An airliner is a type of
airplane
An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
for transporting
passengers and
air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
s. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and
jet powered aircraft. The largest of them are
wide-body jets which are also called twin-aisle because they generally have two separate aisles running from the front to the back of the passenger cabin. These are usually used for
long-haul flights between
airline hub
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the s ...
s and major cities. A smaller, more common class of airliners is the
narrow-body
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast airline seat, seating in a aircraft cabin, cabin less than in width.
In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner ...
or single-aisle. These are generally used for short to medium-distance flights with fewer passengers than their wide-body counterparts.
Regional airliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and may be powered by
turbofans or
turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
s. These airliners are the non-
mainline counterparts to the larger aircraft operated by the major carriers,
legacy carriers, and
flag carriers, and are used to feed traffic into the large airline hubs. These regional routes then form the spokes of a hub-and-spoke air transport model.
The lightest aircraft are short-haul regional feeder airliner type aircraft that carry a small number of passengers are called commuter aircraft, commuterliners, feederliners, and
air taxi
An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand.
History
The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
s, depending on their size, engines, how they are marketed, region of the world, and seating configurations. The
Beechcraft 1900
The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...
, for example, has only 19 seats.
History
Emergence
When the
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
made the world's first sustained
heavier-than-air flight
The history of aviation spans over two millennia, from the earliest innovations like kites and attempts at tower jumping to Supersonic speed, supersonic and hypersonic flight in powered, heavier-than-air flight, heavier-than-air jet aircraft. ...
, they laid the foundation for what would become a major transport industry. Their flight, performed in the
Wright Flyer
The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Wrigh ...
during 1903,
was just 11 years before what is often defined as the world's first airliner.
[Tise, Larry E. Conquering the Sky. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009. Print.] By the 1960s, airliners had expanded capabilities, making a significant impact on global society, economics, and politics.
[Bernardo, James V. Aviation and Space: In the Modern World. New York: E.P. Dutton. 1968.]
During 1913,
Igor Sikorsky developed the first large multi-engine airplane, the
Russky Vityaz. This aircraft was subsequently refined into the more practical
Ilya Muromets, being furnished with dual controls for a pilot and copilot and a comfortable
cabin with a lavatory, cabin heating and lighting.
[
This large four-engine biplane was further adapted into an early bomber aircraft, preceding subsequent transport and bomber aircraft.]
It first flew on 10 December 1913 and took off for its first demonstration flight with 16 passengers aboard on 25 February 1914.
However, it was never used as a commercial airliner due to the onset of the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
which led to military applications being prioritised.
Interwar period
In 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War, large numbers of ex-military aircraft flooded the market. One such aircraft was the French Farman F.60 Goliath, which had originally been designed as a long-range heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
; a number were converted for commercial use into passenger airliners starting in 1919, being able to accommodate a maximum of 14 seated passengers. and around 60 were built. Initially, several publicity flights were made, including one on 8 February 1919, when the Goliath flew 12 passengers from Toussus-le-Noble to RAF Kenley
Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley, is a former List of former Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the Royal Air Force, RAF in the Second World War. It played a significa ...
, near Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, despite having no permission from the British authorities to land. Dozens of early airlines subsequently procured the type. One high-profile flight, made on 11 August 1919, involved an F.60 flying eight passengers and a ton of supplies from Paris via Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
and Mogador
Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014.
The foundation of the city of Essao ...
to Koufa, north of Saint-Louis, Senegal, flying more than .
Another important airliner built in 1919 was the Airco DH.16; a redesigned Airco DH.9A with a wider fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
to accommodate an enclosed cabin seating four passengers, plus pilot in an open cockpit. In March 1919, the prototype first flew at Hendon Aerodrome. Nine aircraft were built, all but one being delivered to the nascent airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel
Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, also known as AT&T was a British airline formed during the First World War, a subsidiary of Airco. It was the first airline to operate a regular international flight (between London and Paris). It is the ...
, which used the first aircraft for pleasure flying, and on 25 August 1919, it inaugurated the first scheduled international airline service from London to Paris.[Jackson 1973, p .62.] One aircraft was sold to the River Plate Aviation Company in Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, to operate a cross-river service between Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
and Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
.
Meanwhile, the competing Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
converted its successful First World War era bomber, the Vickers Vimy, into a civilian version, the Vimy Commercial. It was redesigned with a larger-diameter fuselage (largely of spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
plywood), and first flew from the Joyce Green airfield in Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
on 13 April 1919.[Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 95.][Jackson 1988, p. 202.]
The world's first all-metal transport aircraft was the Junkers F.13, which also made its first flight in 1919. Junkers marketed the aircraft towards business travellers and commercial operators, and European entrepreneurs bought examples for their private use and business trips. Over 300 Junkers F 13s were built between 1919 and 1932.
