The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines and the social and cultural changes fostered by commercial jet travel.
57-530: Jet airliners were able to fly higher, faster, and farther than older piston ‑powered propliners , making transcontinental and intercontinental travel considerably faster and easier. Aircraft leaving North America and crossing the Atlantic Ocean (and later, the Pacific Ocean ) could now fly to their destinations non-stop, making much of the world accessible within a single day's travel for
114-631: A jumbo jet , is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft). In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers. Seven-abreast aircraft typically seat 160 to 260 passengers, eight-abreast 250 to 380, nine- and ten-abreast 350 to 480. The largest wide-body aircraft are over 6 m (20 ft) wide, and can accommodate up to eleven passengers abreast in high-density configurations. By comparison,
171-528: A different approach and started development of the 787 in 2003 with a new composite frame and more fuel-efficient engines. This would prove to be the smarter choice as the lighter airframe paired with two next generation engines ( Trent 1000 and GEnx ) was much less costly to operate then the quad engine A380. The final blow to the A380 program came when Emirates cancelled a major order in 2018 and left Airbus without enough demand to continue production. It cancelled
228-626: A fan diameter of 290 centimetres (116 in), slightly smaller than the GE90 engines on the Boeing 777. The Trent 900 is designed to fit into a Boeing 747-400F freighter for easier transport by air cargo . The interiors of aircraft, known as the aircraft cabin , have been undergoing evolution since the first passenger aircraft. Today, between one and four classes of travel are available on wide-body aircraft. Bar and lounge areas which were once installed on wide-body aircraft have mostly disappeared, but
285-524: A few have returned in first class or business class on the Airbus A340-600 , Boeing 777-300ER , and on the Airbus A380. Emirates has installed showers for first-class passengers on the A380; twenty-five minutes are allotted for use of the room, and the shower operates for a maximum of five minutes. Depending on how the airline configures the aircraft, the size and seat pitch of
342-610: A jet aircraft has confirmed one opinion I had formed after flying as a passenger in the Lancastrian jet test beds, that few, if any, having flown in a jet-propelled transport, will wish to revert to the noise, vibration and attendant fatigue of an airscrew-propelled piston-engined aircraft" The first purpose-built jet airliner was the British de Havilland Comet which first flew in 1949 and entered service in 1952 with BOAC. It carried 36 passengers up to 2500 miles (4000 km) at
399-602: A second aisle, the wider aircraft could accommodate as many as 10 seats across, but could also be easily converted to a freighter and carry two eight-by-eight freight pallets abreast. The engineers also opted for creating "stretched" versions of the DC-8 (61, 62 and 63 models), as well as longer versions of Boeing's 707 (-320B and 320C models) and 727 (-200 model); and Douglas' DC-9 (-30, -40, and -50 models), all of which were capable of accommodating more seats than their shorter predecessor versions. The wide-body age began in 1970 with
456-522: A speed of 450mph (725 km/h). Serious structural problems arose not even two years after entering service and prompted several changes in design. The last original Comet was retrofitted in 1958. Also developed in 1949 was the Avro Canada C102 Jetliner , which never reached production; however, the term jetliner came into use as a generic term for passenger jet aircraft. These first jet airliners were followed some years later by
513-536: A superior product: American Airlines ordered the pioneering Comet (but later cancelled when the Comet ran into metal fatigue problems), Canadian, British and European airlines could not ignore the better operating economics of the Boeing 707 and the DC-8, while some American airlines ordered the Caravelle. Boeing became the most successful of the early manufacturers. The KC-135 Stratotanker and military versions of
570-504: A twinjet. Most modern wide-body aircraft have two engines, although the heaviest wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8, are built with four engines. The upcoming Boeing 777X-9 twinjet is approaching the capacity of the earlier Boeing 747. The Boeing 777 twinjet features the most powerful jet engine, the General Electric GE90 . The early variants have a fan diameter of 312 centimetres (123 in), and
627-562: A typical narrow-body aircraft has a diameter of 3 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft), with a single aisle, and seats between two and six people abreast. Wide-body aircraft were originally designed for a combination of efficiency and passenger comfort and to increase the amount of cargo space. However, airlines quickly gave in to economic factors, and reduced the extra passenger space in order to insert more seats and increase revenue and profits. Wide-body aircraft are also used by commercial cargo airlines , along with other specialized uses. By
