The evolution of transatlantic flying in photos – Business Insider

For decades, transatlantic flying had been dominated by wide-body jets designed for high capacity long-haul travel. Historically, these twin-aisle planes were efficient because they could carry more passengers and cargo at lower operating costs, effectively pushing down ticket prices.

Source: Interesting Engineering

However, since the rise of enhanced single-aisle jets with long-range capabilities, the industry is shifting and airlines are starting to put narrowbody aircraft on flights across the Atlantic.

Source: Interesting Engineering

Jet-powered transatlantic flying, however, did not start with widebody aircraft, but rather with the de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4 operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation. The single-aisle plane flew the first regularly scheduled commercial flight across the Atlantic in 1958.

Source: International Civil Aviation Organization

The plane, which was the world's first commercial jet airliner, had one aisle and an 81 passenger capacity.

Source: Duxford Aviation Society

Soon after, Boeing launched its first long-haul narrowbody jet, the four-engine Boeing 707, using the lessons learned from the Comet 4. The aircraft's first transatlantic journey was operated by Pan Am from New York to Paris.

Source: Duxford Aviation Society, Britannica

After the start of the jet age, there was a surge in demand for air travel in the 1950s and early 1960s. To handle the increase, manufacturers realized they needed to design bigger aircraft, thus beginning the era of widebody jets.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The first widebody jet was the famous Boeing 747, which revolutionized long-haul air travel. The jumbo-jet doubled the capacity of the 707 and solved the problem of congested airports packed with travelers.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Boeing

Pan Am was the first operator of the 747, which was configured with a 347-passenger capacity. The airline launched the aircraft on a route from New York to London's Heathrow Airport.

Source: Boeing

The 747 ignited the widebody market, which focused on engineering wider aircraft that could accommodate more passengers while also lowering fares. The airliner had four engines, a second level above the nose, and the lowest seat-mile cost in the industry at the time.

Source: Deutsche Welle, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The 747 was operated by dozens of airlines, like British Overseas Airways Corporation...

Source: Boeing

Delta Air Lines...

Source: Delta Flight Museum

After the 747 came the wide-body trijet McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in 1971, which was engineered after airlines like American and TWA asked manufacturers to come up with a smaller, yet still high-density, long-range aircraft to meet demand.

Source: Aerotime, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The aircraft was smaller than the mammoth 747 but could still carry 250-360 passengers. American was its launch customer.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

While the original DC-10 was designed mostly for domestic flying, later variants, including the DC-10-30 and DC-10-40, were intended for long-haul routes.

The DC-10's competitor was the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, which was the third widebody to enter commercial operations in 1972 with a capacity of up to 400 passengers and a range of over 4,000 nautical miles (4,603 miles).

Source: Aero Corner

Commercial aircraft with three engines became standard in the industry after the FAA implemented the 60-minute rule, which restricted twin-engine jets from flying further than 60 minutes from the closest suitable diversion airport.

However, the rule was waived for trijets, opening the door for carriers, like Delta Air Lines, to operate routes that twin jets could not legally serve. Delta used the L-1011 on its first transatlantic flight from Atlanta to London Gatwick Airport in 1978.

Source: Delta Flight Museum

After the success of the trijet, engineers wanted to take transatlantic flying to the next level and began engineering the famous supersonic Concorde jet. The aircraft had four engines that could propel 100 passengers across the ocean in less than four hours.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

While the idea of riding on the Concorde was thrilling, its high operating costs, extremely high fares, and environmental and safety concerns forced the plane to stop flying in 2003.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

After years of flying trijets across the Atlantic, manufacturers and airlines realized the need for more efficient twin-engine jets. The trijet's design proved to be too complex and maintenance issues arose frequently due to the middle engine being mounted on the stabilizer.

Source: AvGeekery

In 1972, Airbus revolutionized air travel with the world's first twin-engine widebody aircraft, the A300B. However, twin jets were still unable to fly over oceans due to the FAA's strict 60-minute rule, but that changed with the introduction of the Boeing 767.

Source:Airbus

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, widebody twin jets reigned supreme for transatlantic travel, though there were a few exceptions.

Source: Simple Flying

And TAP Air Portugal's A321LR from Lisbon to Montreal, Canada. TAP said the aircraft's low fuel consumption allows it to "operate profitability in smaller markets that cannot be regularly served by larger widebody aircraft."

Source: Business Traveler

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The evolution of transatlantic flying in photos - Business Insider