Airlines of the Jet Age: A History - Hardcover

Davies, R. E.G.

3.67

9 ratings by Goodreads

9780978846084: Airlines of the Jet Age: A History

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0978846087 ISBN 13: 9780978846084

Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2011

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This book provides the first comprehensive history of the world's airline industries from the early 1960s to the present day. It begins with the advent of jet airliners, covers the 'second' jet age of wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and DC-10, and closes with the introduction of the 'third' jet age, which begins with the double-decked giant Airbus A380. This reference book, covering airlines around the globe, is the ultimate resource for information on modern air transport. The volume also includes an informative introductory chapter guiding readers from the infancy of flight, through the air-transport craft in use during the two World Wars, and into the jet age.

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About the Author:

R.E.G. Davies recently retired as the Curator of Air Transport at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. He has authored or co-authored 21 books about aviation and airlines. He lives in England with his wife.

Review:

In this comprehensive reference, the retired curator of air transport at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum describes the jet age as a series of stages beginning in 1952. He also discusses the huge changes wrought by these innovations: the first Comet aircraft could not cross oceans, for example, but today’s A380s fly halfway round the world nonstop. While few tourists could afford those early flights, today air travel is commonplace. Also covered are economic aspects of the industry, such as the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which led to price wars and continued fights for survival. Davies’s coverage of lesser-known airlines from India to the Andes is exceptional. Appendixes of selected aircraft specifications and notable events and a bibliography follow. (Library Journal Best Reference Review)

Value is one thing that the important and unique Airlines of the Jet Age will never loose. Together with the late Ron Davies's numerous other valuable writings, this tome will stand in enduring tribute to the zestful life and career of its illustrious and unforgettable author. (Airways)

Delta: The Illustrated History of a Major U.S. Airline and the People Who Made It) divides the industry’s rise into ten segments and 53 chapters, covering the evolution of planes through the industry’s advance across continents and into the contemporary era’s complications. The book functions as a highly detailed and engaging chronology that also highlights industry figures and government regulations in subdivided chapters. Studded with photographs and charts comparing historical circumstances, the history closes with several valuable appendixes that include tables relating aircraft specs by nation and manufacturer. An excellent, accessible cover-to-cover read for nonspecialists interested in airline history. (Library Journal 2011-10-01)

Sadly, Ron Davies passed away just as his latest blockbuster was published - but this book is a fitting memorial to an author whose works will continue to be standard references on the history of airlines and airliners. It started with A History of the World’s Airlines, now a rare collectors item, and continued with his series for Putnam. The story is now brought up to date with the modern era from 1952. It is primarily arranged as a chronological history, but it takes the focus also onto geographical areas and air carrier segments. (Air-Britain)

Sadly, Ron Davies passed away just as his latest blockbuster was published - but this book is a fitting memorial to an author whose works will continue to be standard references on the history of airlines and airliners. It started with A History of the World’s Airlines, now a rare collectors item, and continued with his series for Putnam. The story is now brought up to date with the modern era from 1952. It is primarily arranged as a chronological history, but it takes the focus also onto geographical areas and air carrier segments. Consequently, there are chapters on the development of the US commuter airlines, emergence of low-cost carriers, the supersonic question and competition from high speed rail. The histories of individual airlines are covered in considerable detail and the reasons for their rise and fall are positioned in the context of surrounding market circumstances. This book is not just a dry catalogue of facts and there are numerous anecdotes and tiny details which make the text enjoyable to read and as hard to put down as a classic novel. Scattered throughout the book are the wonderful hand-drawn maps for which Ron Davies was famous and there are numerous tables with details as obscure as listings of Mexican regional airlines and the break-up of the Chinese CAAC. One wonderfully simple by descriptive chart shows the cross sections of the Comet, Boeing 707, Boeing 747 and A380 - and explains that the A380 can carry the equivalent of ten Comets, five ‘707s and two ‘747s. Undoubtedly, this is not a cheap book, but we can guarantee that no serious airline historian can realistically manage without it. Buy now while stocks last! (Aviation World)

From the foreword: This well-balanced history melds elements of technology (improving aircraft and systems), economics (as in trying to fly airplanes as full as possible), government regulation (largely limited to safety concerns after about 1980), and foreign affairs (obtaining landing rights, or dealing with fluctuating oil costs that often parallel political crises in the Middle East). More important, this is a history concerning people (those who work for the aircraft manufacturers or airlines and the millions who regularly fly); labor relations (including unions of pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft controllers, among others); culture (for example, the reversal of business versus leisure shares of the total market); and daily management decision-making. Here and there, anecdotes remind us of the lighter human aspects of an intensely serious business. All of these elements have created the modern air transport system, efficient and impersonal, without which much of the world’s commerce and life styles would grind to a halt. To better understand how the airline world we know came to be, pack this volume in your carry-on next time you fly. (Christopher H. Sterling, George Washington University)

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