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#1732766114361684-564: Is that the jet age began with the invention of the jet engine in the 1930s and 1940s. In the history of military aviation it began in 1944 with the introduction into service of the Arado Ar 234 reconnaissance bomber and the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter during World War II . In commercial aviation, the jet age was introduced to Britain in 1952 with the first scheduled flight of the de Havilland Comet airliner and to America later in
741-524: The BAC One-Eleven and Douglas DC-9 twinjets ; Boeing 727 , Hawker Siddeley Trident and Tupolev Tu-154 trijets ; and the paired multi-engined Ilyushin Il-62 , and Vickers VC10 . The world-renowned supersonic Concorde first flew in 1969 but proved to be an economical disaster. Only 14 ever entered service, and the last Concorde was retired in 2003. The 1960s jet airliners were known for
798-725: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB . The proposed Comac C929 and C939 may also share this new wide-body market. The production of the large Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380 four-engine, long-haul jets has come to an end as airlines are now preferring the smaller, more efficient Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 twin-engine, long-range airliners. Although wide-body aircraft have larger frontal areas (and thus greater form drag ) than narrow-body aircraft of similar capacity, they have several advantages over their narrow-body counterparts, such as: British and Russian designers had proposed wide-body aircraft similar in configuration to
855-750: The Sud Aviation Caravelle from France, the Tupolev Tu-104 from the Soviet Union (2nd in service), and the Boeing 707 , Douglas DC-8 and Convair 880 from the United States. National prestige was attached to developing prototypes and bringing these early designs into service. There was also a strong nationalism in purchasing policy, so that US Boeing and Douglas aircraft became closely associated with Pan Am , while BOAC ordered British Comets. Pan Am and BOAC, with
912-520: The Tu-114 (first flight 1957). This airliner was able to match or even exceed the speed, capacity and range of contemporary jets, but such powerplants were only used in large airframes for military planes after 1976. The introduction of the Concorde supersonic transport (SST) airliner to regular service in 1976 was expected to further revolutionize air travel by shortening travel times dramatically, but
969-542: The Tupolev Tu-144 , have been superseded. The 1970s jet airliners introduced wide-body (twin-aisle) craft and high-bypass turbofan engines . Pan Am and Boeing "again opened a new era in commercial aviation" when the first Boeing 747 entered service in January 1970, marking the debut of the high-bypass turbofan which lowered operating costs, and the initial models which could seat up to 400 passengers earned it
1026-743: The United States , it is a requirement to suffix the aircraft's call sign with the word heavy (or super ) when communicating with air traffic control in certain areas. Wide-body aircraft are used in science, research, and the military. Some wide-body aircraft are used as flying command posts by the military like the Ilyushin Il-80 or the Boeing E-4 , while the Boeing E-767 is used for airborne early warning and control . New military weapons are tested aboard wide-bodies, as in
1083-567: The Vickers VC10 and Douglas DC-9 , but with a wide-body fuselage. The British BAC Three-Eleven project did not proceed due to lack of government backing, while the Russian Ilyushin Il-86 wide-body proposal eventually gave way to a more conventional wing-mounted engine design, most likely due to the inefficiencies of mounting such large engines on the aft fuselage. As jet engine power and reliability have increased over
1140-411: The airline seats will vary significantly. For example, aircraft scheduled for shorter flights are often configured at a higher seat density than long-haul aircraft. Due to current economic pressures on the airline industry, high seating densities in the economy class cabin are likely to continue. In some of the largest single-deck wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 777, the extra space above
1197-561: The wake turbulence they produce. Because wake turbulence is generally related to the weight of an aircraft, these categories are based on one of four weight categories: light, medium, heavy, and super. Due to their weight, all current wide-body aircraft are categorized as " heavy ", or in the case of the A380 in U.S. airspace, "super". The wake-turbulence category also is used to guide the separation of aircraft. Super- and heavy-category aircraft require greater separation behind them than those in other categories. In some countries, such as
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#17327661143611254-543: The 1950s, used the simpler turbojet engine; these were quickly supplanted by designs using turbofans , which are quieter and more fuel-efficient. The first airliners with turbojet propulsion were experimental conversions of the Avro Lancastrian piston-engined airliner, which were flown with several types of early jet engine, including the de Havilland Ghost and the Rolls-Royce Nene . They retained
