Boeing 707 Crosses Atlantic: Jet Age Takes Flight
Pan Am Flight 114 departed New York's Idlewild Airport on October 26, 1958, carrying 111 passengers to Paris on the first commercial transatlantic jet service. The Boeing 707 cruised at 600 mph, twice the speed of propeller airliners, cutting the crossing to eight hours. Tickets cost $272 one-way, roughly $2,800 in today's money. Passengers received champagne, five-course meals, and personal attention from a crew trained in hotel-style service. Within two years, jets carried more transatlantic passengers than ocean liners. The great shipping companies, which had dominated Atlantic travel for a century, began converting their fleets to cruises. The 707 democratized international travel by making speed affordable. Boeing sold 1,010 units, and the basic design influenced every subsequent commercial jetliner.
October 26, 1958
68 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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