The first airlines DELAG,
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft, was the world’s first commercial passenger airline. It was founded on November 16, 1909, providing a regular service until 1935. CGT was the first of the companies that would eventually merge to become
Air France. A fixed-wing scheduled airline was started in the United States in January 1914. The
St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line was piloted by
Tony Jannus and flew from
St. Petersburg, Florida, to
Tampa, Florida.
Europe Beginnings , founded on October 7, 1919, the
oldest running airline still operating under its original name was used by
Handley Page Transport, an early British airline established in 1919. The British airship,
HM Airship R34 was the first aircraft of any type to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean when on 2 July 1919 it left Scotland, travelled to New York and returned.
Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), formed by
George Holt Thomas in 1916 as a fixed-wing airline; via a series of takeovers and mergers, this company is the earliest
predecessor company of
British Airways. Using a fleet of former military
Airco DH.4A biplanes that had been modified to carry two passengers in the
fuselage, it operated relief flights between
Folkestone and
Ghent, Belgium. On July 15, 1919, the company flew a proving flight across the
English Channel, despite a lack of support from the British government. Flown by Lt. H Shaw in an
Airco DH.9 between
RAF Hendon and
Paris – Le Bourget Airport, the flight took 2 hours and 30 minutes at £21 per passenger. On August 25, 1919, the company used
DH.16s to pioneer a regular service from
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome to Paris's
Le Bourget, the first daily international service in the world. The airline soon gained a reputation for reliability, despite problems with bad weather, and began to attract European competition. In November 1919, it won the first British civil
airmail contract. Six
Royal Air Force Airco DH.9A aircraft were lent to the company, to operate the airmail service between
Hawkinge and
Cologne. In 1920, they were returned to the Royal Air Force. Other British competitors were quick to follow –
Handley Page Transport was established in 1919 and used the company's converted
wartime Type O/400 bombers with a capacity for 12 passengers, to run a
London-Paris passenger service.
Société des lignes Latécoère, a predecessor of Air France, later known as Aéropostale, started its first
airmail service in late 1924 to Spain. The
Société Générale des Transports Aériens was created in late 1919, by the
Farman brothers. It began a weekly service between Paris and Brussels on 22 March 1919, the world's first international commercial aviation service.
D-190 of
Junkers Luftverkehr The first German airline to use heavier than air aircraft was
Deutsche Luft-Reederei established in 1917 which started operating in February 1919. In its first year, the D.L.R. operated regularly scheduled flights on routes with a combined length of nearly 1000 miles. By 1921 the D.L.R. network was more than 3000 km (1865 miles) long, and included destinations in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic Republics. Another important German airline was
Junkers Luftverkehr, which began operations in 1921. It was a division of the aircraft manufacturer
Junkers, which became a separate company in 1924. It operated joint-venture airlines in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. The
Dutch airline
KLM made its first flight in 1920, and is the oldest airline still using the original name. Established by aviator
Albert Plesman, it was immediately awarded a "Royal" predicate from
Queen Wilhelmina. Its first flight was from
Croydon Airport,
London to
Amsterdam, using a leased
DH-16 from
Aircraft Transport and Travel, carrying two British journalists and a number of newspapers. In 1921, KLM started scheduled services. In
Finland, the charter establishing Aero O/Y (now
Finnair) was signed in the city of
Helsinki on 12 September 1923.
Junkers F.13 D-335 became the first aircraft of the company, when Aero took delivery of it on 14 March 1924. The first flight was between Helsinki and
Tallinn, capital of
Estonia, and it took place on 20 March 1924, one week later. In the
Soviet Union, the Chief Administration of the Civil Air Fleet was established in 1921. One of its first acts was to help found Deutsch-Russische Luftverkehrs A.G. (Deruluft), a German-Russian joint venture to provide air transport from Russia to the West. Domestic air service began around the same time, when Dobrolyot started operations on 15 July 1923 between Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod. Since 1932 all operations had been carried under the name
Aeroflot. Early European airlines tended to favor comfort – the passenger cabins were often spacious with luxurious interiors – over speed and efficiency. The relatively basic navigational capabilities of pilots at the time also meant that delays due to the weather were commonplace.