The Dutch Fokker
Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...
company produced the Fokker F.II
The Fokker F.II was the first of a long series of commercial aircraft from the Fokker Aircraft Company, flying in 1919. In a biplane age, it presented a distinct clean, high-wing monoplane style that sold successfully across Europe and North Amer ...
, then the enlarged F.III. These were used by the Dutch airline KLM, including on its Amsterdam-London service in 1921. A relatively reliable aircraft for the era, the Fokkers were flying to destinations across Europe, including Bremen, Brussels, Hamburg, and Paris.
The Handley Page company in Britain produced the Handley Page Type W, its first civil transport aircraft. It housed two crew in an open cockpit and 15 passengers in an enclosed cabin. Powered by two Napier Lion
The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 engine, W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept ...
engines, the prototype first flew on 4 December 1919, shortly after it was displayed at the 1919 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. It was ordered by the Belgian firm Sabena, a further ten Type Ws were produced under license in Belgium by SABCA. In 1921 the Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
ordered three aircraft, built as the W.8b, for use by Handley Page Transport, and later by Imperial Airways, on services to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
.
In France, the Bleriot-SPAD S.33 was introduced during the early 1920s. It was commercially successful, initially serving the Paris-London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
route, and later on continental routes. The enclosed cabin could carry four passengers with an extra seat in the cockpit. It was further developed into the Blériot-SPAD S.46. Throughout the 1920s, companies in Britain and France were at the forefront of the civil airliner industry.
By 1921, the capacity of airliners needed to be increased to achieve more favourable economics. The English company de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...
, built the 10-passenger DH.29 monoplane,[Jackson 1973, .] while starting work on the design of the DH.32, an eight-seater biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
with a more economical but less powerful Rolls-Royce Eagle engine.[Jackson 1987, pp. 508–525.] For more capacity, DH.32 development was replaced by the DH.34 biplane, accommodating 10 passengers. A commercially successful aircraft, Daimler Airway ordered a batch of nine.
The Ford Trimotor
The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...
had two engines mounted on the wings and one in the nose, and a slabsided body, it carried eight passengers and was produced from 1925 to 1933. It was an important early airliner in America. It was used by the predecessor to Trans World Airlines, and by other airlines long after production ceased. The Trimotor helped to popularise numerous aspects of modern aviation infrastructure, including paved runway
In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
s, passenger terminals, hangars, airmail, and radio navigation
Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio waves to geolocalization, determine a position of an object on the Earth, either the vessel or an obstruction. Like radiolocation, it is a type of Radiodetermination-satellite servi ...
.[Herrick, Greg A. ''fordtri-motor.com'', Yellowstone Aviation, Inc (Jackson, Wyoming), 2004. Retrieved: 4 April 2019.] Pan Am opened up transoceanic service in the late 1920s and early 1930s, based on a series of large seaplanes – the Sikorsky S-38 through Sikorsky S-42.[Daley, Robert, An American Saga, 1980, Random House, New York, , pp. 103-110.]
By the 1930s, the airliner industry had matured and large consolidated national airlines were established with regular international services that spanned the globe, including Imperial Airways in Britain, Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
in Germany, KLM in the Netherlands, and United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
in America. Multi-engined aircraft were now capable of transporting dozens of passengers in comfort.
During the 1930s, the British de Havilland Dragon emerged as a short-haul, low-capacity airliner. Its relatively simple design could carry six passengers, each with of luggage, on the London-Paris route on a fuel consumption of 13 gal (49 L) per hour. The DH.84 Dragon entered worldwide service. During early August 1934, one performed the first non-stop flight between the Canadian mainland and Britain in 30 hours 55 minutes, although the intended destination had originally been Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
in Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
.[Lewis 1971, p. 265.] British production of the Dragon ended in favour of the de Havilland Dragon Rapide, a faster and more comfortable successor.[Moss 1966, p. 3.]
By November 1934, series production of the Dragon Rapide had commenced.[Moss 1966, p. 4.] De Havilland invested into advanced features including elongated rear windows, cabin heating, thickened wing tips, and a strengthened airframe for a higher gross weight of .[Moss 1966, p. 5.] Later aircraft were amongst the first airliners to be fitted with flaps for improved landing performance, along with downwards-facing recognition light and metal propellers, which were often retrofitted to older aircraft.[Moss 1966, p. 6.] It was also used in military roles;[Moss 1966, p. 4.] civil Dragon Rapides were impressed into military service during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.[Moss 1966, pp. 6-7.]
Metal airliners came into service in the 1930s. In the United States, the Boeing 247,["Model 247 Commercial Transport."](_blank)
''boeing.com,'' 2009. Retrieved: 14 June 2010. and the 14-passenger Douglas DC-2, flew during the first half of the decade, while the more powerful, faster, 21–32 passenger Douglas DC-3 first appeared in 1935. DC-3s were produced in quantity for the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and were sold as surplus afterward, becoming widespread within the commercial sector. It was one of first airliners to be profitable without the support of postal or government subsidies.
