The Jet Age
1958-Now
The jet engine revolutionized air travel. Powerful and durable, jets enabled aircraft manufacturers to build bigger, faster, and more productive airliners. Jet technology also enabled airlines to reduce their operating costs and their airfares.
Passengers benefited from falling fares—almost anyone who wanted to could now fly. After 1978, airline deregulation by the federal government transformed the industry and produced much upheaval. The effects of deregulation, along with the computer revolution and heightened security measures, especially following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have profoundly changed the nature of the air travel experience.
A Slow Entry into the Jet Age
The Bell XP-59A Airacomet was the first American jet aircraft. The XP-59A was intended to be a jet fighter, but it was still slower than the best conventional airplanes at the time. Instead, the XP-59A was used to teach fighter pilots how to fly a jet. These jets were America's first step into the jet age.
What is a jet airplane?
Airplanes with jet engines have far fewer moving parts than piston engines, so they are more reliable, safer, and less costly to operate. They burn kerosene, which is less expensive than gasoline, and produce tremendous thrust for their weight. Therefore jet aircraft can be made larger and can fly faster than piston-engine aircraft.
The First Generation of Jet Airliners
The World's First Jumbo Jet
Boeing 747
Designed originally for Pan American to replace the 707, the giant Boeing 747 revolutionized long-distance air travel when it entered service in 1970. Carrying more than twice the passengers than the 189-seat 707, the 400-seat 747 offered dramatically lower seat-mile costs and therefore much greater efficiency. Propelled by four powerful and efficient high-bypass turbofan engines, the so-called "Jumbo Jet" spawned a new generation of wide-body airliners from Airbus, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, and later Boeing.
Who Flew?
"Jetting" across the Atlantic briefly became highly fashionable and prestigious, and a new breed of travelers—the "Jet Set"—emerged. But falling fares in the 1970s allowed many more people to fly and undermined the exclusivity of jet travel.
Between 1955 and 1972, passenger numbers more than quadrupled. By 1972 almost half of all Americans had flown, although most passengers were still business travelers. A small percentage became repeat travelers, or "frequent flyers." Hundreds of millions of passengers now fly each year in the United States.
Ushering in the Jet Age—for some.
Between 1955 and 1972, passenger numbers more than quadrupled, and jet airplanes were making flying cheaper and more efficient. At the same time, America was undergoing rapid social change. The nation was becoming increasingly homogeneous. Retail franchises were eliminating distinctive regional characteristics. Television reached into most homes. The automobile was transforming cities, and suburbs were consuming huge expanses of rural land. The interstate highway system was spreading across the nation, and a growing web of jetliner routes linked the country. Traveling from coast to coast now took as little as five hours. Perhaps most importantly, people were fighting for equality.
Airlines Get Their Wings
Deregulation
Regulation by the federal government had enabled airlines to prosper in their infancy, but it also kept fares high and prevented airlines from operating as efficiently as possible. In 1978, Congress passed a law allowing airlines to set their own fares and routes, an event that transformed the commercial airline industry and the passenger experience.
After deregulation of the airline and trucking industries in the late 1970s, air express carriers specializing in rapid delivery of high-priority packages rose to prominence. In 1973, Federal Express became the first airline to operate exclusively as an express carrier. Air express airlines, such as UPS, now operate their own aircraft and trucks to provide overnight package delivery.
From Stewardess to Flight Attendant
After the federal government deregulated commercial aviation, the airlines were free to compete by offering low fares, frequent service, and more routes. As a result, airlines no longer felt the need to hire only attractive young women to appeal to male passengers.
Jetting in with New Technology
Computers from Check-In to the Flight Deck
How have computers transformed commercial flight? Think about the last time you purchased an airplane ticket. More than likely, you bought that ticket online—but that’s just one of the many ways computers have become crucial tools to the airline industry. They are used to book tickets, plan flights, schedule aircraft and crew, oversee maintenance, set fares, and even help fly the very planes we all travel in.
NASA's Role in the Jet Age
The Convair 990 with its NASA-designed anti-shock bodies, or "speed pods" on each wing.
NASA is usually associated with spaceflight, but its first "A" stands for Aeronautics. NASA conducts aeronautical research and works to improve the safety of air transportation. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb of NASA led the development of several key technologies: area rule in the 1950s and '60s, supercritical wings in the 1970s, and winglets in the 1970s and '80s. All help reduce aerodynamic drag and therefore increase fuel efficiency and range.
Flying Today
Since deregulation, travelers have benefited from low fares and more frequent service on heavily traveled routes; on other routes, fares have risen. But in exchange for low fares, passengers have had to sacrifice convenience and amenities. Computer technology, in particular the Internet, has revolutionized how people plan trips, buy tickets, and obtain boarding passes. Heightened security, especially since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has made the airport experience more restrictive and time-consuming.
As flying has grown increasingly popular, airlines have become attractive targets for hijackers and terrorists. This has resulted in new regulations, heightened security measures, and a new governing body for flight: the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Fifty years after the Concorde first flew, a new era of innovation and entrepreneurial ideas seeks to make supersonic flight practical and sustainable. Flying passengers at twice the speed of sound, the Concorde captured the imagination of millions, but was retired in 2003 — so what's next for supersonic flight? From reducing the sonic boom to a quiet thump to the possible pathways for supersonic to return to commercial aviation, join us for a discussion on the supersonic airliner that started it all and where we’re headed next.
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