Rationalization Empire Terminal,
Victoria, London. Trains ran from here to
flying boats in
Southampton, and to
Croydon Airport. By the early 1920s, small airlines were struggling to compete, and there was a movement towards increased rationalization and consolidation. In 1924,
Imperial Airways was formed from the merger of
Instone Air Line Company,
British Marine Air Navigation,
Daimler Airway and
Handley Page Transport, to allow British airlines to compete with stiff competition from French and German airlines that were enjoying heavy government subsidies. The airline was a pioneer in surveying and opening up air routes across the world to serve far-flung parts of the
British Empire and to enhance trade and integration. The first new airliner ordered by Imperial Airways, was the
Handley Page W8f City of Washington, delivered on 3 November 1924. In the first year of operation the company carried 11,395 passengers and 212,380 letters. In April 1925, the film
The Lost World became the first film to be screened for passengers on a scheduled airliner flight when it was shown on the London-Paris route. Two French airlines also merged to form
Air Union on 1 January 1923. This later merged with four other French airlines to become
Air France, the country's flagship carrier to this day, on 17 May 1933. Germany's
Deutsche Lufthansa was created in 1926 by merger of two airlines, one of them
Junkers Luftverkehr. Lufthansa, due to the
Junkers heritage and unlike most other airlines at the time, became a major investor in airlines outside of Europe, providing capital to
Varig and Avianca. German airliners built by
Junkers,
Dornier, and
Fokker were among the most advanced in the world at the time.
Expansion In 1926,
Alan Cobham surveyed a flight route from the UK to
Cape Town,
South Africa, following this up with another proving flight to
Melbourne,
Australia. Other routes to
British India and the
Far East were also charted and demonstrated at this time. Regular services to
Cairo and
Basra began in 1927 and were extended to
Karachi in 1929. The London-
Australia service was inaugurated in 1932 with the
Handley Page HP 42 airliners. Further services were opened up to
Calcutta,
Rangoon,
Singapore,
Brisbane and
Hong Kong passengers departed London on 14 March 1936 following the establishment of a branch from Penang to Hong Kong. ' routes from the
UK to
Australia and
South AfricaFrance began an air mail service to
Morocco in 1919 that was bought out in 1927, renamed
Aéropostale, and injected with capital to become a major international carrier. In 1933, Aéropostale went
bankrupt, was nationalized and merged into
Air France. Although Germany lacked colonies, it also began expanding its services globally. In 1931, the airship
Graf Zeppelin began offering regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and South America, usually every two weeks, which continued until 1937. In 1936, the airship
Hindenburg entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 6 May 1937. In 1938, a weekly air service from Berlin to
Kabul,
Afghanistan, started operating. From February 1934 until World War II began in 1939,
Deutsche Lufthansa operated an airmail service from
Stuttgart,
Germany via
Spain, the
Canary Islands and West Africa to
Natal in
Brazil. This was the first time an airline flew across an ocean. By the end of the 1930s
Aeroflot had become the world's largest airline, employing more than 4,000 pilots and 60,000 other service personnel and operating around 3,000 aircraft (of which 75% were considered obsolete by its own standards). During the Soviet era Aeroflot was synonymous with Russian civil aviation, as it was the only air carrier. It became the first airline in the world to operate sustained regular jet services on 15 September 1956 with the
Tupolev Tu-104.
Deregulation Deregulation of the
European Union airspace in the early 1990s has had substantial effect on the structure of the industry there. The shift towards 'budget' airlines on shorter routes has been significant. Airlines such as
EasyJet and
Ryanair have often grown at the expense of the traditional national airlines. There has also been a trend for these national airlines themselves to be privatized such as has occurred for
Aer Lingus and
British Airways. Other national airlines, including Italy's
Alitalia, suffered – particularly with the rapid increase of oil prices in early 2008.
