Jet airliner

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Sound of jet airliner overhead

The sound of a jet airliner passing overhead (starts at about 20 seconds)

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A jet airliner or jetliner is an

Most airliners today are powered by jet engines, because they are capable of safely operating at high speeds and generate sufficient thrust to power large-capacity aircraft. The first jetliners, introduced in the 1950s, used the simpler turbojet engine; these were quickly supplanted by designs using turbofans, which are quieter and more fuel-efficient.

History

Early history

The first airliners with turbojet propulsion were experimental conversions of the Avro Lancastrian piston-engined airliner, which were flown with several types of early jet engine, including the de Havilland Ghost and the Rolls-Royce Nene. They retained the two inboard piston engines, the jets being housed in the outboard nacelles. The first airliner with jet power only was the Nene-powered Vickers VC.1 Viking G-AJPH, which first flew on 6 April 1948.

The early jet airliners had much lower interior levels of noise and vibration than contemporary piston-engined aircraft, so much so that in 1947, after piloting a jet powered aircraft for the first time, Wing Commander Maurice A. Smith, editor of Flight magazine, said, "Piloting a jet aircraft has confirmed one opinion I had formed after flying as a passenger in the Lancastrian jet test beds, that few, if any, having flown in a jet-propelled transport, will wish to revert to the noise, vibration and attendant fatigue of an airscrew-propelled piston-engined aircraft"^[1]

1950s

The first purpose-built jet airliner was the British

The de Havilland and Tupolev designs had engines incorporated within the wings next to the fuselage, a concept that endured only within military designs while the Caravelle pioneered engines mounted either side of the rear fuselage.

1960s

The 1960s jet airliners include the

In 1978, Boeing unveiled the twin-engine Boeing 757 to replace its 727, and the wide body twin-engine 767 to challenge the Airbus A300.^[10][11][12] The mid-size 757 and 767 launched to market success, due in part to 1980s extended-range twin-engine operational performance standards (ETOPS) regulations governing transoceanic twinjet operations.^[13] These regulations allowed twin-engine airliners to make ocean crossings at up to three hours' distance from emergency diversionary airports.^[14] Under ETOPS rules, airlines began operating the 767 on long-distance overseas routes that did not require the capacity of larger airliners.^[13][15][16]

1990s

By the late 1980s, DC-10 and L-1011 models were approaching retirement age, prompting manufacturers to develop replacement designs.

The A380 was discontinued in 2019 and the last plane was delivered to Emirates in 2021. Airbus began designing it in the 90s with the expectation that airlines would be moving many people between large hubs with just one flight. Their focus was on building a very large plane with a conventional metal airframe and engines to supersede the 747. However, airlines started to operate more direct, point-to-point flights between smaller cities which made twin engine jets more attractive and economical to operate.^[21] For comparison, Boeing took a different approach and started development of the 787 in 2003 with a new composite frame and more fuel-efficient engines. This would prove to be the smarter choice as the lighter airframe paired with two next generation engines (Trent 1000 and GEnx) was much less costly to operate then the quad engine A380. The final blow to the A380 program came when Emirates cancelled a major order in 2018 and left Airbus without enough demand to continue production. It cancelled the program after realizing it would never recoup the €25 billon ($30 billion) spent on research and development.^[22] In all, 251 A380s were produced for and flown by 14 airlines.^[23] As of June 2023, Boeing has produced 1,054 787s for 34 airlines and has 592 unfulfilled orders.^[24]

Timeline

Comparison

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See also

• Airliner
• Aviation
• Business jet
• Freight aircraft
• Jet aircraft
• Wide-body aircraft
• List of jet airliners

References

Works cited