Long-haul flights were expanded during the 1930s as Pan American Airways and Imperial Airways competed on transatlantic travel using fleets of flying boats, such as the British Short Empire and the American Boeing 314.[Bogash, Robert A]
"In Search of an Icon: The Hunt for a Boeing B-314 Flying Boat, Pan American NC18601 – the Honolulu Clipper"
''rbogash.com.'' Retrieved: 31 July 2011. Imperial Airways' order for 28 Empire flying boats was viewed by some as a bold gamble. At the time, flying boats were the only practical means of building aircraft of such size and weight as land-based aircraft would have unfeasibly poor field performance.[Norris 1966, p. 3.] One Boeing 314, registration NC18602, became the first commercial plane to circumnavigate the globe during December 1941 and January 1942.
The postwar era
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Brabazon Committee was formed in 1942 under John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara to forecast advances in aviation technology and the air transport needs of the postwar British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
(in South Asia, Africa, and the Near and Far East
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
) and Commonwealth (Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
).[Masefield and Gunston, 2002, p. 82.][Phipp 2007, p. 17.] For British use, multi-engine aircraft types were allegedly split between the US for military transport aircraft
A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...
and the UK for heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
s. That such a policy was suggested or implemented have been disputed, at least by Sir Peter Masefield.[Masefield and Gunston, 2002, p. 97.] British aircraft manufacturers were tied up to fulfill military requirements, and had no free capacity to address other matters though the war.
The committee final report pushed four designs for the state-owned airlines British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...
(BOAC) and later British European Airways (BEA): three piston-powered aircraft of varying sizes, and a jet-powered 100-seat design at the request of Geoffrey de Havilland
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. De Havilland, The aircraft company he founded produced the de Havilland Mosquit ...
, involved in the first jet fighters development.
After a brief contest, the Type I design was given to the Bristol Aeroplane Company, building on a "100 ton bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes
air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles.
There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...
" submission.[Barnes 1964, pp. 324-325.] This evolved into the Bristol Brabazon but this project folded in 1951 as BOAC lost interest and the first aircraft needed a costly wing re-design to accommodate the Bristol Proteus
The Bristol Proteus was the Bristol Engine Company's first mass-produced gas turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered just over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). The Proteus was a reverse-flow gas turbine. Because the second turbine drov ...
engine.[Phipp 2007, pp. 67-69.]
The Type II was split between the de Havilland Dove and Airspeed Ambassador conventional piston designs,[Phipp 2007, pp. 75-77.] and the Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
model powered by newly developed turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
s: first flown in 1948, the VC.2 Viceroy was the first turboprop design to enter service;[Phipp 2007, p. 81.] a commercial success with 445 Viscounts built.[Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 537.] The Type III requirement led to the conventional Avro Tudor and the more ambitious Bristol Britannia, although both aircraft suffered protracted developments,[Barnes 1964, pp. 347-348.] with the latter entering service with BOAC in February 1957, over seven years following its order.[Phipp 2007, pp. 105-109.]
The jet-powered Type IV became the de Havilland Comet in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wings, a pressurised fuselage, and large square windows. On 2 May 1952, the Comet took off on the world's first jetliner flight carrying fare-paying passengers and simultaneously inaugurated scheduled service between London and Johannesburg.["On This Day: Comet inaugurates the jet age."]
''BBC News,'' 2 May 1952. Retrieved 26 April 2012.[Cookman, Aubrey O. Jr]
"I Rode The First Jet Airliner."
''Popular Mechanics'', July 1952, pp. 90–94. Retrieved 26 April 2012. However, roughly one year after introduction, three Comets broke up mid-flight due to airframe metal fatigue, not well understood at the time. The Comet was grounded and tested to discover the cause, while rival manufacturers heeded the lessons learned while developing their own aircraft. The improved Comet 2 and the prototype Comet 3 culminated in the redesigned Comet 4 series which debuted in 1958 and had a productive career over 30 years, but sales never fully recovered.[Phipp 2007, pp. 93-97.][Jackson 1987, pp. 464-465.]
By the 1960s, the UK had lost the airliner market to the US due to the Comet disaster and a smaller domestic market, not regained by later designs like the BAC 1-11, Vickers VC10, and Hawker Siddeley Trident. The STAC committee was formed to consider supersonic designs and worked with Bristol to create the Bristol 223, a 100-passenger transatlantic airliner. The effort was later merged with similar efforts in France to create the Concorde supersonic airliner to share the cost.
United States
The first batch of the Douglas DC-4s went to the U.S. Army and Air Forces, and was named the C-54 Skymaster. Some ex-military DC-6s were later converted into airliners, with both passenger and cargo versions flooding the market shortly after the war's end. Douglas also developed a pressurized version of the DC-4, which it designated the Douglas DC-6. Rival company Lockheed produced the Constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
, a triple-tailed aircraft with a wider fuselage than the DC-4.
The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was based on the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, it had a double deck and a pressurized fuselage.
