated onboard bars, and exclusive-use airport lounges meant those who could afford to, could still travel in style.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet launched. Offering airfares for as little as £20, they changed the face of commercial flying and put pressure on traditional carriers to lower ticket prices.

Security Tightening in the 2000s

The tragic events of 9/11 had a profound effect on air travel. Security at airports was increased significantly and passengers without a ticket at US airports could no longer accompany friends and family through security to the gate.

Cockpit security was also heightened. Previously, it had been possible for passengers to visit the flight deck and speak to the pilots. However, after 2001, cockpit doors were locked with only the pilots controlling who could enter.

A New Era for Air Travel

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, it took until 2004 for air passenger numbers to reach pre-9/11 levels and until 2007 to reach a record high.

During this period, low-cost carriers were experiencing increased demand as the popularity of booking websites surged, and, by 2009, figures from the tourism research company PhoCusWright reported that half of all travel-related bookings were being made online.

Passenger numbers continued to surge throughout the 2010s, and by the end of the decade, the volume of travelers using commercial airlines was at an all-time high.

The Post-pandemic Era: Flying into a New Age for Aviation

Prior to the pandemic, the International Air Transport Association predicted that the number of airline passengers could reach 7.2 billion by 2035. However, nobody in the industry could prepare for the global aircraft groundings and unpredictable travel restrictions caused by COVID-19.

Despite this, the industry is full of optimism. As we enter a new era for aviation and reflect on the past, we can be confident that no matter what obstacles we encounter, air travel will prevail.

Featured image: Johann Heske/Airways; Article sources: Smithsonian , burnsmcd.com , loveexploring.com .

https://www.century-of-flight.net/commercial-aviation-industry-1920-1930/

https://metroairportnews.com/travel-by-air-the-golden-years-1920s-1960s/

A global review of commercial flight in its 30th year

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A Brief History of the FAA

The modern age of powered flight began in 1903 when Orville Wright made the first sustained, powered flight on December 17 in a plane he and his brother Wilbur built. This twelve-second flight led to the development of the first practical airplane in 1905 and launched worldwide efforts to build better flying machines. As a result, the early 20th century witnessed myriad aviation developments as new planes and technologies entered service. During World War I, the airplane also proved its effectiveness as a military tool and, with the advent of early airmail service, showed great promise for commercial applications.

Despite limited post-World War I technical developments, early aviation remained a dangerous business. Flying conditions proved difficult since the only navigation devices available to most pilots were magnetic compasses. Pilots flew 200 to 500 feet above ground so they could navigate by roads and railways. Low visibility and night landings were made using bonfires on the field as lighting. Fatal accidents were routine.

The Air Mail Act of 1925 facilitated the creation of a profitable commercial airline industry, and airline companies such as Pan American Airways, Western Air Express, and Ford Air Transport Service began scheduled commercial passenger service. By the mid-1930s, the four major domestic airlines that dominated commercial travel for most of the 20th century began operations: United, American, Eastern, and Transcontinental and Western Air ( TWA ).

As air travel increased, some airport operators, hoping to improve safety, began providing an early form of air traffic control ( ATC ) based on visual signals. Early controllers stood on the field and waved flags to communicate with pilots. Archie League, the system's first flagmen, began work in the late 1920s at the airfield in St. Louis, Missouri.

Origins of the FAA

Birth of federal aviation agency, from agency to administration, labor organizes, evolving duties, air traffic control automation, deregulation, labor unrest, technological innovation, organizational restructuring, creation of faa's air traffic organization ( ato ), the next generation air transportation system (nextgen), enhancing capacity, safety first, last, and always.

Aviation industry leaders believed the airplane could not reach its full commercial potential without federal action to improve and maintain safety standards. At their urging, the Air Commerce Act was passed in 1926. This landmark legislation charged the Secretary of Commerce with fostering air commerce, issuing and enforcing air traffic rules, licensing pilots, certifying aircraft, establishing airways, and operating and maintaining aids to air navigation. A new Aeronautics Branch in the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, and William P. MacCracken, Jr., became its first director.

In 1934, the Department of Commerce renamed the Aeronautics Branch the Bureau of Air Commerce to reflect the growing importance of aviation to the nation. In one of its first acts, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first air traffic control centers (Newark, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois) to provide en route air traffic control. In 1936, the Bureau took over these centers. Early en route controllers tracked the position of planes using maps and blackboards and little boat-shaped weights that came to be called "shrimp boats." They had no direct radio link with aircraft, but used telephones to stay in touch with airline dispatchers, airway radio operators, and airport traffic controllers. Although en route ATC became a federal responsibility, local government authorities continued to operate airport towers. While the Department of Commerce worked to improve aviation safety, a number of high profile accidents called the department's oversight responsibilities into question. A 1931 crash that killed all on board, including popular University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, elicited public calls for greater federal oversight of aviation safety. Four years later, a DC-2 crash killed U.S. Senator Bronson Cutting of New Mexico.

To ensure a federal focus on aviation safety, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Civil Aeronautics Act in 1938. The legislation established the independent Civil Aeronautics Authority ( CAA ), with a three-member Air Safety Board that would conduct accident investigations and recommend ways of preventing accidents. The legislation also expanded the government's role in civil aviation by giving CAA power to regulate airline fares and determine the routes individual carriers served. In 1940, President Roosevelt split the CAA into two agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which went back to the Department of Commerce, and the Civil Aeronautics Board ( CAB ). The offshoot of the original CAA retained responsibility for ATC , airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB responsibilities included safety rulemaking, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines.

On the eve of America's entry into World War II, for defense purposes, CAA extended its ATC system to include operation of airport towers. In the postwar era, ATC became a permanent federal responsibility at most airports. The postwar era also witnessed the advent of commercial jets. The British Overseas Aircraft Corporation introduced the first commercial jet service in 1952. The 36-seat Comet flew at 480 miles per hour. The top cruising speed of the DC-3 piston aircraft, in comparison, was about 180 miles per hour. By the mid-1950s, U.S. companies began designing and building their own jet airliners.

On June 30, 1956, a Trans World Airlines Super Constellation and a United Air Lines DC-7 collided over the Grand Canyon, Arizona, killing all 128 occupants of the two airplanes. The collision occurred while the aircraft were flying under visual flight rules in uncongested airspace. The accident dramatized the fact that, even though U.S. air traffic had more than doubled since the end of World War II, little had been done to mitigate the risk of midair collisions.