United States Early development Douglas DC-3 in 1940. The DC-3, often regarded as one of the most influential aircraft in the history of commercial aviation, revolutionized air travel.
Tony Jannus conducted the United States' first scheduled commercial airline flight on January 1, 1914, for the
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. The 23-minute flight traveled between
St. Petersburg, Florida and
Tampa, Florida, passing some above Tampa Bay in Jannus'
Benoist XIV wood and muslin biplane flying boat. His passenger was a former mayor of St. Petersburg, who paid $400 for the privilege of sitting on a wooden bench in the open cockpit. The Airboat line operated for about four months, carrying more than 1,200 passengers who paid $5 each.
Chalk's International Airlines claimed to have begun a service between Miami and Bimini in the
Bahamas in February 1919. Based in
Ft. Lauderdale, Chalk's claimed to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States until its closure in 2008. Following
World War I, the United States found itself swamped with aviators. Many decided to take their war-surplus aircraft on barnstorming campaigns, performing aerobatic maneuvers to woo crowds. In 1918, the
United States Post Office Department won the financial backing of
Congress to begin experimenting with
air mail service, initially using
Curtiss Jenny aircraft that had been procured by the
United States Army Air Service. Private operators were the first to fly the mail but due to numerous accidents the US Army was tasked with mail delivery. During the Army's involvement they proved to be too unreliable and lost their air mail duties. By the mid-1920s, the Post Office had developed its own air mail network, based on a transcontinental backbone between New York City and
San Francisco. To supplement this service, they offered twelve contracts for spur routes to independent bidders. Some of the carriers that won these routes would, through time and mergers, evolve into
Pan Am,
Delta Air Lines,
Braniff Airways,
American Airlines,
United Airlines (originally a division of
Boeing),
Trans World Airlines,
Northwest Airlines, and
Eastern Air Lines. Service during the early 1920s was sporadic: most airlines at the time were focused on
carrying bags of mail. In 1925, however, the
Ford Motor Company bought out the
Stout Aircraft Company and began construction of the all-metal
Ford Trimotor, which became the first successful American airliner. With a 12-passenger capacity, the Trimotor made passenger service potentially profitable. Air service was seen as a supplement to
rail service in the American transportation network. At the same time,
Juan Trippe began a crusade to create an air network that would link America to the world, and he achieved this goal through his airline,
Pan Am, with a fleet of flying boats that linked
Los Angeles to
Shanghai and
Boston to
London. Pan Am and Northwest Airways (which began flights to Canada in the 1920s) were the only U.S. airlines to go international before the 1940s. With the introduction of the
Boeing 247 and
Douglas DC-3 in the 1930s, the U.S. airline industry was generally profitable, even during the
Great Depression. This trend continued until the beginning of
World War II.
Since 1945 of
American Export Airlines, the first airline to offer landplane flights across the North Atlantic in October 1945. World War II, like World War I, brought new life to the airline industry. Many airlines in the Allied countries were flush from lease contracts to the military, and foresaw a future explosive demand for civil air transport, for both passengers and cargo. They were eager to invest in the newly emerging flagships of air travel such as the
Boeing Stratocruiser,
Lockheed Constellation, and
Douglas DC-6. Most of these new aircraft were based on American bombers such as the
B-29, which had spearheaded research into new technologies such as
pressurization. Most offered increased efficiency from both added speed and greater payload. In the 1950s, the
De Havilland Comet,
Boeing 707,
Douglas DC-8, and
Sud Aviation Caravelle became the first flagships of the
Jet Age in the West, while the Eastern bloc had
Tupolev Tu-104 and
Tupolev Tu-124 in the fleets of state-owned carriers such as Czechoslovak
ČSA, Soviet
Aeroflot and East-German
Interflug. The
Vickers Viscount and
Lockheed L-188 Electra inaugurated turboprop transport. On 4 October 1958,
British Overseas Airways Corporation started
transatlantic flights between
London Heathrow and
New York Idlewild with a Comet 4, and
Pan Am followed on 26 October with a Boeing 707 service between New York and Paris. The next big boost for the airlines would come in the 1970s, when the
Boeing 747,
McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and
Lockheed L-1011 inaugurated
widebody ("jumbo jet") service, which is still the standard in international travel. The
Tupolev Tu-144 and its Western counterpart,
Concorde, made supersonic travel a reality. Concorde first flew in 1969 and operated through 2003. In 1972,
Airbus began producing Europe's most commercially successful line of airliners to date. The added efficiencies for these aircraft were often not in speed, but in passenger capacity, payload, and range. Airbus also features modern electronic cockpits that were common across their aircraft to enable pilots to fly multiple models with minimal cross-training.
