747-8I (N6067E) takeoff.jpg
The Boeing 747 was the first wide-body airliner. Pictured is the 747-8I model which first flew in 2011.
The Airbus A320 narrow-body is a popular short-medium distance aircraft.




A United Airlines DC-6 at Stapleton Airport, Denver, in September 1966


If an airliner is defined as a plane intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial service, the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets was the first official[citation needed] passenger aircraft. The Ilya Muromets was a luxurious aircraft with an isolated passenger saloon, wicker chairs, bedroom, lounge and a bathroom. The aircraft also had heating and electrical lighting. The Ilya Muromets first flew on December 10, 1913. On February 25, 1914, it took off for its first demonstration flight with 16 passengers aboard. From June 21 – June 23, it made a round-trip from Saint Petersburg to Kiev in 14 hours and 38 minutes with one intermediate landing. If it had not been for World War I, the Ilya Muromets would have probably started passenger flights that same year.

The second airliner was the Farman F.60 Goliath from 1919, which could seat up to 14 passengers, approximately 60 were built. The world's first all-metal aircraft was the Junkers F.13, also from 1919 with 322 built.

The Ford Trimotor was an important early airliner. With two engines mounted on the wings and one in the nose and a slabsided body, it carried eight passengers and was produced from 1925 to 1933. It was used by the predecessor to TWA as well as other airlines long after production ceased. In 1932 the 14-passenger Douglas DC-2 flew and in 1935 the more powerful, faster, 21–32 passenger Douglas DC-3. DC-3s were produced in quantity for WWII and sold as surplus afterward.The Douglas DC-3 was a particularly important airplane because it was the first airliner to be profitable without a government subsidy.[3]

The first jet airliners came in the immediate post war era. Turbojet engines were trialled on piston engine airframes such as the Avro Lancastrian and the Vickers VC.1 Viking the latter becoming the first jet engined passenger aircraft in April 1948. The first purpose built jet airliners were the de Havilland Comet (UK) and the Avro Jetliner (Canada). The former entered production and service while the latter did not. The Comet was unfortunate in that metal fatigue caused by the square shape of the windows in early versions could cause crashes.

Jets did not immediately replace piston engines and many designs used the turboprop rather than the turbojet or the later turbofan engines.

Postwar airliner history in the United States

The United States gained a huge advantage in design and production in the airline industry in the years leading up to the war, but many of the developments would be put off until after the war as the manufacturing efforts were placed on the war effort. The advancements that the United States would make in this industry were in large due to the cooperation of the airlines discussing what they desired with the airliner manufacturers. Soon after the war though Douglas made a large advancement with the DC-4, although this could not cross the Atlantic at every point, it was able to make a nonstop flight from New York to the United Kingdom. Due to the war going on, the first batch of these planes went to the US Army and Air Forces, and was named the C-54 Skymaster. Some of these that were used in the war would later be converted for the airline industry, along with the passenger and cargo versions that were placed on the market once the war ended. Douglas would later develop a version of this plane that was pressurized and 5 feet longer; this redesigned plane would become the DC-6. These DC-6s would be grounded for 6 months to rectify a few safety issues that were causing in-flight fires.

Soon after the DC-4, Lockheed developed the distinctive tri-tail Constellation. An aviation breakthrough, it was the first pressurized airliner, allowing it to fly higher, and therefore further and faster than ever before. Its fuselage was some 127 inches wider than the DC-4's. Drafted by the military in WWII, it experienced a similar late entry into the civilian airline industry. Safety concerns grounded it for six months soon after it entered service while problems were investigated and repaired.

In 1947 the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser entered the industry with a completely different design than Douglas and Lockheed aircraft. Based on the C-97 military transport, it had a double deck and pressurized fuselage. Luxury and a 100 passenger capacity distinguished it from its rivals. While 900 C-97s were supplied to the military only 55 were produced for civil aviation.