On May 21, 1958, Senator A. S. "Mike" Monroney (D-OK) introduced a bill to create an independent Federal Aviation Agency to provide for the safe and efficient use of national airspace. Two months later, on August 23, 1958, the President signed the Federal Aviation Act, which transferred the Civil Aeronautics Authority's functions to a new independent Federal Aviation Agency responsible for civil aviation safety. Although the Federal Aviation Agency technically came into existence with the passage of the act, it actually assumed its functions in stages. Under the provisions of the act, the Federal Aviation Agency would begin operations 60 days after the appointment of the first Federal Aviation Agency Administrator. On November 1, 1958, retired Air Force General Elwood "Pete" Quesada became the first Federal Aviation Agency Administrator. Sixty days later, on December 31, the Federal Aviation Agency began operations.

With no dedicated office space for the Federal Aviation Agency, employees of the growing agency were housed in several widely dispersed buildings around Washington, DC, including some "temporary" buildings of World War II vintage. The Federal Aviation Agency worked to obtain a headquarters building to consolidate employees in one location, and on November 22, 1963, the Federal Aviation Agency's Washington headquarters staff began moving into the newly completed Federal Office Building 10A, at 800 Independence Avenue, SW. Excitement about the new building quickly evaporated on move day as employees heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Texas.

President Johnson, concerned about the lack of a coordinated transportation system, believed a single department was needed to develop and carry out comprehensive transportation policies and programs across all transportation modes. In 1966, Congress authorized the creation of a cabinet department that would combine major federal transportation responsibilities. This new Department of Transportation ( DOT ) began full operations on April l, 1967. On that day, the Federal Aviation Agency became one of several modal organizations within DOT and received a new name, the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ). At the same time, CAB's accident investigation function was transferred to the new National Transportation Safety Board.

In January 1968, New York controllers formed an employee organization, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, or PATCO . Within six months, PATCO had a national membership of over 5,000 controllers. To highlight difficult working conditions and growing national airspace system ( NAS ) congestion, in July 1968, the PATCO chairman announced "Operation Air Safety," which he described as a campaign to maintain FAA prescribed separation standards between aircraft. A period of discord between management and PATCO culminated in a 1970 "sickout" by 3,000 controllers. Although controllers subsequently gained additional wage and retirement benefits, tensions between the union and management did not ease.

In February 1972, the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists ( NAATS ) became the exclusive representative for all flight service station specialists, those controllers who supported general aviation pilots. FAA and NAATS concluded an agency-wide collective bargaining agreement on June 1, 1972, the first such contract between FAA and a national labor organization.

Almost from its creation, the agency found itself faced with a number of unexpected challenges. In 1961, for example, the first series of aircraft hijackings in the U.S. occurred. In August of that year, the federal government began employing armed guards, border patrolmen recruited from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, on civilian planes. In September, President Kennedy signed an amendment to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, which made it a crime to hijack an aircraft, interfere with an active flight crew, or carry a dangerous weapon aboard an air carrier aircraft. To help enforce the act, a special corps of FAA safety inspectors began training for duty aboard airline flights. In March 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy swore in FAA's first "peace officers," as special U.S. deputy marshals. These men worked as safety inspectors for the FAA flight standards organization and carried out their role as armed marshals on flights only when specifically requested to do so.

FAA responsibilities increased even more in the late 1960s. An economic boom brought with it growing concerns about pollution and noise. Aviation, on the cutting edge of technological innovation, became an early area of environmental concern for the public, especially as more and more airplanes traversed the NAS . In 1968, Congress vested in FAA's Administrator the power to prescribe aircraft noise standards.

With continued growth in the nation's airspace, it quickly became evident that airport safety and capacity had to be increased to prevent system delays. Between mid-1959 and mid-1969, the number of aircraft operations at FAA's ATC towers had increased by 112 percent. Schedule delays cost the air carriers millions of dollars annually, not to mention the cost to passengers over and above inconvenience and discomfort. The Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 placed the agency in charge of a new airport aid program funded by a special aviation trust fund and made FAA responsible for safety certification of airports served by air carriers.

Realizing the need for continued ATC system modernization to keep up with technological developments, FAA began modernizing the NAS in the mid-1960s. The civilian ATC system being replaced by NAS En Route Stage A was essentially a manually operated system employing radar, general purpose computers, radio communications, and air traffic controllers. For terminal airspace, the FAA was developing the automated radar traffic control system ( ARTS ).

To help monitor and even restrict flights moving from one air route traffic control center to another, FAA established the Central Flow Control Facility at its Headquarters. Opened in April 1970, the new facility collected and correlated systemwide air traffic and weather data, detected potential trouble spots, and suggested solutions. On July 29, FAA established the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center to integrate the functions of the Central Flow Control Facility, Airport Reservation Office, the Air Traffic Service Contingency Command Post, and Central Altitude Reservation Facility.

The Airline Deregulation Act, signed on October 24, 1978, created a highly competitive airline industry. Deregulation increased FAA workload exponentially. The FAA had to certify every new airline, and there were hundreds of applications after deregulation that FAA had to review and approve or disapprove. In the immediate years after the deregulation act, FAA flight standards and other offices focused primarily on the new applicants.

By the time airline deregulation became law, FAA had achieved a semi-automated air traffic control system based on a marriage of radar and computer technology. Despite its effectiveness, however, the air traffic control system required enhancement to keep pace with the increased volumes of traffic that resulted from the new, deregulated environment.

The labor contract between FAA and PATCO expired in March 1981. Formal contract negotiations had begun in February, but those ended after 37 negotiating sessions. Informal talks, however, continued until June 17, when PATCO rejected a Reagan Administration contract proposal. After the failure of last minute negotiations, on August 3, approximately 12,300 members of the 15,000-member PATCO went on strike, grounding about 35 percent of the nation's 14,200 daily commercial flights. Approximately four hours after the strike began, President Reagan issued the strikers a firm ultimatum – return to work within 48 hours or face permanent dismissal. After expiration of the grace period, FAA fired approximately 11,400 controllers. Most of those fired appealed the action, and FAA eventually reinstated 440 as a result of their appeals.

The strike and dismissals drastically curtailed FAA's controller workforce. To keep the airways open, approximately 3,000 air traffic controller supervisory personnel worked at controlling traffic. FAA assigned assistants to support the controllers, and accelerated the hiring and training of new air traffic personnel. Military controllers arrived at FAA facilities soon after the strike began, and about 800 were ultimately assigned to the agency.

In the aftermath of the strike, PATCO disbanded and the controllers remained without a union until June 19, 1987, when the National Air Traffic Controllers Association became the exclusive representative of terminal and center controllers.

During this time, FAA electronics technicians unionized. On December 29, 1981, the Professional Airway Systems Specialists ( PASS ) became the exclusive representative of the technicians. FAA and PASS concluded their first national labor agreement during fiscal year 1984.

Aviation system disruptions in the aftermath of the PATCO strike led many in FAA to come to the realization that the agency needed a systematic, long-term plan for modernization. In January 1982, FAA publicly released the first annual National Airspace System ( NAS ) Plan, a comprehensive 20-year blueprint for a state-of-the-art traffic control and air navigation system to accommodate projected growth in air travel.

