II.

Origin and Development

Flying for pleasure and adventure began during the 19th century, when European inventors experimented with hot air balloons and gliders. In 1910 the air transport industry was established in Germany when regular air service with gas-filled airships called dirigibles began to provide service between cities.

The first powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine occurred on December 17, 1903, when Orville Wright and his brother Wilbur Wright made their historic flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On January 1, 1914, a group of Florida businesspeople launched the first scheduled air service using an airplane. For a period of four months, the Saint Petersburg-Tampa Air Boat Line transported a total of 1,200 passengers across Tampa Bay in a two-seat Benoit seaplane. The trip took about 20 minutes, and the one-way fare was $5. The service folded at the conclusion of Florida’s winter tourist season, but it was the first such venture that indicated scheduled air service could be commercially viable. Similar passenger services in the United States and Europe soon followed.

Passenger air service developed faster in Europe than it did in the United States. World War I (1914-1918) devastated many of Europe’s roads and railroads. The war also proved the military value of airplanes and sparked a dramatic acceleration in aircraft production. At the end of the war, fledgling commercial air carriers took advantage of the ruined ground transportation system and the large surplus of aircraft and pilots. Air service within Europe flourished, and by the 1930s government-sponsored airlines were operating well beyond Europe to numerous European colonies in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

A.

Airmail and Passenger Service

The United States suffered none of the devastation that afflicted war-torn Europe. Trains in the United States were fast, reliable, and far more comfortable than airplanes, so there was relatively little demand for air travel after World War I. The government decision to use aircraft to transport mail kept the U.S. air transport industry alive. Airmail service began on the East Coast in 1918 and by 1921 extended all the way to California. Initially the government used its own aircraft and pilots, but two laws of the mid-1920s were key to the development of commercial aviation in the private sector. The 1925 Contract Air Mail Act, also known as the Kelly Act, authorized the U.S. Post Office Department (see United States Postal Service) to solicit airmail bids from private airlines. The 1926 Air Commerce Act gave the U.S. government the authority and responsibility to regulate commercial aviation.

Many of the current major U.S. airlines descend from the early mail carriers, some of which were themselves subsidiaries of aircraft manufacturers trying to create new markets. Henry Ford, an auto manufacturer, was among the first to win airmail contracts. His Ford Motor Company soon began producing aircraft, introducing the Ford Trimotor, commonly referred to as the Tin Goose, in 1927.

The Ford Trimotor was one of the first all-metal planes and the first plane designed primarily to carry passengers rather than mail. It had 12 passenger seats, an interior cabin with a ceiling high enough for people to walk down the aisle without stooping, and room for a flight attendant. The first flight attendants were nurses who served meals and assisted airsick passengers.

The Trimotor helped airlines develop the passenger side of their businesses. An event in 1927 drew public attention to aviation and convinced many that the industry had a bright future. On May 21, 1927, a young American pilot named Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in a 8.5-m (28-ft) airplane named the Spirit of St. Louis. The feat catapulted Lindbergh into instant fame as a folk hero and helped attract millions of investment dollars to aviation.

B.

Technological Advances

Numerous technological advances made between World War I and World War II (1939-1945) were key to the development of the air transport industry. Navigation was greatly improved in the 1920s when rotating beacons began to mark air routes for nighttime flight.

Radio, which developed around the same time as aviation, made it possible for pilots to communicate with each other and with people on the ground. By the 1930s radio signals from fixed locations were guiding pilots to their destinations in darkness and poor visibility.

Engineers also made numerous advances in aircraft design during the 1930s. Air-cooled engines helped reduce weight and made larger and faster aircraft possible. Cockpit instruments also improved, with better indicators for airspeed and rate of climb and better altimeters and compasses.

American aviator James Doolittle helped design the artificial horizon in the late 1920s. This instrument shows pilots the angle the aircraft’s wings make with the ground and is important for flying in reduced visibility.

In the 1920s engineers developed aircraft that resembled today’s modern planes. These airplanes were all metal with one wing on each side of the plane, an engine on each wing’s leading edge, retractable landing gears, wing flaps to control speed, propellers with variable angles to increase climbing and cruising speeds, and enclosed cabins for the crew and passengers. One important aircraft developed at this time was the Boeing Company’s 247, which was widely used as a passenger aircraft into the 1940s.

Another important aircraft was the Douglas Aircraft Company’s DC-1, designed so the exterior surface of the plane bore most of the stress during flight, eliminating the need for an interior skeleton of metal spars, which took up space. A similar aircraft, the DC-3, proved even more popular with travelers and was the first plane that enabled airlines to make money carrying passengers rather than mail. It seated 21 passengers, more than any previous aircraft, and its 1,000-horsepower engines made it possible to travel coast to coast in the United States in 16 hours, considered a fast trip in the mid-1930s.