Convair produced the Convair 240
The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...
, a 40-person pressurized airplane; 566 examples flew. Convair later developed the Convair 340, which was slightly larger and could accommodate between 44 and 52 passengers, of which 311 were produced. The firm also commenced work on the Convair 37, a relatively large double-deck airliner that would have served transcontinent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
al routes; however, the project was abandoned due to a lack of customer demand and its high development costs.
Rival planes include the Martin 2-0-2 and Martin 4-0-4, but the 2-0-2 had safety concerns and was unpressurized, while the 4-0-4 only sold around 100 units.[ Jarrett, Philip. eds. Modern Air Transport: Worldwide Air Transport from 1945 to the Present. London: Putnam, 2000.]
During the postwar years, engines became much larger and more powerful, and safety features such as deicing, navigation, and weather information were added to the planes. American planes were allegedly more comfortable and had superior flight decks than those produced in Europe.
France
In 1936, the French Air Ministry requested transatlantic flying boats that could hold at least 40 passengers, leading to three Latécoère 631s introduced by Air France in July 1947. However, two crashed and the third was removed from service over safety concerns. The SNCASE Languedoc was the first French post-war airliner.[ Accommodating up to 44 seats, 40 aircraft were completed for Air France between October 1945 and April 1948.] Air France withdrew the last Languedoc from its domestic routes in 1954, being replaced by later designs. First flying in February 1949, the four-engined Breguet Deux-Ponts was a double-decker transport for passengers and cargo.[ Air France used it on its busiest routes, including from ]Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to the Mediterranean area and to London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
The Sud-Aviation Caravelle was developed during the late 1950s as the first short range jet airliner. The nose and cockpit layout were licensed from the de Havilland Comet, along with some fuselage elements. Entering service in mid 1959, 172 Caravelles had been sold within four years and six versions were in production by 1963. Sud Aviation then focused its design team on a Caravelle successor.
The Super-Caravelle was a supersonic transport project of similar size and range to the Caravelle. It was merged with the similar Bristol Aeroplane Company project into the Anglo-French Concorde. The Concorde entered service in January 1967 as the second and last commercial supersonic transport,[Gordon and Rigmant 2005, ] after large overruns and delays, costing £1.3 billion. All subsequent French airliner efforts were part of the Airbus
Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...
pan-European initiative.
USSR
Soon after the war, most of the Soviet fleet of airliners consisted of DC-3s or Lisunov Li-2s. These planes were in desperate need of replacement, and in 1946, the Ilyushin Il-12 made its first flight. The Il-12 was very similar in design to American Convair 240, except was unpressurized. In 1953, the Ilyushin Il-14 made its first flight, and this version was equipped with much more powerful engines. The main contribution that the Soviets made in regards to airliners was the Antonov An-2
The Antonov An-2 (USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet Union, Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau beginning in 1947. I ...
. This plane is a biplane, unlike most of the other airliners, and sold more units than any other transport plane.
Types
Narrow-body airliners
The most common airliners are the narrow-body aircraft, or single-aisles.
The earliest jet airliners were narrowbodies: the initial de Havilland Comet, the Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
and its competitor the Douglas DC-8.
They were followed by smaller models : the Douglas DC-9 and its MD-80/MD-90
The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) MD-90 is a retired American five-abreast narrow-body aircraft, single-aisle airliner developed by McDonnell Douglas from its successful model McDonnell Douglas MD-80, MD-80. The airliner was produced by the ...
/Boeing 717
The Boeing 717 is an American five-abreast narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Twinjet, twin-engine airliner was developed for the 100-seat market and originally marketed by McDonnell Dougla ...
derivatives; the Boeing 727, 737 and 757 using the 707 cabin cross-section; or the Tupolev Tu-154, Ilyushin Il-18, and the Ilyushin Il-62.
Currently produced narrow-body airliners include the Airbus A220, A320 family, Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
, Embraer E-Jet family and Comac C919, generally used for medium-haul flights with 100 to 240 passengers.
They could be joined by the in-development Irkut MC-21.
Wide-body airliners
The larger wide-body aircraft, or twin-aisle as they have two separate aisles in the cabin, are used for long-haul flights.
The first was the Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023.
After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
quadjet, followed by the trijets: the Lockheed L-1011 and the Douglas DC-10, then its MD-11 stretch.
Then other quadjets were introduced: the Ilyushin Il-86 and Il-96, the Airbus A340 and the double-deck A380.
Twinjets were also put into service: the Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
/ A310, A330 and A350; the 767, 777 and 787.
Regional aircraft
Regional airliners seat fewer than 100 passengers.
These smaller aircraft are often used to feed traffic at large airline hub
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the s ...
s to larger aircraft operated by the major mainline carriers, legacy carriers, or flag carriers; often sharing the same livery.
Regional jets include the Bombardier CRJ100/200 and Bombardier CRJ700 series, or the Embraer ERJ family.