As the modernization program evolved, problems in developing ambitious automation systems prompted a change in strategy. FAA shifted its emphasis from the advanced automation system toward enhancing the ATC system through more manageable, step-by-step improvements through the new Free Flight program. At the same time, the agency worked to speed the application of the Global Positioning System satellite technology to civil aeronautics.

In February 1991, FAA replaced the NAS Plan with the more comprehensive Capital Investment Plan. The new plan incorporated the NAS plan projects and included higher levels of automation as well as new radar, communications, and weather forecasting systems.

FAA also addressed a wide variety of technical issues as the rapid evolution of aeronautics continued. The Aviation Safety Research Act of 1988, for example, mandated greater emphasis on long-range research planning and on study of such issues as aging aircraft structures and human factors affecting safety. FAA engineers and scientists also investigated areas such as human performance in aeronautical tasks, improvement of runways, and the effects of corrosion on aircraft structures.

In November 1995, DOT transferred the commercial space transportation office to the FAA . Originally established within DOT in 1984, the new FAA office regulated the U.S. commercial launch industry, licensed commercial launch operations to ensure public health and safety and the safety of property, and protected national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial launch operations. It also issued licenses for commercial launches of orbital and suborbital rockets.

The fiscal year 1996 DOT appropriations bill, signed in November 1995, included important provisions for FAA personnel and procurement reform. FAA began the mandated reforms by first creating a new acquisition management system designed to reduce the time and cost of acquiring systems and services. FAA then placed all employees into a new personnel system intended to speed recruitment and reward outstanding employees, while dealing effectively with substandard performance. While the agency was no longer subject to certain Office of Personnel Management rules, its employees continued to enjoy a range of legal protections that applied to other federal workers.

In June 1998, FAA began testing a new compensation plan called core compensation, which replaced the traditional grade and step base pay method with a structure of pay bands, the value of which were determined by comparison with similar jobs in government and private industry. The program also linked compensation with performance. On April 23, 2000, FAA transferred approximately 6,500 employees into the core compensation system.

On September 11, 2001, nineteen radical Islamic extremists with the group al Qaeda penetrated security at three major airports, seized four U.S. domestic airliners, and turned three of the aircraft into missiles that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City and damaged the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Passengers on the fourth plane fought the hijackers, causing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field. To prevent any further hijackings, FAA immediately put a ground stop on all traffic for the first time in U.S. aviation history. In the overnight hours of September 11, members of FAA's Flight Standards Service developed an initial lead identifying the names of potential hijackers and provided those names to the FBI . The tragic events of this day radically changed the FAA . On November 19, 2001, the president signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which among other provisions, established a new agency responsible for aviation security – the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA ), within DOT . FAA remained responsible for aviation security until February 13, 2002, when TSA took over those responsibilities. The November 2002, passage of the Homeland Security Act moved TSA into the new Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

In April 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, which contained a provision mandating the appointment of a chief operating officer. In a December executive order, the president directed FAA to create a performance-based organization that focused solely on efficient operation of the ATC system.

In June 2003, FAA selected its first ATO Chief Operating Officer ( COO ), Russell Chew. With the COO in place, FAA went forward with a major reorganization of its air traffic and research and acquisition organizations. On November 18, 2003, the Secretary of Transportation announced initial details of the new ATO business structure. The ATO consolidated FAA's air traffic services, research and acquisitions, and Free Flight Program activities into a smaller, more efficient organization with a strict focus on providing the best service for the best value to the aviation industry and the traveling public.

The ATO officially began operations on February 8, 2004. It consisted of five major service units: En Route & Oceanic; Terminal; Flight Services; System Operations; and, Technical Operations. Also included within the organization's top level are five staff-level business groups: Safety; Communications; Operations Planning; Finance; and Acquisition and Business Services. In 2008, the ATO consolidated the service units and staff offices into four business units, each led by a senior vice president.

In line with other agency efforts to improve efficiency, in December 2005, the COO restructured ATO administrative and support functions in the field. In June 2006, he instituted a new ATO Service Center structure. Three service centers replaced the nine service area offices within En Route, Terminal, and Technical Operations. Each of the service centers was made up of five functional groups: administrative services, business services, safety assurance, system support, and planning and requirements. A sixth group, engineering services, was a shared resource and remained in place in the existing locations.

With the ATO structure in place, the agency's first COO resigned from FAA on February 23, 2007. Administrator Marion Blakey assigned COO responsibilities to Deputy Administrator Robert Sturgell as collateral duties until a new COO came on board. On October 1, 2007, Administrator Blakey hired the agency's second COO , Hank Krakowski.

The Vision 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, signed into law in December 2003, endorsed the concept of a Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The following month, the DOT Secretary announced plans for a new, multi-year, multi-agency effort to develop an air transportation system for the year 2025 and beyond. He subsequently established a Joint Planning and Development Office ( JPDO ) at the FAA comprised of representatives from FAA , National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to create and carry out an integrated plan for NextGen. On December 15, 2004, DOT unveiled the Integrated Plan for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, which laid out goals, objectives, and requirements necessary to create the NextGen system.

When constraints in en route airspace and the airspace surrounding U.S. airports began to result in flight delays and schedule disruptions, FAA began to look for immediate solutions while continuing NextGen activities. To improve capacity, FAA began implementing a number of new concepts. The Required Navigation Performance ( RNP ) concept, for example, would take advantage of new onboard technologies for precision guidance to help transition the NAS from reliance on airways running over ground-based navigation aids to a point-to-point navigation concept. FAA also implemented the use of Reduced Vertical Separation Minima ( RVSM ), which reduced the minimum vertical separation between aircraft from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet for all properly equipped aircraft flying between 29,000 feet and 41,000 feet. This increased the routes and altitudes available and allowed more efficient routings that would save time and fuel.

Between 2001 and 2007, aviation witnessed one of its safest periods for scheduled air carriers. Not counting the terrorist activities of September 11, 2001, there were only three fatal accidents in 2001; none in 2002; two in 2003; one in 2004; three in 2005; two in 2006; and none in 2007. Fatal accidents became rare events with only .01 accidents per 100,000 flight hours or .018 accidents per 100,000 departures.

Thanks to the work of FAA , over the past 50 years, aviation has become central to the way we live and do business, linking people from coast to coast and connecting America to the world. In fact, FAA has created the safest, most reliable, most efficient, and most productive air transportation system in the world.

To ensure aviation's future viability, FAA is now working with its federal and industry partners to develop a flexible aerospace system that fully responds to the changing needs of businesses and customers in the 21st century. The strength of the NextGen system depends on lower costs, improved service, greater capacity, and smarter security measures. That is why FAA has defined a vision of the future that integrates achievements in safety, security, efficiency, and environmental compatibility.

