Jet age

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This page describes a period in 20th century social and aviation history. For the music album by the group The Superjesus, see Jet Age (music album).

The jet age is a common description of an historical period beginning with the introduction of airliners powered by turbojets and turbofans for scheduled passenger service.

[edit] Aviation history

The De Havilland Comet was the first jet airliner to fly a scheduled route in 1952, but the original version of the Comet had serious design problems leading to several highly-publicised crashes, and the entire fleet was eventually grounded (the Comet later reemerged in improved versions). The first truly successful jet airliner was the Boeing 707, which began service in 1958 on the New York City to London route; 1958 was also the first year that more trans-Atlantic passengers traveled by airline than ship. The Boeing 747, the jumbo, was the first widebody aircraft and further accelerated the jet age.

[edit] Social history

Large aircraft powered by turbine engines are able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older piston-powered propliners, making transcontinental and inter-continental travel considerably faster and easier: for example, 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 the first time. Since large jetliners could also carry more passengers, airfares also declined (relative to inflation), so more people of more different social classes were able to travel outside of their own countries. In many ways, these changes in mobility are similar to those brought about by railroads during the 19th century.

The introduction of the Concorde supersonic passenger for regular service in 1976 was expected to bring similar social changes, but the aircraft never found commercial success, and after a crash in Paris, flights were discontinued in 2003.