The American companies had done a great job of advancing the status of transcontinental travel, but there was also the aging fleet of DC-3s that had to be addressed. Convair decided that they were going to address this market, and would begin producing the Convair 240 which was a 40 person fully pressurized plane. There were 566 of these planes that would fly, including 2 that were equipped with jet-assisted take off units. Convair would later develop the Convair 340, which was slightly larger and could accommodate between 44 and 52 passengers, and there were 311 of this model plane were produced. Finally Convair would create a Convair 440, which had small modifications including much better soundproofing than the previous models. Convair would experience a little bit of competition from the Martin 2-0-2 and Martin 4-0-4, but in general Convair was able to control this market, as the 2-0-2 had safety concerns and was unpressurized, and the 4-0-4 only sold around 100 units.[4]


Postwar airliner history in Great Britain

Great Britain was in a very different position after the war than the United States. Unlike the United States, Great Britain had a small domestic market and almost all of the airplane construction that had take place domestically was for war. In December 1942 the British government had a committee put in place to set classifications for airplanes ranging from Non-Stop North Atlantic airplanes to Small Piston-engine airplanes for light traffic. These classifications were set up to encourage development of airliners of all types. In order to recover from the difficulties that this caused many of the postwar airliners were bombers that were converted to allow for commercial air travel, but this was not very economical as the planes could hold very few people. The first postwar program that was attempted in Great Britain was the Tudor airliner, however this was regarded as a failure due to safety concerns and few sales. The first successful British Airliner was a Vickers Armstrongs Viking. These were unpressurized and could hold between 21 and 27 people depending on the model. On April 6, 1948 one of these Viking airliners became the first jet-airliner to fly. The previous engines were now replaced with Rolls-Royce Nene Turbojets. In 1946 the Bristol 170 was the first transport aircraft to receive a Certificate of Airworthiness from the British government. This plane remained in production for 12 years with 214 of the aircraft built. The British would also produce several smaller aircraft such as the Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador in 1947 and the Miles M.57 Aerovan in 1945, and the DH Dove and its four-engined cousin the Heron. Most of the British planes produced in the postwar era were smaller planes that carried less than 30 passengers, and did not sell as well as some of the planes produced in the United States, but these planes were enough to help the British airline industry from the lack of commercial production during the war. [4]

Postwar airliner history in France

In the postwar years France developed a few significant airliners, some of these being planes that could land on water, part of the reason that the French companies were so focused on these flying boats is that in 1936 the French Air Ministry requested transatlantic flying boats that could hold at least 40 passengers. Only one model from this request would ever be put into service. The first set of these was 3 Latecoere 631’s that Air France purchased and put into service in July 1947. However, two of these planes crashed, and the third plane was soon removed because of these safety concerns. There would later be a SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc build, which was a much more successful plane, and over 100 of these were built, with 40 of them being placed into service through Air-France.[4] The French also developed the Breguet 763 Deux Ponts, which first flew in February 1949 . This was a double-decker transport airliner that would end up being used for both people and cargo. This four-engine airliner would end up being used to hold massive amounts of cargo or 97 passengers. After a long silence, France then created the Caravelle, the world's first short-to-midrange jet airliner. Subsequent French efforts were part of the Airbus pan-european initiative.

Postwar airliner history in the USSR

Soon after the war most of the Soviet fleet of airliners consisted of DC-3s or the Lisunov Li-2. These planes were in desperate need of replacement, and in 1946 the Ilyushin Il-12 made its first flight. The Il-12 was very similar in design to American Convair 240, except was unpressurized. In 1953 the Ilyushin Il-14 would make its first flight, and this version was equipped with much more powerful engines.The main contribution that the Soviets made in regards to Airliners was the Antonov An-2. This plane is a biplane unlike most of the other airliners and sold more units than any other transport plane.[4]


The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner

Wide-body airliners


Narrow-body airliners

The Boeing 757 is a narrow-body airliner



Small airliners

Short haul airliners used by airlines and regional airlines

A JetBlue Airways Embraer 190 short haul airliner.
A PLUNA Bombardier CRJ900 short haul (regional) airliner taxiing.

Regional airliners - Small (Regional) short haul airliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and may be powered by turbofans or turboprops.

These airliners, although smaller than aircraft operated by most major carriers, legacy carriers, or flag carriers, frequently serve customers who expect service similar to that offered by the larger airlines with their longer-ranged, larger airliners.