Last updated: Monday, November 15, 2021

A Soaring Journey: A Comprehensive Look at the History of Commercial Airliners

The captivating story of commercial airliners stretches back to the dawn of the 20th century, when the skies were a realm yet to be conquered by passenger travel. Let’s delve deeper into the remarkable milestones that paved the way for the sophisticated airliners we know today. A Comprehensive Look at the History of Commercial Airliners.

Pioneering Flights and Propeller Power (Early 20th Century)

• 1914:  The year that marks the birth of scheduled commercial air travel. The first successful service takes off, carrying mail between St. Petersburg, Florida, and Tampa, Florida.
• 1919:  KLM, the Royal Dutch Airlines, takes flight, establishing itself as the oldest continually operating airline in the world.
• 1920s:  The Ford Tri-Motor, affectionately nicknamed the “Tin Lizzie of the Skies,” emerges as a popular early airliner. Despite its bumpy rides and limited passenger capacity of eight, it plays a pivotal role in laying the groundwork for future advancements.
• 1930s:  The Boeing 247, dubbed the “first modern airliner,” revolutionizes the industry with its all-metal construction, retractable landing gear, and pressurized cabin. This technological leap offers passengers a smoother and faster flight experience compared to its predecessors.

The Jet Age: Ushering in an Era of Speed (1950s-1970s)

• 1952:  The world witnesses the first commercial jet airliner flight, with the De Havilland Comet taking to the skies. However, technical issues lead to its grounding shortly after.
• 1955:  Undeterred by the Comet’s challenges, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, the first truly successful jet airliners, take flight. These pioneering models usher in a golden age of air travel, offering significantly faster flight times and greater passenger capacity compared to propeller-driven aircraft.
• 1969:  The supersonic Concorde makes its debut, achieving speeds exceeding twice the speed of sound. Although commercially successful for a period, its high operating costs and environmental concerns ultimately lead to its retirement in 2003.
• 1970s:  The iconic Boeing 747, also known as the “Jumbo Jet,” enters service, revolutionizing long-haul travel with its double-deck design and ability to carry hundreds of passengers.

Modern Marvels: A Focus on Efficiency and Innovation (1980s-Present)

• 1980s-1990s:  The industry shifts its focus towards fuel efficiency and passenger comfort. New models like the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 777 emerge, incorporating advanced technologies to achieve these goals. Wider cabins, improved in-flight entertainment systems, and quieter engines become defining features of modern airliners.
• 2000s-Present:  Technological advancements continue at a rapid pace. Fly-by-wire systems, composite materials, and next-generation engines further enhance efficiency, safety, and performance. Sustainability efforts also gain significant traction, with airlines and manufacturers exploring alternative fuels and cleaner technologies to minimize the environmental impact of air travel.

The captivating history of commercial airliners is a testament to human ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of progress. From the pioneering flights of the early 20th century to the sophisticated marvels of the modern age, these flying machines have transformed the world into a smaller, more interconnected place, leaving an indelible mark on the way we travel and experience the globe.

References and Further Reading:

• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum:  https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/5842hjpg
• Boeing History:  https://www.museumofflight.org/exhibits-and-events/exhibits/boeing-story-1916-1958
• Ford Tri-Motor:  https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/sets/12324
• Douglas DC-3 History:  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-dc-3-revolutionized-air-travel-5444300/
• Lockheed L-10 Electra:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Model_10_Electra
• Air Mail Service Development:  https://postalmuseum.si.edu/topics/airmail-service
• Size of an AN-225 Mriya vs Football Pitch
• Boeing 707 – a Milestone in Aviation

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The history of commercial flight – how global travel took off

Flying has become the transport of choice for business travellers and holidaymakers across the globe and is now considered one of the fastest, most convenient and safest forms of long-distance travel. But how did commercial flights go from being exclusively for the wealthy to the mainstream and affordable option it is today? Artemis Aerospace guides us through the different decades of air travel and how it has shaped modern-day living

The first commercial flight

The first ever passenger flight took off in May 1908 when Wilbur Wright carried Charles Furnas just 2000 feet across the beach at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. Just one year later, and the first airline in the world – German airship company DELAG – was founded.

In 1914, the world’s first scheduled passenger service, an airboat piloted by Tony Jannus, set off from St Petersburg in Florida and landed at Tampa – around 17 miles away. The service only ran for four months, but it had unlocked the appetite of those keen to tap into the novelty of air transport.

A new era of aviation

However, it wasn’t until the 1920s when commercial flights carrying paying passengers started to become commonplace with the introduction of the multi-engine aeroplane, the Lawson C-2, which was specifically built to carry passengers.

During this time, more and more start-up airline carriers were being established – some of which are still in operation today. These include KLM in the Netherlands (1919), Colombia’s Avianca (1919), Qantas in Australia (1920) and Czech Airlines (1923).

Aircraft from this period would land frequently to refuel and fly at lower altitudes due to unpressurised cabins. This made travelling by plane noisy, cold and expensive. Flying times were lengthy and turbulence was frequent. Passengers regularly experienced air sickness and many airlines hired nurses to reduce anxiety and tend to those affected. 

In 1935, one of the world’s oldest airlines, Qantas, operated its first international passenger flight, travelling from Brisbane to Singapore. From there, the British-owned Imperial Airways connected this flight to the UK. This was to set the wheels in motion for creating a regular travel route between Australia and the UK in the coming decades.

Despite flying being incredibly dangerous and extremely expensive during this period, it was still a fashionable way to travel for the rich. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the number of airline passengers grew from just 6,000 in 1930 to nearly half a million by 1934 – the aviation industry was well on its way to becoming hugely important to the global economy.

Innovation that revolutionised air travel

The introduction of the Douglas DC-3 in 1935 also had a big impact on the future of commercial flight. The propeller-driven airliner was a larger and much improved aircraft compared to its predecessors. Faster and more reliable, it could carry up to 32 passengers and had a cruising speed of 207mph with a range of 1500 miles. This made it popular with well-established airlines, including Delta, TWA, American and United, who soon added the aircraft to their fleets.

During the 1940s, the onset of WWII meant commercial aviation developments slowed considerably. However, by the end of the decade, the industry was heading towards a new era as Pan Am began operating its fleet of Boeing 307s, which featured the first ever pressurised cabin. This transformed air travel for passengers, allowing them to enjoy a comfortable experience at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Major airlines were now ramping up their advertising spend and offering travellers smooth journeys to far flung destinations and business hubs, including Pan Am’s iconic New York to London route.

The Golden Age of Air Travel

The 1950s and 1960s heralded the age of the jet engine aircraft and with it came an upsurge in commercial flights, airline carriers and international flying routes.

