Editing Commercial aviation (section)

===United States===
====Origins====
[[File:The World areas covered by Commercial Air Routes.jpg|thumb|Areas covered by commercial air routes in 1925|282x282px]]
[[Harry Bruno]] and [[Juan Trippe]] were early promoters of commercial aviation.

The [[Air Commerce Act of 1926]] began to regularize commercial aviation by establishing standards, facilitation, and promotion. An Aeronautical Branch was established in the [[United States Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]] with [[William P. MacCracken Jr.]] as director. To promote commercial aviation, he told [[town fathers]] that "Communities without airports would be communities without airmail."

Writing for ''[[Collier's]]'' in 1929, he noted "Commercial aviation is the first industry inspired by hero-worship and built upon heros". He cited the promotion in South America by [[Herbert Dargue]] in early 1927. After his 1927 trans-Atlantic flight, [[Charles Lindbergh]] made a tour of the [[contiguous United States]], paid for by the [[Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics|Daniel Guggenheim Foundation for the Promotion of Aeronautics]]. From that point, commercial aviation took off:

<blockquote>Roads were choked on Sundays, for weeks afterward, by motorists trying to get to [[Lambert Field]], Lindbergh's home port in Saint Louis, to buy their first air hop. Hundreds of thousands of you went aloft for the first time that summer.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=McCracken |first1=William P. Jr. |author-link=William P. MacCracken Jr. |last2=Courtney |first2=W. B. |date=1929-12-21 |title=It's Hard to Get You Up: Selling aviation in America |magazine=[[Collier's]] |pages=10–11 }}</ref></blockquote>[[File:011 Aircraft of various airlines together at Narita Airport, Japan. Swiss Air Lines, United Airlines, Thai Airways.JPG|thumb|right|Variety of commercial airliners at [[Narita International Airport|Tokyo Narita Airport]]]]

The Aeronautical Branch was charged with issuing [[commercial pilot license]]s, [[airworthiness certificate]]s, and with investigating [[air accident]]s.<ref>[https://www.faa.gov/about/history/milestones/media/The_First_Federal_Regulator_for_Aviation.pdf The First Federal Regulator for Aviation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003030738/https://www.faa.gov/about/history/milestones/media/The_First_Federal_Regulator_for_Aviation.pdf |date=2017-10-03 }} from [[Federal Aviation Administration]]</ref>

====1920s and 30s====
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Many small regional airlines operated in the 1920s in the United States. Many of them merged or were acquired late in the decade by the first developing nationwide airlines, such as [[Eastern Airlines]], [[Pan Am]], [[American Airlines]], and [[Trans World Airlines|TWA]].

====After 1945====
{{Main|Post-war aviation}}
[[File:boarding easyjet a319 g-ezav at palma majorca arp.jpg|thumb|A commercial aviation scene at [[Palma de Mallorca Airport|Palma de Mallorca]], the airport of [[Mallorca]], Spain. Passengers board an [[EasyJet]] [[Airbus A320]] (2010)]]

After World War II, commercial aviation grew rapidly, using mostly ex-military aircraft to transport people and cargo. The experience used in designing [[heavy bomber]]s such as the [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] and [[Avro Lancaster]] could be used for designing heavy commercial aircraft. The [[Douglas DC-3]] also made for easier and longer commercial flights. The first commercial jet airliner to fly was the British [[de Havilland Comet|de Havilland DH.106 Comet]]. By 1952, the British state airline [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] had introduced the Comet into scheduled service. While a technical achievement, the plane suffered a series of highly public failures, including the crashing of [[BOAC Flight 781]] and [[South African Airways Flight 201]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008 |title=On This Day – 10 January – 1954: Comet jet crashes with 35 on board |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/10/newsid_2709000/2709957.stm |access-date=February 15, 2024 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Whitney |first=Peter D. |date=April 10, 1954 |title=Comet Wreckage Found in Sea; 3 Americans Among 21 Victims |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/04/10/archives/comet-wreckage-found-in-sea-3-americans-among-21-victims-comet.html |access-date=February 15, 2024 |work=The New York Times |page=1}}</ref> By the time the problems were overcome, other jet airliner designs had already taken to the skies.