It's funny, commercial flight has become so common place that one tends to forget that powered flight itself has only been around for 100 years and in less than half that time, airlines have evolved to multimillion dollars corporations and the airliners themselves have become the ultimate of luxury for the passengers.
But let's talk about where it all started, at the end of the first world war, aircraft builders saw their military orders canceled and the interest for civil aviation as a new market grew. In the very first period after the war, commercial aviation started with the use of dumped military aircraft, scouts and bombers with the necessary modifications. These aircraft were far from comfortable. Passengers were placed in open cockpits, dressed up in thick suits and flying helmets as the only protection against the elements.
This is the B.A.T. (British Aerial Transport) FK 26, the first purposely designed airliner. Conceived and build in November 1918. B.A.T.'s chief designer Frederick Koolhoven, had realized himself that with the aircraft of the time, traveling by air would be no competition for the comfort of trains and ships. He chose to create an aircraft especially for the transport of passengers. The first day after the armistice was signed (November 11, 1918) he started working at the drawings of the B.A.T. FK 26. The FK 26 could carry four passengers in an enclosed cabin while the poor pilot sat in an open cockpit at the far end of the fuselage. Only four were built.
Following a close second was the Fokker F 2 and it's development the F 3
The passenger cabin of a Fokker F3, luxurious in a very old school way. The F3 also was the first airliner to have an on board toilet. Fokker built in great numbers and sold the F3 worldwide making it also the first successful airliner.
And then there's the Junkers F13
The Junkers F 13 was the first all metal airliner. Yet, it must be said that the F 13 was really ahead of his time and successful for years. Some F 13's have flown until the end of the twenties.