Commercial air travel was booming, and major airlines were fiercely competitive, offering passengers more and more inflight perks, including lavish silver-service meals and fine wines.

The airline carrier Pan Am was a front runner in pioneering and marketing the very best air travel had to offer. It was the first airline to fly worldwide and introduced ground-breaking changes to the industry, such as adding jet aircraft to their fleets and utilising computerised reservation systems.

In the 1960s, work began on creating the world’s first supersonic aircraft and what would eventually become an iconic symbol of commercial flight, the Concorde. Offering transatlantic flights in just 3.5 hours, the aircraft was a hit with business travellers and royalty alike. However, tickets were extremely expensive and only a privileged few could afford to travel via Concorde.

The rise of the no frills airline

Seeing a gap in the market for making air travel more accessible to everyday people, British-owned Laker Airways, which was founded in 1966 by Freddie Laker, was one of the first airlines to start offering a budget alternative by adjusting its inflight offer.

Using the budget airline business model that is commonplace today, Laker was able to offer lower price fares by reducing inflight services and luxuries, such as free meals. The airline also found innovative ways to reduce fuel consumption and engine wear by introducing the reduced thrust take-off technique and faster climbs to obtain the optimum flying altitude in as little time as possible. Sadly, the airline was a casualty of the 1980s’ recession and subsequently went bankrupt. However, it had paved the way for budget travel and had opened a world of possibilities for millions more people to get the chance to travel by air.   

Today, the world’s largest low-cost carrier is Southwest Airlines in the US. Synonymous with budget travel, the company’s low-cost domestic and short haul offer has undoubtedly inspired many other well-known brands to tap into the no-frills market, including Ryanair and EasyJet.

Air travel for the masses

Larger and more economical aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, had also made cheaper air travel possible. Airlines were now able to carry more passengers than ever before, meaning ticket prices could be sold at a reduced rate. Holidaying abroad was no longer reserved for the rich.

This change in dynamics meant airlines now started to look for different ways to retain the luxurious service and long lunches that had been synonymous with the golden age of travel, without compromising on providing a budget alternative.

First-class cabins, sophisticated onboard bars and exclusive-use airport lounges meant those who could afford to, could still travel in style.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet launched. Offering airfares for as little as £20, they changed the face of commercial flying and put pressure on traditional carriers to lower ticket prices.

Security tightening in the 2000s

The tragic events of 9/11 had a profound effect on air travel. Security at airports was increased significantly and passengers without a ticket at US airports could no longer accompany friends and family through security to the gate.

Cockpit security also heightened. Previously, it had been possible for passengers to visit the flight deck and speak to the pilots. However, after 2001, cockpit doors were locked with only the pilots controlling who could enter.

A new era for air travel

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, it took until 2004 for air passenger numbers to reach pre-9/11 levels and until 2007 to reach a record high.

During this period, low-cost carriers were experiencing increased demand as the popularity of booking websites surged and, by 2009, figures from the tourism research company PhoCusWright reported that half of all travel-related bookings were being made online.

Passenger numbers continued to surge throughout the 2010s and by the end of the decade the volume of travellers using commercial airlines was at an all-time high.

The post-pandemic era – flying into a new age for aviation

Prior to the pandemic, the International Air Transport Association predicted that the number of airline passengers could reach 7.2 billion by 2035. However, nobody in the industry could prepare for the global aircraft groundings and unpredictable travel restrictions caused by COVID-19.

Despite this, the industry is full of optimism. As we enter a new era for aviation, and reflect on the past, we can be confident that no matter what obstacles we encounter, air travel will prevail.

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Travel By Air, The Golden Years: 1920s-1960s

The story of commercial air travel, in a heavier-than-air, winged aircraft, began on January 1, 1914, when the world’s first scheduled passenger service took to the skies in a single-engine Benoist flying boat piloted by pioneering aviator Tony Jannus for the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. That morning, as a crowd of 3,000 gathered at St. Pete’s municipal pier, a ticket for the inaugural round-trip flight to Tampa was auctioned off, and former mayor Abraham Pheil won the honor with a bid of $400. Prior to lifting off from the St. Petersburg waterfront, Pheil climbed aboard the open cockpit biplane and squeezed onto a single wooden seat beside Jannus. Flying no higher than fifty feet over the water, the flight across the bay to Tampa took 23 minutes, as opposed to the two hours it would take by steamship, or the nearly 12 hours by railroad. Henceforth, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line made two flights daily, six days a week, and charged a regular fare of five dollars per passenger. While the Airboat Line only operated for four months, it carried more than 1,200 passengers across the bay, and led the way for regularly scheduled trans-continental flights.

The Golden Age of Flight

In post-World War I, as the aviation industry grew, several commercial airlines began operations delivering U.S. Airmail, and then carrying passengers. In the 1920s and 1930s, the period between the two World Wars became known as the Golden Age of Flight. Many of the most notable early airlines were founded during this time period; Western Air Express and Ford Air Transport Service in 1925; Pan American Airways in 1927, which flew airmail from Key West to Havana, and Transcontinental & Western Airlines in 1930 (later TWA), when Western Air Express merged with Transcontinental Air Transport. 

Life aboard a 1920s airliner was quite different from what it is today. Flying was a novel, upscale experience reserved for the wealthiest members of society and business travelers. Airliners carried less than 20 passengers and flew at lower altitudes in unpressurized cabins, frequently landing to refuel. Air travel was noisy and cold, and passengers wore their coats and hats to keep warm. In order to accommodate their every need, uniformed air stewards assisted passengers with their baggage and helped them board the aircraft. Onboard amenities included meals that typically included fruit compotes, cold fried chicken, and elegantly composed sandwiches served on lightweight dishware or wicker baskets. Before the advent of instrument flight in 1929, airplanes could not fly safely at night and had to circumvent mountains. Turbulence, lengthy flight times, airsickness, and other flight-related discomforts often resulted in travel anxiety. In order to keep air travelers at ease, airlines hired nurses to attend to passengers. In 1930, Ellen Church, a nurse and licensed pilot, was hired by Boeing Air Transport (now United Airlines) as the first female stewardess. Despite these discomforts, service evolved quickly in the 1930s. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the airline industry expanded from transporting 6,000 passengers in 1930 to over 450,000 by 1934, and 1.2 million by 1938.

The Douglas DC-3 would revolutionize commercial air travel when it had its first flight in 1935. Faster, larger, and more comfortable than its predecessors; the first DC-3, the Douglas Sleeper Transport, was the pinnacle of luxury, with plush seats in four main compartments designed to fold down from the cabin ceiling into sleeping berths. The aircraft could accommodate up to twenty-eight passengers for shorter day flights and fourteen overnight. As a reliable, economical, and profitable airliner, commercial aviation industry giants such as American, United, and TWA ordered the DC-3 for their fleets in 1936 and many other airlines followed suit in the next two years.