Feederliner aircraft used by regional airlines

A Compass Airlines (North America) Embraer ERJ-170-200LR in the feederliner colors of Northwest Airlink

Regional airliners - (Regional) Feederliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and may be powered by turbofans or turboprops. These airliners, are the non mainline counterparts to the larger aircraft operated by the; major carriers, legacy carriers, and flag carriers and are used to feed traffic into the large airline hubs or focus cities. These particular routes may need the size of a smaller aircraft to meet the frequency needs and service levels, customers expect in the marketed product that is offered by larger airlines and their modern narrow and widebody aircraft. Therefore, most regional airliners are equipped with lavatories and have a flight attendant to look after the in-flight needs of the passengers, along with the features of a short haul regional airliner.

Typical aircraft in this category include the Bombardier CRJ and Embraer ERJ regional jets along with the "Q" (DASH-8) series, ATR 42/72 and Saab 340/2000 turboprop airliners. Airlines and their partners sometimes use these for flights between small hubs, or for bringing passengers to hub cities where they may board larger aircraft. Typically, these regional feederliners, are painted in the aircraft liveries and color schemes of the much larger airline partners so the regional airlines may offer and market a seamless transition between the larger airline to smaller airline.

Commuterliner aircraft used by regional airlines and air taxi charter operators

The Beechcraft 1900 short range commuter aircraft


Other aircraft that may fall into this category are the Fairchild Metro, Jetstream 31, and Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante. The Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12, are single-engine turboprops, sometimes used as a small airliner, although many countries stipulate a minimum requirement of two engines for aircraft to be used as airliners.



Until the beginning of the Jet Age, piston engines were common on propliners like the Douglas DC-3. Nearly all modern airliners are now powered by turbine engines, either turbofans or turboprops. Gas turbine engines operate efficiently at much higher altitudes, are more reliable than piston engines, and produce less vibration and noise. Prior to the Jet Age, it was common for the same or very similar engines to be used in civilian airliners as in military aircraft. In recent years, divergence has occurred so that it is now unusual for the same engine to be used on a military type as a civilian type. Usually military aircraft which share engine technology with airliners are transports or tanker types.

Airliner variants



Modern airliners are usually low-wing designs with engines mounted in underwing pods (usually two of them). For airliners, multi-engine design is mandated by some national regulations so that aircraft can continue to climb even in the worst case of power loss in one engine right after take-off. Another regulatory demand is that aircraft are able to fly a minimum specified amount of time after one engine fails in flight (see ETOPS).

Mounting the engines underneath and to the fore of the wing moves weight from the fuselage to the wings, imposing less bending moment on them and allowing for a lighter wing structure. After this feature proved successful in military jets, Boeing introduced it to its 707 airliner design and it has been increasingly adopted since.[5]

Mounting the engines in underwing pods also makes physical access for maintenance quicker and easier compared to tail-mounted engines.

Additionally, low wing design helps keep the engine nacelles and refueling valves closer to the ground to simplify access and the wing's surface acts as a barrier to prevent the engines' noise from reaching the fuselage in-flight.

Both Airbus and Boeing use this common layout for all of their current passenger aircraft and emerging manufacturers (e.g. Embraer and Sukhoi Superjet) follow the same scheme.

In a few special cases, where engine proximity to ground is detrimental (e.g. rural airfields with risk of foreign object damage or dirt), airliners will feature tail-mounted engines (e.g. MD-80 or Tu-334) or high-wing designs with underhung nacelles (e.g. BAe 146). These planes become rarer as almost all newly built airliners have underwing nacelles. Tail-engined designs are mostly used by business jet manufacturers.

Future airliners may feature innovative delta wing or lifting body outlines.


Assembly of a Boeing 767 airliner nose section

These include:

The international market for middle-sized and large-sized airliners is now divided between Airbus and Boeing, although Russian/former Soviet manufacturers still sell significant numbers of airliners to their traditional markets. Smaller-sized aircraft manufacturers include, in addition to these two, ATR, Embraer and Bombardier.