1311-422: The 1960s, but these projects were eventually abandoned for various developmental, cost, and other practical reasons. The term "Jet Age" was coined in the late 1940s. At the time, the only jet-powered aircraft in production were military types, most of which were fighters. The expression reflects the recognition that the jet engine had effected, or would soon, a profound change in aeronautics and aviation. One view
1368-499: The 1960s, it was also believed that supersonic airliners would succeed larger, slower planes. Thus, it was believed that most subsonic aircraft would become obsolete for passenger travel and would be eventually converted to freighters. As a result, airline manufacturers opted for a wider fuselage rather than a taller one (the 747 , and eventually the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar ). By adding
1425-406: The 707 and DC-8 seated passengers along either side of a single aisle, with no more than six seats per row. Larger aircraft would have to be longer, higher ( double-deck aircraft ), or wider in order to accommodate a greater number of passenger seats. Engineers realized having two decks created difficulties in meeting emergency evacuation regulations with the technology available at that time. During
1482-679: The 707 began service on the New York to Paris route on October 26, 1958, with Pan American , 1959 became the first year that more transatlantic passengers traveled by air than by sea. As the number of passengers soared, it became impractical to increase the number of aircraft flying from the major hub airports . International airports like that of Orly Airport in Paris, France would construct terminals around bag-check and customs processing efficiency in response to rising passenger numbers. Instead, designers created even larger widebody airliners and
1539-484: The 707 remain operational, mostly as tankers or freighters . The basic configuration of the Boeing, Convair and Douglas aircraft jet airliner designs, with widely spaced podded engines underslung on pylons beneath a swept wing, proved to be the most common arrangement and was most easily compatible with the large-diameter high-bypass turbofan engines that subsequently prevailed for reasons of quietness and fuel efficiency . The Pratt & Whitney JT3 turbojets powered
1596-534: The 767 on long-distance overseas routes that did not require the capacity of larger airliners. By the late 1980s, DC-10 and L-1011 models were approaching retirement age, prompting manufacturers to develop replacement designs. McDonnell Douglas started working on the MD-11 , a stretched and upgraded successor of the DC-10. Airbus, thanks to the success of its A320 family, developed the medium-range A330 twinjet and
1653-498: The Boeing 747 was not surpassed until October 2007, when the Airbus A380 entered commercial service with the nickname "Superjumbo". Both the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 "jumbo jets" have four engines each (quad-jets), but the upcoming Boeing 777X ("mini jumbo jet") is a twinjet. In the mid-2000s, rising oil costs in a post- 9/11 climate caused airlines to look towards newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Two such examples are
1710-590: The DC-10-based Tanker 910 and the 747-200 -based Evergreen Supertanker . Some wide-body aircraft are used as VIP transport. To transport those holding the highest offices, Canada uses the Airbus A310 , while Russia uses the Ilyushin Il-96 . Germany replaced its Airbus A310 with an Airbus A340 in spring 2011. Specially-modified Boeing 747-200s ( Boeing VC-25s ) are used to transport
1767-435: The advancement of the more economical turbofan technology, which passes air around the engine core instead of through it. Jet airliners that entered service in the 1960s were powered by slim, low-bypass turbofan engines, many aircraft used the rear-engined, T-tail configuration, such as the BAC One-Eleven , Boeing 737 , and Douglas DC-9 twinjets ; Boeing 727 , Hawker Siddeley Trident , Tupolev Tu-154 trijets ; and
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1824-643: The aircraft never found commercial success. After two and a half decades of service, Concorde flights were discontinued in 2003 after a fatal crash near Paris in July 2000 and other factors. This was the only loss of an SST in civilian service. Only one other SST design was used in a civilian capacity, the Soviet era Tu-144 , but it was soon withdrawn due to high maintenance and other issues. McDonnell Douglas , Lockheed and Boeing were three U.S. manufacturers that had originally planned to develop various SST designs since
1881-601: The aircraft to Aeroflot. However, in 1976 the Soviet Union launched its own first four-engined wide-body, the Ilyushin Il-86 . After the success of the early wide-body aircraft, several subsequent designs came to market over the next two decades, including the Boeing 767 and 777 , the Airbus A330 and Airbus A340 , and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 . In the "jumbo" category, the capacity of
1938-417: The cabin is used for crew rest areas and galley storage. The term "jumbo jet" usually refers to the largest variants of wide-body airliners; examples include the Boeing 747 (the first wide-body and original "jumbo jet"), Airbus A380 ("superjumbo jet"), and Boeing 777-9 . The phrase "jumbo jet" derives from Jumbo , a circus elephant in the 19th century. Aircraft are categorized by ICAO according to