The 1930s heralded in many of the earliest commercial trans-Atlantic flights. Pan American Airways was a forerunner, carrying passengers across the Atlantic in their fleet of flying boats, or ‘Clipper’ aircraft. Transatlantic service began in May of 1939, first flying from Port Washington, Long Island, as the new Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia was being built. That same year, Boeing 314s were considered the ultimate ‘Clippers’, carrying up to seventy-four passengers across the Atlantic and entering trans-Pacific service, linking all the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. The B-314 was a long-range flying boat that could land anywhere at sea, providing the destination had a sheltered harbor in which it could taxi to. But transport in the 314 was still reserved for the very wealthy, and a return ticket between Manhasset Bay in Port Washington to Southampton, England cost over $650; the equivalent of over $12,000 today.

Striving to provide the most pleasant flight experience, Pan American Airways set the gold standard of passenger service. The Boeing 314 had a large upper flight deck and a lower passenger cabin divided into five seating compartments. There was a galley kitchen, a baggage compartment, men, and women’s changing and restrooms, as well as a main lounge that converted into a dining room. White-gloved, tuxedo-clad stewards catered to their passenger’s needs. Meals were lavish experiences with gourmet foods and drink served on fine china, and silverware set on white linen tablecloths. Sleeping quarters on the 314 were roomier than earlier Clippers and its aft De Lux Compartment was called the ‘Bridal Suite’. 

“I have heard many planes referred to as flying hotels, but none is more worthy of that description than the Pan American Airways Clipper.” A Wright Aeronautical Co. observer on a B-314 survey flight

First flown in 1938, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner was the first four-engine airliner with a pressurized cabin, allowing it to cruise at an altitude of 20,000 feet, well above the clouds and higher than rough weather. Pan American entered the B-307 into scheduled domestic service on July 4, 1940, with routes to Latin America, and from New York to Los Angeles. The nearly 12-foot-wide cabin carried thirty-three passengers in comfort and provided space for comfortable berths for overnight travelers, as well as observation areas for those who bought the more expensive seats. The airplane’s circular fuselage provided maximum space for five crew members and the Stratoliner was the first land-based airliner to have a flight engineer as a member of the crew.

With the onset of the Second World War, commercial air travel came to a virtual halt and was limited only to those serving the war effort. But commercial aviation, along with the aviation industry as a whole, grew substantially during wartime with the development and production of large-scale aircraft and the utilization of ex-military bombers and transports that were easily converted into commercial airliners. In the post-war years, Lockheed C-69 Constellations, used as transports by the U.S. Army Air Forces, were purchased from the government by TWA and converted into civilian airliners for their fleet. After TWA’s first transatlantic demonstration flight in the Constellation, or ‘Connie’ in December of 1945, TWA launched its transatlantic service in the Connie with a flight from New York to Paris on February 6, 1946. 

The Golden Age of Air Travel

After 1945, American aircraft technology set the standard for international air operations, and toward the end of the 1940s, major carriers achieved a strong foothold on international travel.

As the decade of the 1940s ended, the era of commercial flight between the 1950s and 1960s was born and became known as the ‘Golden Age of Air Travel’ and the ‘Jet Age’. By 1950, the trans-Atlantic route became the most traveled in the world, and its growing trade produced high profits and intense competition between major international airlines. In the United States, commercial jet service began with the introduction of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. Larger and more economical than its previous airliners, Pan American began international flights on the B-707 in October of 1958. National Airlines soon began domestic jet service with the 707, and American Airlines opened its own domestic jet service in January of 1959, with a flight from New York to Los Angeles. At the end of the decade, for the first time in history, more people in the United States traveled by air than by railroad.

Despite its immense growth, air travel was still expensive and reserved for the elite – celebrities, and movie stars, who were called the ‘Jet Set,’ a name coined in the early 1950s by journalist Igor Cassini. Since commercial flight was still a unique, awe-inspiring event, passengers often documented their experience on airline postcards and posed for group photos prior to boarding. They dressed in their finest clothes, with women in dresses and heels, and men in tailored suits. First Class was spacious, and ‘economy’ seating provided up to six inches more legroom than today. With an increased market for air travel, airlines competed to outdo each other by offering their passengers extravagant amenities; in-flight entertainment, free-flowing cocktails, and fancy multi-course meals that included soup, salad, carved meats, vegetables, dessert, and even lobster. In a 1952 TWA (Trans World Airlines) ad captioned, ‘’Have dinner tonight with the stars!”, an elegantly dressed couple is depicted sitting before a lavishly set table while being served by a burgundy-coated steward and a perfectly coiffed stewardess in uniform and cap. 

As the Golden Age of Air Travel led on, well into the 1960s, those who were fortunate enough to enjoy travel on the newest commercial jetliners featured some of the biggest celebrities of the day, including the Beatles, who arrived at JFK International in New York from London aboard a Pan American Boeing 707, to thousands of screaming fans, and some 200 journalists in February of 1964 ….fifty years after the first scheduled flight in the Benoist flying boat before a crowd of 3,000. And while the principles of flight remain the same, commercial air travel as we know it today may not be as lavish an experience as it once was during its Golden Days, but it certainly has come a very long way.

Experience the Golden Days of Air Travel

Today, the Pan Am Museum Foundation Exhibit at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island pays tribute to Pan American World Airways as a pioneer in commercial aviation through the preservation of Pan Am artifacts, memorabilia, and images that commemorate the company’s history and the people behind this legendary airline. 

Also today, at the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport, visitors are welcome to view the New York Historical Society’s curated exhibitions celebrating TWA’s history. Located within and throughout the former iconic TWA terminal, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1962, the exhibits allow visitors to experience the Jet Age through authentic artifacts, interactive displays, uniforms, memorabilia, and personal narratives. Both are a must see!

Julia Lauria-Blum earned a degree in the Visual Arts at SUNY New Paltz. An early interest in women aviation pioneers led her to research the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of WW II. In 2001 she curated the permanent WASP exhibit at the American Airpower Museum (AAM) in Farmingdale, NY, and later curated 'Women Who Brought the War Home, Women War Correspondents, WWII’ at the AAM. Julia is the former curatorial assistant at the Cradle of Aviation Museum and is currently an editor for Metropolitan Airport News .

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Such an interesting historical synopsis of commercial aviation! Well done!

In June 1967 I flew out of El Toro Marine Air Base California towards Vietnam. I returned to SF International in September 1968 via another commercial airline. As did thousands of other GIs going to Vietnam but not so many coming home. I highly recommend purchasing the book by BJ Elliott Prior titled Behind My Wings.

