Travel Improvements for European Vacations During 1958-1963

Max Kellerman says on September 1, 1963, that his summer-resort business is suffering because young people prefer to fly to Europe during their summer vacations.

It's not the changes so much this time. It's that it all seems to be ending. You think kids want to come with their parents and take fox-trot lessons? Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. Twenty-two countries in three days. It feels like it's all slipping away.

Travel improvements for vacations in Europe were developing quickly.

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The first commercial jet-airliner transatlantic flight had happened less than five years previously. The first company, BOAC, provided the first such flight on October 4, 1958.

On 4 October 1958, the very first transatlantic jet services took flight. British airline BOAC flew two de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft – one from New York to London and one from London to New York – on this day.

Jet aircraft substantially reduced travel times. Flights on the Boeing Stratocruiser could take up to 20 hours to cross the Atlantic, so it really was the dawn of a new era.

At the time, there was intense competition between airlines to see who would be first to cross the Atlantic with jets. Pan American was the main contender and they flew the route just three weeks after BOAC.

Below is a short video about the delivery of the Comet 4 to BOAC. This British built aircraft operated the first transatlantic jet flight, though it did not operate there for a long time due to its limited range.

.... The Comet seated 48 passengers in two cabins, Deluxe and First Class. ....

The second company, Pan American, provided its first such flight on October 26, 1958. Below is Pan American's promotional film about this new service.

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Before 1958, transatlantic flights were done by propeller airliners, which were much slower. A flight from New York to London took about 14 hours.

A jet flight took less than half that time. Jet flights soon became much cheaper than propeller flights had been.

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See my previous articles about movies depicting young people's vacations in Europe in the 1960s.

* Gidget Goes to Rome (a 1963 movie)

* If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (a 1969 movie)