Currently produced turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
regional airliners include the Dash-8 series, and the ATR 42
The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France.
On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...
/ 72.
Commuter aircraft
Light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997.
Light aircraft are use ...
can be used as small commuter airliners, or as air taxi
An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand.
History
The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
s.
Twin turboprops carrying up to 19 passengers include the Beechcraft 1900
The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...
, Fairchild Metro, Jetstream 31, DHC-6 Twin Otter and Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante.
Smaller airliners include the single-engined turboprops like the Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12; or twin piston-powered aircraft made by Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...
, Piper, Britten-Norman, and Beechcraft.
They often lack lavatories, stand-up cabins, pressurization, galleys, overhead storage bins, reclining seats, or a flight attendant.
Engines
Until the beginning of the Jet Age, piston engines were common on propliners such as the Douglas DC-3. Nearly all modern airliners are now powered by turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...
engines, either turbofans or turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
s. Gas turbine engines operate efficiently at much higher altitudes, are more reliable than piston engines, and produce less vibration and noise. The use of a common fuel type – kerosene-based jet fuel – is another advantage.
Airliner variants
Some variants of airliners have been developed for carrying freight or for luxury corporate use. Many airliners have also been modified for government use as VIP transports and for military functions such as airborne tankers (for example, the Vickers VC10, Lockheed L-1011, Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
), air ambulance (USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
/ USN McDonnell Douglas DC-9), reconnaissance
In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
( Embraer ERJ 145, Saab 340, and Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
), as well as for troop-carrying roles.
Configuration
Modern jetliners are usually low-wing designs with two engines mounted underneath the swept wings, while turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
aircraft are slow enough to use straight wings. Smaller airliners sometimes have their engines mounted on either side of the rear fuselage. Numerous advantages and disadvantages exist due to this arrangement. Perhaps the most important advantage to mounting the engines under the wings is that the total aircraft weight is more evenly distributed across the wingspan, which imposes less bending moment on the wings and allows for a lighter wing structure. This factor becomes more important as aircraft weight increases, and no in-production airliners have both a maximum takeoff weight more than 50 tons and engines mounted on the fuselage. The Antonov An-148 is the only in-production jetliner with high-mounted wings (usually seen in military transport aircraft
A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to m ...
), which reduces the risk of damage from unpaved runways.
Except for a few experimental or military designs, all aircraft built to date have had all of their weight lifted off the ground by airflow across the wings. In terms of aerodynamics
Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...
, the fuselage has been a mere burden. NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
and Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
are currently developing a blended wing body design in which the entire airframe, from wingtip to wingtip, contributes lift. This promises a significant gain in fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...
.
Current manufacturers
The major manufacturers with large aircraft airliners currently in production include:
* Airbus
Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...
(France/Germany/Spain/United Kingdom/Canada)
* Antonov (Ukraine)
* ATR Aircraft (France/Italy)
* Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
(United States)
* Britten-Norman (United Kingdom)
* Comac (China)
* De Havilland Canada (Canada)
* Embraer (Brazil)
* Irkut Corporation ( UAC, Russia, includes Sukhoi)
* Let Kunovice (Czech Republic)
* Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (China)
The narrow-body and wide-body airliner market is dominated by Airbus and Boeing, and the regional airliner market is shared between ATR Aircraft, De Havilland Canada, and Embraer.
Setting up a reliable customer support network, ensuring uptime, availability and support 24/7 and anywhere, is critical for the success of airliner manufacturers.
Boeing and Airbus are ranked 1 and 2 in customer satisfaction for aftermarket support by a survey by Inside MRO and Air Transport World, and this is a reason why Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation
, abbreviated MITAC, was a Japanese company that developed, produced, sold and supported the Mitsubishi SpaceJet (formerly MRJ) passenger airliners. The manufacturing of the aircraft was planned to be carried out by parent company Mitsubishi He ...
purchased the Bombardier CRJ program.
It is an entry barrier for new entrants like the Xian MA700 and Comac C919, with no credible previous experience with the MA60, or the Irkut MC-21 after the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
Notable airliners
* Boeing 247 – the first modern airliner, with all-metal construction and retractable landing gear
* Douglas DC-3 – very widespread, still serving
* Boeing 307 Stratoliner – the first with a pressurized cabin
* Boeing 377 Stratocruiser - popularized multiple passenger decks
* Vickers Viscount – the first turboprop
A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
airliner
* Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...
– popularized the pressurized cabin
* Antonov An-2
The Antonov An-2 (USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet Union, Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau beginning in 1947. I ...
– a single engine biplane, a widespread large utility aircraft
A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people, freight, or other supplies, but also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available.
The term can al ...