Notable airliners

Notable airliners – an Airbus A380 "superjumbo" of Singapore Airlines takes off
  • Boeing 307 - One of the first airliners to be pressurized and have the ability to fly into the stratosphere
  • Boeing 377- Developed soon after World War 2, from the C-97 Stratofreighter, this was a luxurious double-decker airliner with a pressurized cabin.
  • Vickers Viscount – the first turboprop airliner to enter service
  • De Havilland Comet – the world's first jetliner to reach mass production, its reputation was marred by a series of crashes due to structural failure
  • Antonov An-2- Best selling transport airliner up to the point it was built.
  • Tupolev Tu-154 - standard medium-range airliner for Russia (and others), carried half of all Soviet traffic since 1972 with 1015 built and the fastest airliner in service
  • Ilyushin Il-62 - standard long-range airliner for Russia (and others) for three decades, first flight 1963 and still in service
  • Boeing 737 – the best-selling jet airliner in the history of aviation[6]
  • Boeing 747 "jumbo jet" – an iconic aircraft, it was the world's largest airliner between 1969 and 2005
  • Airbus A300 – the world's first twinjet widebody
  • Airbus A320pioneered the use of fly-by-wire technology
  • Airbus A380 "superjumbo" – the world's largest airliner from 2005 onwards
  • Boeing 787 Dreamliner - the world's first jet airliner to make use of composite materials for most of its construction

Airliner recycling





Cabin configurations and features

Boarding an Airbus A380 at the Farnborough Airshow, 2006







Overhead bins

The overhead bins are used for stowing carry-on baggage and other items. While the airliner manufacturer will normally supply a standard product, airlines may choose to have bins of differing size, shape, or color installed. Over time, these bins evolved out of what were originally overhead shelves used for little more than coat and briefcase storage. As concerns about falling debris during turbulence or in accidents increased, enclosed bins became the norm. Bins have increased in size in order to accommodate the larger carry-on baggage passengers may bring onto the aircraft. New bin designs may include a handrail, useful when moving through the cabin.

Passenger service units



Cabin pressurization




Cabin climate control


Baggage holds

An Airbus A320 baggage hold
Loading luggage onto a Boeing 747 at Boston Logan Airport, during a closure due to heavy snow
Boeing 747 front lower compartment. Note the rollers for ULDs on the floor and the partition labeled "Caution: Do Not Hit -- Potable Water Tank Inside".





Narrow-body airliners



Wide-body airliners





See also




  2. ^ Bernardo, James V. Aviation and Space: In the Modern World. New York: E.P Dutton & Co., Inc., 1968. Print.
  3. ^ Mellberg, William F. 2003. “TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION.” Mechanical Engineering 125, 22-25. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2010).
  5. ^ Cacutt, Len (ed.) (1986). The World's Greatest Aircraft. Aerospace Publishing. 
  6. ^ Kingsley-Jones, Max. "6,000 and counting for Boeing’s popular little twinjet." Flight International, Reed Business Information, April 22, 2009. Retrieved: April 22, 2009.

"Aviation Industry." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2011 from

Brayton thermodynamic cycle


External links and references

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • airliner — airliner, airplane, airship (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) n. See aviation …   English dictionary for students

  • airliner — ► NOUN ▪ a large passenger aircraft …   English terms dictionary

  • airliner — [er′līn΄ər] n. a large airline operated aircraft for carrying passengers …   English World dictionary

  • airliner — UK [ˈeə(r)ˌlaɪnə(r)] / US [ˈerˌlaɪnər] noun [countable] Word forms airliner : singular airliner plural airliners mainly journalism a large aircraft for passengers …   English dictionary

  • airliner — noun Airliner is used after these nouns: ↑jet …   Collocations dictionary

  • airliner — [[t]e͟ə(r)laɪnə(r)[/t]] airliners N COUNT An airliner is a large aeroplane that is used for carrying passengers …   English dictionary

  • airliner — noun Date: 1908 an airplane operated by an airline …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • airliner — /air luy neuhr/, n. a passenger aircraft operated by an airline. [1905 10; AIR1 + LINER1] * * * …   Universalium

  • airliner — noun a passenger carrying aircraft, especially one of a fleet operated by an airline …   Wiktionary

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