Deregulation Boeing 747 ''Clipper Neptune's Car'' in 1985. The deregulation of the American airline industry increased the financial troubles of the airline which ultimately filed for bankruptcy in December 1991. The 1978 U.S.
airline industry deregulation lowered federally controlled barriers for new airlines just as a downturn in the nation's economy occurred. New start-ups entered during the downturn, during which time they found aircraft and funding, contracted hangar and maintenance services, trained new employees, and recruited laid-off staff from other airlines. Major airlines dominated their routes through aggressive pricing and additional capacity offerings, often swamping new start-ups. In the place of high barriers to entry imposed by regulation, the major airlines implemented an equally high barrier called
loss leader pricing. In this strategy an already established and dominant airline stomps out its competition by lowering airfares on specific routes, below the cost of operating on it, choking out any chance a start-up airline may have. The industry side effect is an overall drop in revenue and service quality. Since deregulation in 1978 the average domestic ticket price has dropped by 40%. So has airline employee pay. After incurring massive losses, the
airlines of the USA relied upon Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to continue doing business.
America West Airlines (which has since merged with US Airways) remained a significant survivor from this new entrant era, as dozens, even hundreds, have gone under. In many ways, the biggest winner in the deregulated environment was the air passenger. Although not exclusively attributable to deregulation, indeed the U.S. witnessed an explosive growth in demand for air travel. Many millions who had never or rarely flown before became regular fliers, even joining
frequent flyer loyalty programs and receiving free flights and other benefits from their flying. New services and higher frequencies meant that business fliers could fly to another city, do business, and return the same day, from almost any point in the country. Air travel's advantages put long-distance intercity
railroad travel and bus lines under pressure, with most of the latter having withered away, whilst the former is still protected under
nationalization through the continuing existence of
Amtrak. By the 1980s, almost half of the total flying in the world took place in the U.S., and today the domestic industry operates over 10,000 daily departures nationwide. Toward the end of the century, a new style of
low cost airline emerged, offering a no-frills product at a lower price.
Southwest Airlines,
JetBlue,
AirTran Airways,
Skybus Airlines and other low-cost carriers began to represent a serious challenge to the so-called "legacy airlines", as did their low-cost counterparts in many other countries. Their commercial viability represented a serious competitive threat to the legacy carriers. However, of these,
ATA and Skybus have since ceased operations. Increasingly since 1978, US airlines have been reincorporated and
spun off by newly created and internally led management companies, and thus becoming nothing more than operating units and subsidiaries with limited financially decisive control. Among some of these
holding companies and
parent companies which are relatively well known, are the
UAL Corporation, along with the
AMR Corporation, among a long
list of airline holding companies sometime recognized worldwide. Less recognized are the
private-equity firms which often seize managerial, financial, and
board of directors control of distressed airline companies by temporarily investing large sums of
capital in air carriers, to rescheme an airlines assets into a profitable organization or
liquidating an air carrier of their profitable and worthwhile routes and business operations. Thus the last 50 years of the airline industry have varied from reasonably profitable, to devastatingly depressed. As the first major market to deregulate the industry in 1978, U.S. airlines have experienced more turbulence than almost any other country or region. In fact, no U.S.
legacy carrier survived bankruptcy-free. Among the outspoken critics of deregulation, former CEO of American Airlines,
Robert Crandall has publicly stated: "Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing shows airline industry deregulation was a mistake."