* De Havilland Comet – the first operational jetliner, grounded by early crashes
* Tupolev Tu-104 – the first twinjet, developed into the first turbofan-powered airliner, the Tupolev Tu-124
* Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
– the most successful early jetliner, along the less widespread Douglas DC-8
* Sud Aviation Caravelle – the first jetliner with rear podded engines, the configuration of the more widespread Douglas DC-9
* Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
– the most successful jet airliner by deliveries as of 2022
* Tupolev Tu-144 – the first operational supersonic transport in 1975, with passenger service 1977-78
* Concorde – the first supersonic airliner in passenger service, operating from 1976 to 2003; the first airliner with fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...
flight controls
* Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023.
After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
– the first wide-body aircraft and first high-bypass turbofan-powered airliner, the largest passenger airliner until the A380
* McDonnell Douglas DC-10 – the first trijet
A trijet is a jet aircraft powered by three jet engines. In general, passenger airline trijets are considered to be second-generation jet airliners, due to their innovative engine locations, in addition to the advancement of turbofan technology. ...
wide-body, along the later Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...
* Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
– the first twinjet wide-body, followed by the Boeing 767
* Airbus A320 – the first airliner with digital fly-by-wire flight controls, the most ordered jet airliner
* Boeing 777 – the largest twinjet
* Airbus A380 – full double-deck aircraft, the largest passenger airliner
* Boeing 787 – the first airliner mostly constructed with composite materials
A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...
In production aircraft
Fleet
The airliner fleet went from 13,500 in 2000 to 25,700 in 2017: 16% to 30.7% in Asia/Pacific (2,158 to 7,915), 34.7% to 23.6% in USA (4,686 to 6,069) and 24% to 20.5% in Europe (3,234 to 5,272).
In 2018, there were 29,398 airliners in service: 26,935 passenger transports and 2,463 freighters, while 2,754 others were stored.
The largest fleet was in Asia-Pacific with 8,808 (5% stored), followed by 8,572 in North America (10% stored), 7,254 in Europe (9% stored), 2,027 in Latin America, 1,510 in Middle East and 1,347 in Africa.
Narrowbody are dominant with 16,235, followed by 5,581 Widebodies, 3,743 Turboprops, 3,565 Regional jets and 399 Others.
By the end of 2018, there were 1,826 parked or in storage jetliners out of 29,824 in service (6.1%): 1,434 narrowbodies and 392 widebodies, down from 9.8% of the fleet at the end of 2012 and 11.3% at the end of 2001.
Market
Since it began, the jet airliner market had a recurring pattern of seven years of growth followed by three years of deliveries falling 30–40%, except a steady growth from 2004 due to the economic rise of China going from 3% of world market in 2001 to 22% in 2015, expensive jet fuel
Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by Gas turbine, gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for ...
till 2014 stimulating old jets replacement allowed by low interest rate
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, ...
s since 2008, and strong airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
passenger demand since.
In 2004, 718 Airbus and Boeings were delivered, worth $39.3 billion; 1,466 are expected in 2017, worth $104.4 billion: a growth by 3.5 from 2004 to 2020 is unprecedented and highly unusual for any mature market.
In 2016, the deliveries went for 38% in Asia-Pacific, 25% in Europe, 22% in North America, 7% in Middle East, 6% in South America and 2% in Africa. 1,020 narrowbodies were delivered and their backlog reach : 4,991 A320neo, A320ceo; 3,593 737 Max, 835 737NG, 348 CSeries, 305 C919 and 175 MC-21; while 398 widebodies were delivered : 137 Dreamliners and 99 B777 for
Boeing (65%) against 63 A330 and 49 A350 for Airbus, more than 2,400 widebodies were in backlog, led by the A350 with 753 (31%) then the Boeing 787 with 694 (28%).[
The most important driver of orders is airline profitability, itself driven mainly by world GDP growth but also ]supply and demand
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris_paribus#Applications, holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular Good (economics), good ...
balance and oil price
The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a Oil barrel, barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crud ...
s, while new programmes by Airbus and Boeing help to stimulate aircraft demand.
In 2016, 38% of the 25 years old airliners had been retired, 50% of the 28 years old : there will be 523 aircraft reaching 25 years old in 2017, 1,127 in 2026 and 1,628 in 2041.
Deliveries rose by 80% from 2004 to 2016, they represented 4.9% of the fleet in 2004 and 5.9% in 2016, down from 8% previously.
Oil prices and airshow orders are trending together.
In 2020, deliveries were down by more than 50% compared to 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the airline industry due to Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and a decimation in demand among travelers.
Significant reductions in passenger number ...
, after 10 years of growth.
Storage, scrapping and recycling
Storage can be an adjustment variable for the airliner fleet: as Jan–Apr 2018 RPKs are up by 7% over a year and FTKs up by 5.1%, the IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
reports 81 net aircraft went back from storage (132 recalled and 51 stored) in April.
It is the second month of storage contraction after eight of expansion and the largest in four years, while new aircraft deliveries fell slightly to 448 from 454 due to supply-chain issues and in-service issues grounding others.
Retirements were down by 8% and utilization up by 2%, according to Canaccord Genuity, driving used aircraft and engines values up while MRO shops have unexpected demand for legacy products like the PW4000 and GE CF6.