1995-407: The core, then the engines may be shipped on a Boeing 747 Freighter. The General Electric GE9X , powering the Boeing 777X, is wider than the GE90 by 15 centimetres (6 in). The 560 tonnes (1,230,000 lb) maximum takeoff weight of the Airbus A380 would not have been possible without the engine technology developed for the Boeing 777 such as contra-rotating spools. Its Trent 900 engine has
2052-478: The decade with the first American-built jet airliners. The British de Havilland Comet was the first jet airliner to fly (1949), the first in service (1952), and the first to offer a regular transatlantic service (1958). One hundred and fourteen of all versions were built. However, the first jet airliner to provide a sustained and dependable service was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-104 (201 built) which
2109-474: The early postwar years, the increasing use of jet aircraft had little significant impact, serving mainly to continue the slow but steady improvements in performance seen in the past. Supersonic flight brought about a step change in aircraft performance. The Bell X-1 , first to break the sound barrier in level flight, was an experimental rocket-powered type, and production jets which followed it into service could fly little faster. The first jet aircraft designed from
2166-475: The end of 2017, nearly 8,800 wide-body airplanes had been delivered since 1969, with production peaking at 412 in 2015. Following the success of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 in the late 1950s and early 1960s, airlines began seeking larger aircraft to meet the rising global demand for air travel. Engineers were faced with many challenges as airlines demanded more passenger seats per aircraft, longer ranges and lower operating costs. Early jet aircraft such as
2223-461: The engine manufacturers responded with larger, more powerful and also more fuel-efficient engines. The first "jumbo jet" was the Boeing 747 , and it both increased airport passenger capacity and reduced the cost of air travel, further accelerating the social changes brought about by the Jet Age. Military aviation had entered the jet age somewhat earlier, during the closing stages of World War II. In
2280-681: The entry into service of the first wide-body airliner, the four-engined, partial double-deck Boeing 747 . New trijet wide-body aircraft soon followed, including the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the L-1011 TriStar. The first wide-body twinjet , the Airbus A300 , entered service in 1974. This period came to be known as the "wide-body wars". L-1011 TriStars were demonstrated in the USSR in 1974, as Lockheed sought to sell
2337-454: The first time. Large jetliners could carry more passengers than piston-powered airliners, which caused air fares to decline and opened international travel to a broader range of socioeconomic groups. In addition to pure jet engines, turbine-driven propeller engines delivered a smoother ride and better fuel efficiency . One exception to jet-powered domination by large airliners was the contra-rotating propellers turboprop design that powered
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2394-488: The help of advertising agencies and their strong nautical traditions of command hierarchy and chain of command (retained from their days of operating flying boats ), were quick to link the "speed of jets" with the safety and security of the "luxury of ocean liners " in the public 's perception . Aeroflot used Soviet Tupolevs , while Air France introduced French Caravelles . Commercial realities dictated exceptions, however, as few airlines could risk missing out on
2451-463: The larger GE90-115B has a fan diameter of 325 centimetres (128 in). This is almost as wide as the 3.30 metres (130 in) Fokker 100 fuselage. Complete GE90 engines can only be ferried by outsize cargo aircraft such as the Antonov An-124 , presenting logistics problems if a 777 is stranded in a place due to emergency diversions without the proper spare parts. If the fan is removed from
2508-475: The laser weapons testing on the Boeing YAL-1 . Other wide-body aircraft are used as flying research stations, such as the joint German–U.S. Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Airbus A340, Airbus A380, and Boeing 747 four-engine wide-body aircraft are used to test new generations of aircraft engines in flight. A few aircraft have also been converted for aerial firefighting , such as
2565-493: The last decades, most of the wide-body aircraft built today have only two engines. A twinjet design is more fuel-efficient than a trijet or quadjet of similar size. The increased reliability of modern jet engines also allows aircraft to meet the ETOPS certification standard, which calculates reasonable safety margins for flights across oceans. The trijet design was dismissed due to higher maintenance and fuel costs compared to
2622-402: The latest widebody airliners are the Airbus A380 (first flight in 2005), Boeing 787 (first flight in 2009) and Airbus A350 (first flight in 2013). These improvements allowed longer ranges and lower cost of transportation per passenger. Sukhoi Superjet 100 and Airbus A220 (formerly Bombardier CSeries) are examples of narrowbodies with similar level of technological advancements. The A380