The Boeing Stratoliner, introduced in 1940, was the first aircraft to have a pressurized cabin, an innovation that enabled airlines to fly in the thin atmosphere above storms and air turbulence that frequently gave passengers upset stomachs and deterred many people from flying.

C.

World War II and Beyond

Aviation had an enormous impact on the outcome of World War II, and the war had just as big an impact on commercial aviation. Aircraft production increased dramatically during the war, and airlines for the first time had far more business than they could handle as governments recruited them for the war effort. Airlines also had opportunities to fly new international routes, gaining an exposure that would give them a head start after the war’s end.

To meet military needs, aircraft engineers designed planes that were bigger, faster, and capable of flying farther than ever. Radar, which allowed pilots and controllers to get a better idea of situations in the air, made significant advances in England during World War II. As the war drew to a close, scientists working independently in Britain and Germany perfected the jet engine (see Jet Propulsion).

By the mid-1950s, more people were flying across the Atlantic Ocean than were crossing it on ships, and by the late 1950s there was more intercity travel in the United States by air than by rail or bus. The first successful commercial jet, the Boeing 707, entered service in 1958, making air transportation considerably faster and more comfortable for passengers and reducing airline maintenance costs through improved engine reliability.

Jumbo jets debuted in the 1970s and boosted airline carrying capacity. Also in the 1970s, the governments of France and Britain jointly developed the first commercial jet to fly faster than the speed of sound, the Concorde, which radically reduced transatlantic travel times. The Concorde remained in service until 2003 when Air France and British Airways discontinued the service, saying it was no longer commercially viable.

D.

Government Regulation

Numerous governments around the world regulate the air transport industry. In the United States, government regulation began in 1926, when the Commerce Department set the first standards for pilots and aircraft and began establishing air routes and navigation systems and investigating accidents.

In 1938 the Congress of the United States created the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) to bring financial stability to the industry through regulation of airline routes, fares, and safety. It also created an independent Air Safety Board for accident investigations.

The CAA went through several name changes and reorganizations before the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took over many of its duties in 1958. The FAA’s task was to develop and operate a nationwide air traffic control system and regulate the airlines on all matters of safety. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), a descendant of the CAA established in 1938, retained jurisdiction over airlines’ routes and rates until deregulation occurred in 1978 (see Effects of Deregulation on Airlines below). The CAB also handled accident investigations until the creation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in 1967.

Transport Canada regulates civil air travel in Canada. The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulates air travel within Britain. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), affiliated with the United Nations, was established in 1947. It sets safety and navigation standards for international carriers.

E.

Aircraft Manufacturing

Soon after the Wright brothers made their first flight, the aircraft manufacturing industry began to grow. American manufacturer Glenn Curtiss founded Curtiss Aeroplane Company in 1907, just four years after the Wrights’ first flight. The Wright brothers created the American Wright Company in 1909. Curtiss Aeroplane combined with American Wright to form the Curtiss-Wright Company in 1928. Other important American aircraft manufacturers were Martin MB, founded in 1912 by American manufacturer Glenn Martin; Boeing Airplane Company, founded in 1916 by American aircraft designer William Boeing; Chance Vought, founded in 1917 by American manufacturer Chance Vought; Douglas Aircraft Company, founded in 1920 by American engineer Donald Douglas; Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939 by American pilot John Northrop; and Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, founded in 1929 by American pilot Leroy Grumman. The major European aircraft manufacturer Airbus was founded in 1970.

Today the production of commercial air transport equipment is a multibillion-dollar global industry. High-priced aircraft and components are manufactured in countries throughout Asia, Europe, and North and South America. Most of the final assembly of large jets, a single one of which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, is performed in either the United States or France.

The principal aircraft manufacturers today are Airbus in Europe and The Boeing Company in the United States. (A third major manufacturer, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation of the United States, merged with Boeing in 1997.) Two of the three large jet engine manufacturers—the General Electric Company and Pratt & Whitney (a division of United Technologies Corporation)—are also based in the United States. The third is Britain’s Rolls Royce PLC. Other companies based in Brazil, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden, as well as in France and the United States, specialize in the production of smaller aircraft used by regional carriers and for general aviation.

F.

Future of the Air Transport Industry

The air transport industry grew enormously during the second half of the 20th century. The number of passengers worldwide grew from 177 million in 1965 to an estimated 3.3 billion in 2000. The number of U.S. airline passengers for the same period increased from 103 million in 1965 to an estimated 666 million in 2000. The U.S. airlines transported their 10-billionth passenger in scheduled service in June 1995, 81 years after the start of scheduled service.

The early 21st century has presented a number of challenges for the air transport industry. The 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks were carried out using commercial aircraft. A much greater emphasis on security has meant added inconvenience for passengers boarding aircraft. Large fluctuations in the price of fuel and a major economic downturn that started in 2008 have affected the stability of the market for air travel. Although air traffic in general has increased since 2000, the Asia-Pacific region is seen as the major market for future growth rather than the United States and Europe.