Cabin configurations and features
An airliner will usually have several classes of seating: first class, business class, and/or economy class (which may be referred to as coach class or tourist class, and sometimes has a separate "premium" economy section with more legroom and amenities). The seats in more expensive classes are wider, more comfortable, and have more amenities such as "lie flat" seats for more comfortable sleeping on long flights. Generally, the more expensive the class, the better the beverage and meal service.
Domestic flights generally have a two-class configuration, usually first or business class and coach class, although many airlines instead offer all-economy seating. International flights generally have either a two-class configuration or a three-class configuration, depending on the airline, route and aircraft type. Many airliners offer movies or audio/video on demand (this is standard in first and business class on many international flights and may be available on economy). Cabins of all classes have lavatory facilities, reading lights, and air vents. Some larger airliners have a rest compartment reserved for crew use during breaks.
Seats
The types of seats that are provided and how much legroom is given to each passenger are decisions made by the individual airlines, not the aircraft manufacturers. Seats are mounted in "tracks" on the floor of the cabin and can be moved back and forth by the maintenance staff or removed altogether. One driver of airline profitability is how many passengers can be seated in economy class cabins, meaning that airline companies have an incentive to place seats close together to fit as many passengers in as possible. In contrast, ‘premium class’ seat configurations provide more space for travelers.
Passengers seated in an exit row (the row of seats adjacent to an emergency exit) usually have substantially more legroom than those seated in the remainder of the cabin, while the seats directly in front of the exit row may have less legroom and may not even recline (for evacuation safety reasons). However, passengers seated in an exit row may be required to assist cabin crew during an emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property.
Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm ...
of the aircraft opening the emergency exit and assisting fellow passengers to the exit. As a precaution, many airlines prohibit young people under the age of 15 from being seated in the exit row.
The seats are designed to withstand strong forces so as not to break or come loose from their floor tracks during turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...
or accidents. The backs of seats are often equipped with a fold-down tray for eating, writing, or as a place to set up a portable computer, or a music or video player. Seats without another row of seats in front of them have a tray that is either folded into the armrest or that clips into brackets on the underside of the armrests. However, seats in premium cabins generally have trays in the armrests or clip-on trays, regardless of whether there is another row of seats in front of them. Seatbacks now often feature small colour LCD screens for videos, television and video games. Controls for this display as well as an outlet to plug in audio headsets are normally found in the armrest of each seat.
Overhead bins
The overhead bins, also known as overhead lockers or pivot bins, are used for stowing carry-on baggage and other items. While the airliner manufacturer will normally specify a standard version of the product to supply, airlines can choose to have bins of differing size, shape, or color installed. Over time, overhead bins evolved out of what were originally overhead shelves that were used for little more than coat and briefcase storage. As concerns about falling debris during turbulence or in accidents increased, enclosed bins became the norm. Bins have increased in size to accommodate the larger carry-on baggage passengers can bring onto the aircraft. Newer bin designs have included a handrail, useful when moving through the cabin.
Passenger service units
Above the passenger seats are Passenger Service Units (PSU). These typically contain reading lights, air vents, and a flight attendant call light. On most narrowbody aircraft (and some Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
s and A310s), the flight attendant call button and the buttons to control the reading lights are located directly on the PSU, while on most widebody aircraft, the flight attendant call button and the reading light control buttons are usually part of the in-flight entertainment
In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to entertainment and other value-added services available to aircraft passengers during a flight. Frequently managed by content service providers, the types of in-flight entertainment and their content vary s ...
system. The units frequently have small "Fasten Seat Belt" and "No Smoking" illuminated signage and may also contain a speaker for the cabin public address system. On some newer aircraft, a "Turn off electronic devices" sign is used instead of the "No Smoking" sign, as smoking isn't permitted on board the aircraft anyway.
The PSU will also normally contain the drop-down oxygen masks which are activated if there is a sudden drop in cabin pressure. These are supplied with oxygen by means of a chemical oxygen generator. By using a chemical reaction rather than a connection to an oxygen tank, these devices supply breathing oxygen for long enough for the airliner to descend to thicker, more breathable air. Oxygen generators do generate considerable heat in the process. Because of this, the oxygen generators are thermally shielded and are only allowed in commercial airliners when properly installed – they are not permitted to be loaded as freight on passenger-carrying flights. ValuJet Flight 592 crashed on May 11, 1996, as a result of improperly loaded chemical oxygen generators.
Cabin pressurization
Airliners developed since the 1940s have had pressurized cabins (or, more accurately, pressurized hulls including baggage holds) to enable them to carry passengers safely at high altitudes where low oxygen levels and air pressure would otherwise cause sickness or death. High altitude flight enabled airliners to fly above most weather systems that cause turbulent or dangerous flying conditions, and also to fly faster and further as there is less drag due to the lower air density. Pressurization is applied using compressed air, in most cases bled from the engines, and is managed by an environmental control system which draws in clean air, and vents stale air out through a valve.