Bailout Congress passed the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (P.L. 107–42) in response to a severe liquidity crisis facing the already-troubled airline industry in the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks. Through the
ATSB Congress sought to provide cash infusions to carriers for both the cost of the four-day federal shutdown of the airlines and the incremental losses incurred through December 31, 2001, as a result of the terrorist attacks. This resulted in the first government bailout of the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2005 US airlines lost $30 billion with wage cuts of over $15 billion and 100,000 employees laid off. In recognition of the essential national economic role of a healthy aviation system, Congress authorized partial compensation of up to $5 billion in cash subject to review by the
U.S. Department of Transportation and up to $10 billion in loan guarantees subject to review by a newly created
Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB). The applications to DOT for reimbursements were subjected to rigorous multi-year reviews not only by DOT program personnel but also by the
Government Accountability Office and the DOT Inspector General. Ultimately, the federal government provided $4.6 billion in one-time, subject-to-income-tax cash payments to 427 U.S. air carriers, with no provision for repayment, essentially a gift from the taxpayers. (Passenger carriers operating scheduled service received approximately $4 billion, subject to tax.) In addition, the ATSB approved loan guarantees to six airlines totaling approximately $1.6 billion. Data from the
U.S. Treasury Department show that the government recouped the $1.6 billion and a profit of $339 million from the fees, interest and purchase of discounted airline stock associated with loan guarantees. the four largest
major carriers controlled 70% of the U.S. passenger market. Commercial air service commenced three weeks later from
Manila to
Baguio, making it Asia's first airline route. Bachrach's death in 1937 paved the way for its eventual merger with Philippine Airlines in March 1941 and made it Asia's oldest airline. It is also the oldest airline in Asia still operating under its current name. Bachrach's majority share in PATCO was bought by beer magnate Andres R. Soriano in 1939 upon the advice of General
Douglas MacArthur and later merged with newly formed Philippine Airlines with PAL as the surviving entity. Soriano has controlling interest in both airlines before the merger. PAL restarted service on 15 March 1941, with a single
Beech Model 18 NPC-54 aircraft, which started its daily services between
Manila (from
Nielson Field) and
Baguio, later to expand with larger aircraft such as the DC-3 and Vickers Viscount. of
Japan Air Transport, 1937 In Japan,
Japan Air Transport was established in 1928 as the national flag carrier. Upon the completion of
Haneda Airport in 1931, it became the airline's hub. The airline initially operated domestic routes such as
Tokyo–
Osaka and Osaka–
Fukuoka. In September 1929, it opened its first overseas route, which connected Fukuoka to
Dalian in the
Kwantung Leased Territory via
Seoul and
Pyongyang in
Japanese Korea. After Japan established the puppet state of
Manchukuo, the airline opened routes to major cities within this territory. The company was reorganized as
Japan Airways in 1938. During the Second World War, it operated routes to various Japanese-occupied territories and
Thailand. The company was dissolved immediately after the war, as civil aviation was prohibited by the
Allied Occupation Forces. Civil aviation in Japan did not resume until the founding of
Japan Airlines in 1951.
Cathay Pacific was one of the first airlines to be launched among the other Asian countries in 1946. The license to operate as an airliner was granted by the federal government body after reviewing the necessity at the national assembly. The
Hanjin occupies the largest ownership of Korean Air as well as few low-budget airlines as of now. Korean Air is one of the four founders of
SkyTeam, which was established in 2000.