Thank you for comments, Robert. I look forward to obtaining a copy of Behind My Wings and reading about the GIs returning home. I have very strong visual memories of the returning veterans, and especially the POWs.

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In 1955, for the first time, more people in the United States traveled by air than by train. By 1957 airliners had replaced ocean liners as the preferred means of crossing the Atlantic. The era of mass air travel had begun.

Air transportation changed dramatically during and after World War II. New technology led to advanced piston-engine aircraft and new solutions to the problems of navigation and air traffic control. Regulated by the federal government, a few large airlines continued to dominate. Air traffic grew steadily, as declines in travel time and fares made air travel available to an increasing number of people, and the flying experience continued to improve. 

With revenues on the rise and new, more efficient airliners in the air, airlines no longer needed economic support. In 1952 the government ended its decades-old subsidy for flying the mail. While air mail remained a valuable source of income, airlines no longer needed it to survive.

The Need for Regulation

During World War II, casual air travel virtually ceased in the United States. A tight priority list ensured that only those serving the war effort flew. After World War II, passenger travel surged to new levels. The federal government reorganized its regulatory agencies to manage the rapidly growing airline industry. New carriers emerged, and new technology began to revolutionize civil aviation. Through the new Civil Aeronautics Board and later the Federal Aviation Agency, the U.S. government remained a guiding force, working to ensure safety and fair competition.

Learn more about the organizations that govern flight

The Civil Aeronautics Board's efforts to limit competition on transcontinental routes were seriously challenged by scores of new airlines that emerged after World War II. These nonscheduled airlines, or "non-skeds," carried cargo and passengers on irregular or charter services. By combining their resources, some non-skeds were able to offer transcontinental service at discount fares, which other airlines were forced to match.

A New Generation of Airliners

Building on the advancements made in the 1930s,  the new airliners introduced after World War II were built with profitable transcontinental air routes in mind. They enabled airlines to carry far more people at greater speeds, while providing unprecedented comfort for passengers and unprecedented profits for airlines. As a result, aircraft manufacturers introduced a new generation of large, four-engine airliners that soon dominated U.S. and international air travel and helped lower fares. The new airliners included the Douglas DC-4, Lockheed's Constellations, the Douglas DC-6, the Douglas DC-7, and the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.

This resin and plastic cutaway manufacturer's model of a Douglas DC-7 Mainliner airliner was built in ca.1955. It features United Air Lines livery of white upper and gray lower surfaces. 

The Douglas DC-7 was an advanced development of the DC-6B piston-engine airliner. It was introduced by American Airlines on its New York–Los Angeles route in November 1953 and was the first airliner to provide nonstop transcontinental service in both directions. The fastest transport aircraft in service, the DC-7 cruised at 580 kilometers (360 miles) per hour. A total of 338 DC-7s of all types were purchased by 18 different airlines.

International Service Expands

Pan American Airways was the nation's sole international airline before World War II, and it was strongly positioned to dominate postwar international service. However, Presidents Roosevelt and Truman both felt it would serve the nation best to have several overseas airlines. So after the war, the Civil Aeronautics Board ended Pan Am's monopoly, and other domestic airlines were allowed to open international routes. 

Transcontinental and Western Air, with its well-developed domestic network and proven record of overseas war service, quickly became a serious competitor to Pan Am. To reflect the airline's new international status, majority shareholder Howard Hughes changed the airline's name to Trans World Airlines.

Learn more about international flight

African Americans could choose to fly, but few did. Many airport facilities were segregated and discrimination was widespread. While the airlines were not legally segregated, airports often were. Throughout the South, inferior airport accommodations discouraged African Americans from flying. Until the Civil Rights movement began to bring about change, air travel remained mostly for white people. 

What was it like to fly?

As flying became more popular and commonplace, the nature of the air travel experience began to change. By the end of the 1950s, America's airlines were bringing a new level of speed, comfort, and efficiency to the traveling public. But as flying became commonplace and jet aircraft began to replace piston-engine airliners, the air travel experience began to change. With the steady increase in passenger traffic, the level of personal service decreased. The stresses of air travel began to replace the thrill. Flying was no longer a novelty or an adventure; it was becoming a necessity.

With airplanes becoming faster and passenger numbers increasing, airlines discontinued their plush sleeper service by the 1950s. Expensive to operate, sleeper service gave way to low-fare night coach service. The coast-to-coast eastbound flights became known as "red eye" specials. Passengers began experiencing physiological problems due to crossing several time zones within a few hours. Shortened or lengthened days or nights upset natural body rhythms and made sleeping difficult. Although later dubbed "jet lag," this was first experienced after long-distance trips on fast piston-engine and turboprop airliners.

The arrival of nonstop transcontinental service meant that major league baseball was no longer restricted to cities within a day's train ride, but could expand into new markets west of the Mississippi.

In 1958 both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers found new homes in California. Even before the move, the Dodgers had acquired a Convair 440 for their use.

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WNBA to begin charter travel for all teams this season

This change in the way wnba players will travel to games will end league’s long-standing policy of mandated regular-season commercial flights..

The WNBA will begin charter travel for all 12 of its teams this season “as soon as we logistically can get planes in places,” Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told sports editors at a league meeting Tuesday afternoon, confirming a report on X by USA TODAY sports columnist Christine Brennan.

This very significant change in the way the world’s best women’s basketball players will travel to games will end the league’s long-standing policy of mandated regular-season commercial flights for its players. 

“We intend to fund a full-time charter for this season,” Engelbert said. "We're going to as soon as we can get it up and running. Maybe it’s a couple weeks, maybe it’s a month … We are really excited for the prospects here.”

The WNBA’s decision comes as the league is seeing unprecedented growth, ticket sales and interest as the most recognizable rookie class in WNBA history, led by Caitlin Clark — arguably the best-known athlete in the nation — begins regular-season play May 14. 

It also comes as Clark and the rest of the WNBA rookies had to take their first commercial flights as professional athletes for preseason games last weekend and be exposed to members of the public walking near them, approaching them and taking photos and videos of them, including in unsecured airport areas. All teams are traveling with security personnel this season. 

"It was all right," Angel Reese said of flying commercial to Minneapolis for last Friday's game against the Minnesota Lynx.

"We have a great security team. Chicago has done a great job being able to put in place some great guys and they've been amazing for us," Reese said before the Sky's preseason game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.

In June 2023, Phoenix star Brittney Griner , who spent nearly 10 months in Russian custody in 2022, was harassed in the Dallas airport by a right-wing YouTube personality who yelled at her and tussled with Phoenix Mercury security in an airport concourse. The WNBA allowed Griner to fly private charters the rest of the season.

This season, the league was already planning to allow teams to charter when playing back-to-back games as well as during the playoffs but otherwise fly commercially. The league hasn’t allowed charter flights over the years because it said that would create a competitive advantage for teams that wanted to pay for them over those that did not. 