Pressurization presents design and construction challenges to maintain the structural integrity and sealing of the cabin and hull and to prevent rapid decompression. Some of the consequences include small round windows, doors that open inwards and are larger than the door hole, and an emergency oxygen system.
To maintain a pressure in the cabin equivalent to an altitude close to sea level would, at a cruising altitude around , create a pressure difference between inside the aircraft and outside the aircraft that would require greater hull strength and weight. Most people do not suffer ill effects up to an altitude of , and maintaining cabin pressure at this equivalent altitude significantly reduces the pressure difference and therefore the required hull strength and weight. A side effect is that passengers experience some discomfort as the cabin pressure changes during ascent and descent to the majority of airports, which are at low altitudes.
Cabin climate control
The air bled from the engines is hot and requires cooling by air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
units. It is also extremely dry at cruising altitude, and this causes sore eyes, dry skin and mucosa on long flights. Although humidification technology could raise its relative humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...
to comfortable middle levels, this is not done since humidity promotes corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...
to the inside of the hull and risks condensation which could short electrical systems, so for safety reasons it is deliberately kept to a low value, around 10%. Another problem of the air coming from the ventilation (unto which the oil lubrication system of the engines is hooked up) is that fumes from components in the synthetic oils can sometimes travel along, causing passengers, pilots and crew to be intoxicated. The illness it causes is called aerotoxic syndrome.
Baggage holds
Airliners must have space on board to store "checked" baggage – that which will not safely fit in the passenger cabin.
Designed to hold baggage as well as freight, these compartments are called "cargo bins", "baggage holds", "luggage holds", or occasionally "pits". Occasionally baggage holds may be referred to as cargo decks on the largest of aircraft. These compartments can be accessed through doors on the outside of the aircraft.
Depending on the aircraft, baggage holds are normally inside the hull and are therefore pressurized just like the passenger cabin although they may not be heated. While lighting is normally installed for use by the loading crew, typically the compartment is unlit when the door is closed.
Baggage holds on modern airliners are equipped with fire detection equipment and larger aircraft have automated or remotely activated fire-fighting devices installed.
Narrow-body airliners
Most "narrow-body
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast airline seat, seating in a aircraft cabin, cabin less than in width.
In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner ...
" airliners with more than 100 seats have space below the cabin floor, while smaller aircraft often have a special compartment separate from the passenger area but on the same level.
Baggage is normally stacked within the bin by hand, sorted by destination category. Netting that fits across the width of the bin is secured to limit movement of the bags. Airliners often carry items of freight
In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...
and mail. These may be loaded separately from the baggage or mixed in if they are bound for the same destination. For securing bulky items "hold down" rings are provided to tie items into place.
Wide-body airliners
" Wide-body" airliners frequently have a compartment like the ones described above, typically called a "bulk bin". It is normally used for late arriving luggage or bags which may have been checked at the gate.
However, most baggage and loose freight items are loaded into containers called Unit Load Devices (ULDs), often referred to as "cans". ULDs come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but the most common model is the LD3. This particular container has approximately the same height as the cargo compartment and fits across half of its width.
ULDs are loaded with baggage and are transported to the aircraft on dolly carts and loaded into the baggage hold by a loader designed for the task. By means of belts and rollers an operator can maneuver the ULD from the dolly cart, up to the aircraft baggage hold door, and into the aircraft. Inside the hold, the floor is also equipped with drive wheels and rollers that an operator inside can use to move the ULD properly into place. Locks in the floor are used to hold the ULD in place during flight.
For consolidated freight loads, like a pallet of boxes or an item too oddly shaped to fit into a container, flat metal pallets that resemble large baking sheets that are compatible with the loading equipment are used.
See also
Lists
* Regional jets
* List of civil aircraft
* List of regional airliners
* List of airliners by maximum takeoff weight
Topics
* Aircraft design process
* Aircraft spotting
* Aviation and the environment
* Aviation safety
* Flight length
* Flight planning
References
Bibliography
* Andrews, C.F. and Eric B. Morgan. ''Vickers Aircraft since 1908, Second edition''. London: Putnam, 1988. .
* Barnes, C.H. ''Bristol Aircraft since 1910''. London: Putnam, First Edition, 1964 (1987 reprint). .
* Chillon J., J-P Dubois and J.Wegg. ''French Postwar Transport Aircraft.'' Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Limited. 1980. .
* Faith, Nicholas. ''Black Box: Why Air Safety is no Accident, The Book Every Air Traveller Should Read''. London: Boxtree, 1996. .
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* Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919: Volume II''. London:Putnam, Second edition 1973. .
* Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft 1919–1972: Volume III''. London: Putnam, revised second edition, 1988. .
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* Norris, Geoffrey. ''The Short Empire Boats'' (Aircraft in Profile Number 84). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
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Further reading
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