Commercial aviation in the 20th century

Thursday 25 June 2020 marked the 65th anniversary of the first flight of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer. We mark this occasion with a look back at how commercial aviation has changed.

Many of us have become accustomed to relatively easy access to air travel, with the low-cost of airline tickets allowing regular flights to Europe and beyond for affordable prices. This almost completely stopped in March 2020 because of the COVID-19. Many have had to cancel travel plans, and almost as many still await refunds from the airlines for their cancelled flights. Airlines are struggling financially as they have lost almost their entire income nearly overnight, and face many future challenges persuading passengers to return whilst social distancing restrictions remain in place.

It is hard to believe that it is only just over a century ago that international air travel began. The first regular international passenger flight was from Hounslow Heath in London to Le Bourget in Paris on 25 August 1919. The flight was operated by Air Transport and Travel, a company that would eventually many years later become part of British Airways.

It was not until the 1930s that passenger routes in Scotland began to open up. Pioneering pilots like Captain Edward 'Ted' Fresson (who set up Highland Airways) and Eric Gandar Dower (who set up Aberdeen Airways) would seek out landing grounds in the Highlands, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles to operate passenger services to these areas. These allowed individuals, mostly businessmen, to reach the Scottish mainland much quicker than they could do by ferry. Both Fresson and Gandar Dower primarily operated these services using the de Havilland Dragon, which could carry six passengers.

Although commercial aviation was interrupted by the Second World War, the Inverness to Kirkwall route, which had been started by Highland Airways in May 1933, continued, in order to transport military personnel to Scapa Flow, and allow Orcadians to travel to and from home. However, the passenger windows were blanked out for security reasons.

After the end of the Second World War commercial aviation grew rapidly. Many airlines used converted bombers as passenger transports, but there were also many new aircraft designs built. One of the most successful in the post-war period was the de Havilland Dove with more than 500 aircraft built. As well as being flown by British airlines such as BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and Dan-Air, Doves were sold widely around the world. 

Perhaps the biggest development in commercial aviation was the introduction of airliners powered by turbojet engines. The world's first passenger jet service was launched on 2 May 1952 from London to Johannesburg in South Africa. This was flown by the de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner.

It was an exciting time, with the prospect of fast, smooth, quiet travel to anywhere in the world. However, being first in any field of technology often brings its own problems and that was the case with the Comet. A series of crashes were eventually found to be due to cracks caused by metal fatigue. This issue was not well understood at the time, but the pressurisation and de-pressurisation as aircraft took off and landed led to stress fractures around punched rivet holes in the airframe, which spread, causing the airframe to fail and disintegrate in the air.

Comet 4C at the National Museum of Flight © Ruth Armstrong Photography

The problems were eventually solved and an improved version of the Comet, the Comet 4, entered service in 1958. In fact, on 4 October 1958, a BOAC Comet 4 became the first jet aircraft to launch transatlantic services, beating Pan American by three weeks. However, de Havilland's competitors had learnt from the mistakes with the Comet. Also the Boeing 707 was larger, had a longer range and was faster, all of which made it more cost effective. Examples of both the Comet and 707 (forward fuselage) are displayed at the National Museum of Flight. Discover the story of the Comet G-BDIX at the National Museum of Flight.

By this time, research into the concept of a supersonic transport aircraft had begun. It was quickly realised in both France and Britain that neither country had the resources at that time to develop such an aircraft separately, and thus they agreed to work together to develop a supersonic airline, which would eventually become Concorde. The French prototype first flew in 1969 and British Airways and Air France Concordes entered service simultaneously on 21 January 1976. Supersonic services continued to be operated until Concorde was finally withdrawn from service in 2003.

Concorde G-BOAA at the National Museum of Flight flew the inaugural British Airways service on 21 January 1976, flying from London to Bahrain.

Air travel has become more affordable and accessible over the past century, with large wide-body jets carrying hundreds of passengers at a time. The Covid pandemic restrictions on travel saw the skies become quieter than they had been for many years, even more so than they were following the 9/11 attacks in the USA. Thankfully, we can once again travel, for holidays, business, or to see loved ones in far distant places and it is important to remember the role aviation plays in our lives and the part that Scotland, and Scottish Aviation in particular, has had in it.