Flying commercial has been a part of the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement with its players, which was signed in 2020. Ironically, many WNBA newcomers flew on charters throughout their college careers.

WNBA player reaction

During a call with reporters on Tuesday, New York Liberty stars Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart weighed in on what charter travel would mean to players.

"As we continue to add more games into the season and change the way the Commissioner's Cup is being played this year, it just adds a little bit more travel into our schedules and stuff," Jones said. "If we can try to find some kinds of help with our recovery and, you know, just being able to get rest so that we can put our best product out there on the court."

Stewart agreed with Jones.

"It's exactly that, obviously. Understanding (it’s) player health and wellness but also player safety, and making sure that we can get from point A to point B and have the focus be our jobs and our team," Stewart said.

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who had been an outspoken proponent of adding charter flights after spending eight years as an assistant with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, said the immediate reaction from everyone is "great!"

"This is something that the league has been pushing for for a long time for its players," Hammon said. "I look at it as we can put a better product out there."

Contributing: Roxanna Scott, Christine Brennan , Nancy Armour, Lindsay Schnell

Projected Revenue Increases: How Will Commercial Aviation Fare This Year?

• The commercial aviation industry is projected to grow by over 80% in the next 24 months, but challenges from manufacturer delays could hinder growth.
• Generative AI technology has the potential to transform airline operations by enhancing fuel efficiency, improving the passenger experience, and streamlining maintenance.
• Despite short-term challenges like manufacturer delays and high-interest rates, demand for air travel has surged globally, leading to increased aircraft orders.

In the years following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commercial aviation industry has thrived and experienced rapid growth across several sectors. Despite the many economic challenges, including high-interest rates, energy crisis-induced high jet fuel prices, and general inflation, the industry has overcome these hurdles and experienced consistent growth.

In 2024, commercial aviation's extensive streak of growth is not set to decline in any major capacity, with industry experts projecting growth at rates of over 80% over the next 24 months. However, setbacks primarily related to manufacturer delays, as well as the consistent saga of Boeing 's many challenges, could hamstring the industry as it pushes into the major travel seasons of 2024.

The Top Technological Advancements Driving The Aviation Industry

With nearly a third of the calendar year completed, now is a good time to reflect on how commercial aviation will change in the coming months and what investors can expect from the industry in the remaining months of 2024. In this article, we will take a deeper look at the aviation industry's projected industry growth and what challenges it may face along the way.

The commercial aerospace industry entered a state of decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all-time high revenue numbers recorded about halfway through 2019. However, in 2024, airlines could be set to surpass this mark, heavily assisted by consistent growth throughout 2023.

According to a report from consulting firm Accenture , both Airbus and Boeing did well in 2023, with an 18% and 40% year-over-year rise in revenues, respectively. However, given market challenges, safety incidents, and supply chain issues, it is quite likely that these major manufacturers could encounter weaker commercial performance in 2024.

Industry-adjacent sectors are also thriving, with maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) firms seeing strong success driven by increased demand for repairs and spare parts. Despite challenges, however, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) continue to boost production of both narrow and widebody jets.

Nonetheless, industry leaders are cautious for a number of reasons, most of which stem from continued economic challenges and regional conflict in certain key markets. As a result, the overall outlook for the industry over the next eight months is positive but with an aura of caution. There are some factors that will play a major role in the industry's development throughout the rest of 2024, some of which could significantly alter the way airlines operate today.

Generative AI

Amid technological innovations that have drastically changed the aviation industry, almost all are related to engineering or legal advances that have altered carrier business models. However, the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to transform airline operations cannot be understated.

Wizz Air Leverages Passenger Data And AIWith New Shopping Platform

In February, Simple Flying explored the extensive potential of generative AI to improve both fuel efficiency and the passenger experience. In summary, AI programs can analyze thousands of potential routes and incorporate real-time weather data to identify the optimal path for airliners to take to both capitalize on fuel-friendly winds and reduce turbulence.

The potential for generative AI to enhance the passenger experience does not end with route planning. Such programs can be used to create personalized travel recommendations and other promotions tailored directly to the individual passenger. According to IBM Consulting , AI programs can also improve customer service systems by rapidly addressing customer issues.

Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying!

Integrating AI platforms into operations becomes even more crucial in maintenance, where there is a projected shortage of technicians. According to McKinsey & Company , generative AI can assist by streamlining maintenance operations, helping technicians efficiently locate parts needed for repairs, and diagnosing problems with impressive speed.

Short-term issues

Despite the persistent growth experienced by the aviation industry over the past four years, commercial aerospace continues to experience a number of different short-term issues. Factors relating to both supply and demand have affected the industry, both of which have had positive and negative impacts on different players.

Manufacturer delays have been one of the key factors inhibiting airline growth opportunities, as carriers looking to expand their fleets by purchasing the latest generations of aircraft are in a difficult position, with delivery timelines leaving them awaiting new jets for the better part of a decade. Airlines have also been forced to contend with record-high interest rates, which drastically increase the cost of capital and encourage carriers with shallower pockets away from purchasing new aircraft, according to consulting firm KPMG .

One kind of sector, however, has thrived in this environment and is set to continue growing. Aircraft lessors, the largest of which include AerCap and the Air Lease Corporation (ALC), have seen demand for short-term leases rapidly outpace supply, leaving them with healthy bottom lines .

Why Aircraft Lessors Are Winning Despite High Interest Rates

Airlines do have the alternative, however, of keeping older aircraft in service. This comes with weaker fuel efficiency and higher maintenance costs. For some airlines with well-established maintenance networks, like the Lufthansa Group, this can prove the better financial option. Across the board, however, airlines with shallower pockets are turning to lessors to satisfy short-term capacity needs, converting the cost of aircraft from a capital expense to an operating cost.

Record surge in demand

Despite the consistent challenges faced by manufacturers, the rising cost of airline fares, and the post-pandemic reduction in business traffic, air travel demand has continued to rise. However, there have been regional discrepancies in the robust rise in passenger numbers.

Only in Asia-Pacific have current passenger numbers finally exceeded those from 2019, something which has pushed carriers to order more aircraft from manufacturers and procure additional jets from lessors. In both North America and Europe, airlines are operating more flights than ever, and have placed massive orders for aircraft that have resulted in production ramp-ups for both Airbus and Boeing.

Get all the latest aviation news for North America here!

The increased demand for air travel has a few major reasons, some of which economists still cite the pandemic for guidance. Built-up savings that remain from the pandemic, as well as a large population of early retirees, have contributed to more demand on key leisure routes. Furthermore, record-low unemployment and the expansion of popular loyalty programs have given passengers the financial resources to save up for their next trip, whether in cash or in miles earned by spending on co-branded credit cards.