Asiana Airlines, launched in 1988, joined
Star Alliance in 2003. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines comprise one of the largest combined airline miles and number of passenger served at the regional market of Asian airline industry
India was also one of the first countries to embrace civil aviation. One of the first Asian airline companies was
Air India, which was founded as
Tata Airlines in 1932, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now
Tata Group). The airline was founded by India's leading industrialist,
JRD Tata. On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single engined
De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of
Imperial Airways) from
Karachi to
Bombay via
Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to
Madras via Bellary piloted by
Royal Air Force pilot
Nevill Vintcent. Tata Airlines was also one of the world's first major airlines which began its operations without any support from the Government. With the outbreak of World War II, the airline presence in Asia came to a relative halt, with many new flag carriers donating their aircraft for military aid and other uses. Following the end of the war in 1945, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946, under the name Air India. After the
independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the
Government of India. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name
Air India International. On 31 July 1946, a chartered Philippine Airlines (PAL)
DC-4 ferried 40 American servicemen to
Oakland,
California, from Nielson Airport in
Makati with stops in
Guam,
Wake Island,
Johnston Atoll and
Honolulu,
Hawaii, making PAL the first Asian airline to cross the
Pacific Ocean. A regular service between
Manila and
San Francisco was started in December. It was during this year that the airline was designated as the flag carrier of Philippines. During the era of
decolonization, newly born Asian countries started to embrace air transport. Among the first Asian carriers during the era were
Cathay Pacific of
Hong Kong (founded in September 1946),
Orient Airways (later
Pakistan International Airlines; founded in October 1946),
Air Ceylon (later
SriLankan Airlines; founded in 1947),
Malayan Airways Limited in 1947 (later
Singapore and
Malaysia Airlines),
El Al in
Israel in 1948,
Garuda Indonesia in 1949,
Thai Airways in 1960, and
Korean National Airlines in 1947.
Latin America and Caribbean is the largest airline in
Latin America in terms of number of annual passengers flown. Among the first countries to have regular airlines in Latin America and the Caribbean were
Bolivia with
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano,
Cuba with
Cubana de Aviación,
Colombia with
Avianca (the first airline established in the Americas), Argentina with
Aerolíneas Argentinas,
Chile with
LAN Chile (today
LATAM Airlines),
Brazil with
Varig, the
Dominican Republic with
Dominicana de Aviación,
Mexico with
Mexicana de Aviación,
Trinidad and Tobago with
BWIA West Indies Airways (today
Caribbean Airlines),
Venezuela with
Aeropostal,
Puerto Rico with
Puertorriquena; and
TACA based in
El Salvador and representing several airlines of
Central America (
Costa Rica,
Guatemala,
Honduras and
Nicaragua). All the previous airlines started regular operations well before
World War II. Puerto Rican commercial airlines such as
Prinair,
Oceanair,
Fina Air and
Vieques Air Link came much after the second world war, as did several others from other countries like Mexico's
Interjet and
Volaris, Venezuela's
Aserca Airlines and others. The air travel market has evolved rapidly over recent years in
Latin America. Some industry estimates indicated in 2011 that over 2,000 new aircraft will begin service over the next five years in this region. These airlines serve domestic flights within their countries, as well as connections within Latin America and also overseas flights to North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Only four airline groups –
Avianca, Panama's
Copa, Mexico's
Volaris, and
LATAM Airlines – have international subsidiaries and cover many destinations within the Americas as well as major hubs in other continents. LATAM with
Chile as the central operation along with
Peru,
Ecuador,
Colombia,
Brazil and
Argentina and formerly with some operations in the
Dominican Republic. The
Avianca group has its main operation in Colombia based around the hub in
Bogotá, Colombia, as well as subsidiaries in various Latin American countries with hubs in
San Salvador, El Salvador, as well as
Lima, Peru, with a smaller operation in Ecuador. Copa has subsidiaries
Copa Airlines Colombia and
Wingo, both in Colombia, while Volaris of Mexico has
Volaris Costa Rica and
Volaris El Salvador, and the Irelandia group formerly included
Viva Aerobus of Mexico,
Viva Colombia and
Viva Air Peru. ==Regulation==