Last month, J Martin Schröder, who founded Europe’s inaugural budget airline, passed away at the age of 93. Although he wasn’t widely recognized in Britain, his impact extended well past his home country of the Netherlands. The company named after him, Martinair, took on KLM, the prominent Dutch flag carrier, and set a blueprint for subsequent pioneers in affordable air travel like Michael O'Leary from Ryanair and Stelios Haji-Ioannou from easyJet.
His Telegraph obituary Recalling Schröder’s brilliant move was realizing how easily he could transform his plane between passenger and cargo services just by installing or removing the seats. He found this transformation only took a few hours; however, some travelers grumbled about catching whiffs of livestock—horses, pigs, or cattle—that the airplane had transported previously during the night.
Which other airlines could be considered the most influential in history? Here’s what I think:
BOAC: 1940-1974
In May 1952, the British Overseas Airways Corporation led the way into the modern jet era and later evolved into "the world's favorite airline" —British Airways. BOAC de Havilland Comets A four-engine airplane roughly the same size as a Boeing 737 departed from London, making stops in Nairobi before reaching Johannesburg, and also passing through various locations in the Far East en route to Tokyo. Each leg of this journey carried 44 passengers. These flights marked the beginning of regular international commercial jet service.
Six years afterward, the company succeeding Imperial Airways achieved yet another "first". On October 4, 1958, BOAC’s De Havilland Comet 4 commenced flights from London to New York’sIdlewild Airport, which is now known as JFK. This marked the start of the transatlantic jet era. By the latter part of the 1950s, BOAC was boasting itself as the "worldwide airline," serving destinations across all continents excluding Antarctica.
In the 1970s, when the Boeing 747 entered service, yearly passenger counts surged dramatically, enabling BOAC to start making profits. Numerous people consider the BOAC jumbo with its distinctive livery to be the most aesthetically pleasing version of the aircraft.
In the past, well-traveled routes have remained quite similar to those of today—such as the journey from London to New York, which was initially flown by the 747, along with trips from London to Johannesburg, Tokyo, and the Kangaroo Route to Sydney. This continuity can be traced back to 1955. Traveling from London to Sydney lasted for four days. Including stops in cities such as Zurich, Beirut, Karachi, Kolkata, Singapore, Jakarta, and Darwin—a stark contrast to current operations—Qantas is set to initiate direct flights from London, which will last approximately 19 hours. During the 1950s and 1960s, passengers favored dishes like Maine lobster, Parma ham cornets, and roasted sirloin of beef, along with beverages including highballs and Campari and soda.
In 1974, BOAC combined forces with British European Airways to create British Airways. Even now, BA retains BOAC’s call sign for communications with air traffic control: "Speedbird."
Pan Am: 1927-1991
While BOAC might have claimed victory in the race to launch the first passenger jet services, it was Pan American Airways – commonly known as Pan Am – that took the lead. put the glamour into flying , coining the term “the jet set”. For some, the appeal was the trademark blue-and-white globe logo. For others, it was the stewardesses’ electric blue uniforms, with jaunty pillbox hats. Everyone agreed that its first transatlantic route in 1958, linking the city that never sleeps, New York, with the city of love, Paris, was the most romantic of the new jet age. Breakfast at Maxim’s, anyone?
Pan Am became part of popular culture, featuring in hit movies of the 1960s. In Dr. No , Sean Connery’s James Bond arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, aboard a Pan Am 707. The 1968 science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey included a futuristic Pan Am Space Clipper heading to a space station orbiting Earth. When the Beatles landed in New York in 1964 for their first US television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show , they did not step off a BOAC jet but rather a Pan Am 707 named, appropriately enough, Clipper Defiance.
The job of Pan Am flight attendant – or air hostess, as it was then – was highly coveted. “It was one of the best jobs a woman could get,” Christel Vane, a former Pan Am hostess, told Telegraph Travel back in 2013 . “There was nothing else open for women, unless you wanted to be a secretary.”
In 1970, Pan Am launched operations with Boeing’s 747, which earned the nickname "the Queen of the Skies." The company effectively served as America's de facto national airline, yet its financial situation started deteriorating following the 1973 oil crisis, during which crude prices surged fourfold, rendering the operation of its 747s economically unviable. Additionally, lacking substantial domestic routes within the U.S., the airline struggled to maintain full flights. By November 1978, it only serviced 65 destinations globally. Despite this decline, Pan Am continued operating until around a decade later when it filed for bankruptcy in 1991.
Despite its closure, Pan Am continues to be held in such high regard that over twenty years after it ceased operations, it became the focus of a 14-part TV period drama series featuring Margot Robbie as an airline stewardess. The distinctive blue luggage adorned with the white globe emblem seen in the show still commands top dollar at auction sales today.
Pacific Southwest Airlines: 1949-1988
Even though it may seem otherwise, flying has become more affordable now than ever before due to the emergence of low-cost airlines. Companies such as Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air trace their roots back to Southwest, which is currently the largest budget carrier in America. Interestingly, Southwest itself can attribute its origins to a California-based startup known as Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA). According to Herb Kelleher, who established Southwest, the success of his company wouldn’t be possible without PSA. But what exactly made PSA significant, and how did it leave an impact?
