Pan Am's jet lands at Le Bourget; New York to Paris in six hours of air time
For three decades, crossing the Atlantic by air meant nine droning hours behind piston engines. On October 26, 1958, Pan American World Airways flew a Boeing 707 named Clipper America out of New York's Idlewild Airport, carrying 111 passengers and 12 crew toward Paris. The jet paused to refuel at Gander, Newfoundland, then pressed on to Le Bourget Airport, cutting the flying time to roughly six hours. Propeller travel across the Atlantic was finished.
Pan Am's flight put an American-built jet, flown by an American carrier, at the front of the Jet Age, forcing airports and air traffic control nationwide to modernize around jet speed, with airline catering close behind. The Boeing 707 made American manufacturing synonymous with commercial aviation for a generation.
