First Jumbo Jet Is Delivered to Airlines.

Between the late 1950’s and 1970, travel by commercial jet aircraft over long distances had been limited to what the industry refers to as narrow-bodied planes. Such aircraft included the Boeing models 707 (inaugurated in 1959) and 727 (introduced in 1964), McDonnell Douglas’s DC-8, and Lockheed’s IL-62. Travel in such aircraft was limited not only by available passenger seating space but also by the amount of fuel that could be stored, mainly in storage tanks in the wings. Although long distances were obviously traversed by such airplanes prior to the introduction of jumbo jets, routes had to be planned with careful attention to refueling possibilities along the way. In terms of transatlantic flights from or to the United States, for example, direct flights originating or ending in noncoastal cities such as St. Louis or Chicago were rare.