The first commercial jet, the de Havilland Comet was built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company for the British Overseas Airways Corporation in the late 1940's. The prototype made its first flight in 1949 with the finished plane making its first commercial passenger flight in 1952. The de Havilland Comet could make the flight from London to New York in under six hours, half the time of a traditional propeller-driven plane. Due to problems with pressurization and metal fatigue, the Comet had a series of fatal crashes that took the plane out of commission. After a series of improvements, the Comet was reintroduced in 1958. It made its last flight in 1997.
The first commercially successful passenger jet, the Boeing 707 went through a series of designs in the 1950's and made its first flight in 1957; its first commercial flight took place a year later. Over the course of its production, the 707 saw more variations than any other plane in history. It could fly from New York to Paris in a little over eight hours. Released shortly after the de Havilland Comet, the Boeing 707 could accommodate 181 passengers, twice as many as the Comet. Produced until 1978, the Boeing 707 passenger jet made its final flight in 1983, with some 707s finding military use until 1991.
As the second largest airline of the 1950's, the Douglas Aircraft Company was quick to develop its own jet airliner with the DC-8, built in 1958 and introduced in 1959. Slightly smaller than the Boeing 707, the DC-8 could hold more cargo and access airports that the Boeing could not. The DC-8 had the largest seating capacity available at the time: over 260 passengers. The DC-8 would later break the sound barrier, thereby holding the distinction of being the first passenger jet to make a supersonic flight. Though Douglas ceased production on the DC-8 in 1972, many DC-8 models are still in use as of 2011 as freighters or luxury corporate aircraft.
Designed by French aircraft manufacturer Sud Aviation, the Caravelle was the first jet airliner to have its engines mounted at the rear of the fuselage rather than on the wings, making its cabin much quieter than the cabins of other passenger jets of the time. The Caravelle made its first flight in 1955 and entered service in 1959, going on to become the most successful jetliner in Europe at the time. The Caravelle borrowed many designs from the de Havilland Comet: both companies had worked together on previous designs. It also featured its own one-of-a-kind designs like rear-facing passenger seats and triangular windows. Used commercially and also in military service, the last Caravelle in service made its final flight in 2004.