2679-709: The nature of military strategy during the Cold War . Jet airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft ). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly classified as either the large wide-body aircraft , medium narrow-body aircraft and smaller regional jet . Most airliners today are powered by jet engines, because they are capable of safely operating at high speeds and generate sufficient thrust to power large-capacity aircraft. The first jetliners, introduced in
2736-406: The nickname "Jumbo Jet". The Boeing 747 revolutionized air travel by making commercial air travel more affordable as ticket prices fell and airlines improved their pricing practices. Other wide-body designs included the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar trijets , smaller than the Boeing 747 but capable of flying similar long-range routes from airports with shorter runways. There
2793-528: The original Boeing 707 and DC-8 models; in the early 1960s the JT3 was modified into the JT3D low-bypass turbofan for long-range 707 and DC-8 variants. The de Havilland and Tupolev designs had engines incorporated within the wings next to the fuselage , a concept that endured only within military designs while the Caravelle pioneered engines mounted either side of the rear fuselage. The 1960s jet airliners include
2850-619: The outset for supersonic flight was the British Fairey Delta 2 . On March 10, 1956, it became the first aircraft to fly faster than 1,000 miles per hour, heralding an era of "fast jets" typically limited to a speed of Mach 2.2 by the engineering materials available. As jets became faster, their armament changed from guns to missiles. Avionics systems became more complex with radar, fire-control and other systems. Aircraft became larger and more expensive, and so were required to do more to make them economical. All this profoundly affected
2907-499: The paired multi-engined Ilyushin Il-62 , and Vickers VC10 . The rear-engined T-tail arrangement is still used for jetliners with a maximum takeoff weight of less than 50 tons. As of April 2023, 15,591 Boeing 737s have been ordered and 11,395 delivered, and it remains the most produced jet aircraft. Other 1960s developments, such as rocket-assisted takeoff ( RATO ), water-injection , and afterburners (also known as reheat) used on supersonic jetliners (SSTs) such as Concorde and
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#17327661143612964-403: The program after realizing it would never recoup the €25 billon ($ 30 billion) spent on research and development . In all, 251 A380s were produced for and flown by 14 airlines. As of June 2023, Boeing has produced 1,054 787s for 34 airlines and has 592 unfulfilled orders. Wide-body aircraft A wide-body aircraft , also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as
3021-487: The related long-range A340 quad-jet. In 1988, Boeing began developing what would be the 777 twinjet, using the twin-engine configuration given past design successes, projected engine developments, and reduced-cost benefits. In addition, Boeing also released a major update on their 747, the 747-400 . The most modern airliners are characterized by increased use of composite materials, high-bypass ratio turbofan engines, and more advanced digital flight systems. Examples of
3078-567: The two inboard piston engines, the jets being housed in the outboard nacelles. The first airliner with jet power only was the Nene-powered Vickers VC.1 Viking G-AJPH , which first flew on 6 April 1948. The early jet airliners had much lower interior levels of noise and vibration than contemporary piston-engined aircraft, so much so that in 1947, after piloting a jet powered aircraft for the first time, Wing Commander Maurice A. Smith, editor of Flight magazine, said, "Piloting
3135-713: Was also the market debut of the European consortium Airbus , whose first aircraft was the twinjet Airbus A300 . In 1978, Boeing unveiled the twin-engine Boeing 757 to replace its 727 , and the wide body twin-engine 767 to challenge the Airbus A300 . The mid-size 757 and 767 launched to market success, due in part to 1980s extended-range twin-engine operational performance standards ( ETOPS ) regulations governing transoceanic twinjet operations. These regulations allowed twin-engine airliners to make ocean crossings at up to three hours' distance from emergency diversionary airports . Under ETOPS rules, airlines began operating
3192-542: Was discontinued in 2019 and the last plane was delivered to Emirates in 2021. Airbus began designing it in the 90s with the expectation that airlines would be moving many people between large hubs with just one flight. Their focus was on building a very large plane with a conventional metal airframe and engines to supersede the Boeing 747 . However, airlines started to operate more direct, point-to-point flights between smaller cities which made twin engine jets more attractive and economical to operate. For comparison, Boeing took
3249-507: Was the only jet airliner in operation worldwide between 1956 and 1958 (the Comet having been withdrawn in 1954 due to structural failure issues). The Comet and Tu-104 were later outstripped in production by the United States' Boeing 707 (which entered service in 1958) and Douglas DC-8 , which joined it in the skies over the next few years. Other types of the period included the French Sud Aviation Caravelle . After
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