On September 23, 1911, the first U.S. airmail flight took place.  The mail was delivered from Garden City, New York, to Minneola, New York, a distance of 5 and 1 half miles. The pilot was Earle Ovington.

After World War I, commercial air service stared up between London and Paris.  This airplane could carry a total of 15 passengers and flew at 87 miles per hour.  The flight from Paris to London took two and a half hours.

The Graf Zeppelin was one of the most successful most successful airships in history.  In 1929, the Graf Zeppelin completed an around-the-world flight in 21 days, 5 hours, and 54 minutes.  It carried 20 passengers during this flight.  During its 10 years of use it flew more than 1,000,000 miles.

Introduced in 1943 as the C-69 transport, the Lockheed Constellation became an important part of the commercial air service.  It made the first round-the-world commercial passenger flight in 1947.  It took 13 days to complete.

On December 20, 1957, the Boeing 707 made its first flight.  It was the first production jet airliner and was the beginning of a dramatic change in commercial air service.  The 707 was faster, bigger, and more efficient than propeller driven airplanes.  The Boeing 707 established the United States as the leading commercial jet manufacture.

The Airbus A340 made its first flight on October 5, 1991.  The A340 can carry up to 380 passengers depending upon the cabin layout and has a range of over 8,000 miles.

The Boeing 747 is the most recognized of all modern airplanes and is the largest commercial airplane in service.  The Boeing 747 can carry up to 600 passengers flying at 565 miles per hour.

The Concorde was one of only two commercial planes that could fly at supersonic speeds.  The Concorde had a cruise speed of Mach 2.04, or more than two times the speed of sound.  Commercial flights began in January, 1976, and ended in October, 2003.  The Concorde was retired due to a decline in passengers following a crash that killed 109 people in 2000.