On May 6, 1949, it made its maiden flight. The rented Douglas DC-3 plane left San Diego Airport, formerly called Lindbergh Field, with 24 passengers aboard, making stops at Hollywood Burbank Airport before reaching Oakland Airport. The company’s founder, Kenny Friedkin, capitalized on the advantage that being an intra-California air carrier provided him; exempting them from U.S. federal price controls allowed him to reduce ticket costs significantly.
He provided nothing extra. There wasn’t any special branding for check-ins at airports, and luggage was measured with basic home scales. The service included just one class of travel and utilized only one kind of airplane—an idea later adopted by every contemporary budget airline. PSA became profitable during its inaugural year of business.
During the 1950s, Friedkin utilized Douglas DC-4 planes to broaden operations, initiating routes between San Diego and cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Ontario. In the following decade, the company went public, providing funds necessary for expansion through the acquisition of newer models such as the Boeing 727 and subsequently the Boeing 737 jetliners, adorned with their signature orange, red, and white color scheme. Known for friendly service and competitive pricing often half that of competitors including TWA, PSA branded itself as "the world’s friendliest airline."
In 1978, the U.S. Airline Deregulation Act removed federal oversight of ticket prices, leading to increased competition and expansion opportunities. Recognizing this potential for growth, PSA extended its routes past California into cities such as Reno, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. To prepare for significant expansion, PSA placed an order for specially adapted Lockheed L-1011 wide-body aircraft.
In 1986, USAir, which would later be renamed US Airways, purchased the airline for $400 million. By 1988, PSA had been absorbed into the bigger company. However, the effective business strategy employed back then has become standard practice nowadays for many short-haul airlines globally, even extending to certain companies like British Airways who might not have followed this path otherwise.
Emirates: 1985-present
Three decades back, Emirates was an unfamiliar entity for most individuals, and locating Dubai on a map posed challenges for many. During this period, British Airways stood as the global favorite airline, transporting a higher number of international travelers compared to all other airlines. The transformation over time has been remarkable. Nowadays, The biggest international airline is Emirates. by scheduled available seat kilometers — totaling 344.7 billion in 2023-24 — with its main hub being Dubai International, the most heavily used international airport globally , managing 90 million passengers annually.
Emirates has established itself as a major player under the leadership of two British executives—Chief Executive Sir Tim Clark and Head of Dubai International Paul Griffiths—by developing a hub-and-spoke system. This approach has redirected the focus of international air traffic from Europe towards the Middle East. As a result, travelers from Europe use Dubai as their gateway for flights to destinations like Australia, Asia, and Africa. Similarly, Chinese passengers often stop over in Dubai when heading to Africa. Due to the high volume of Indian passengers connecting through Dubai instead of taking non-stop flights from cities such as Delhi or Mumbai, Emirates has earned the moniker "India’s unofficial flag carrier."
Clark has also achieved the rare feat of “owning” passengers’ favourite aircraft. He has bought more than 120 Airbus A380 superjumbos and made them Emirates’ calling card by installing showers for first-class passengers, a large bar for business-class fliers, a class-leading premium-economy cabin in the front nose cone, and a not-too-shabby economy. Passengers love the innovations. By contrast, Emirates’ nearest rivals operate no more than a dozen A380s each.
If all that weren’t enough, Emirates has all but single-handedly created the city state of Dubai. Many locals in Dubai joke that it is “an airline with a city attached”.
Qantas: 1922-present
The Flying Kangaroo has conquered what Vanessa Hudson, its chief executive, calls “the tyranny of distance”. It pioneered ultra-long-haul services, flying 15-hour routes from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles, Dallas and Johannesburg – while also maintaining one of the best safety records in the industry. It moved on to establish the first non-stop routes from Europe to Perth, with 17-hour flights between London, Paris and Rome and Perth.
Now it is about to do something few aviation analysts thought possible: start 21-hour non-stop services from London and New York to Sydney and Melbourne . From 2026, QF2 will leave London before lunch and arrive in Sydney in the late afternoon of the following day. QF1 will leave Sydney in the evening and arrive in London the next morning.
At 10,978 miles, the services eclipse the longest flight at present – Singapore Airlines’ service between New York and Singapore, which travels 9,500 miles in just under 19 hours.
I was one of 34 passengers on a non-stop London-to-Sydney test run that Qantas flew in 2019, crossing 10 time zones and 11 countries. We headed east over northern Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and China, and then south across the South China Sea, before making landfall near Darwin in the Northern Territory and crossing Australia. “You are now members of the Rare and Secret Order of the Double Sunrise,” announced Captain Helen Trenerry, as she flew Qantas flight 7879 into the second dawn of our record-breaking journey. “No one else has seen two sunrises in one flight and got to Sydney faster than you.”
In 2026, the inaugural group of paying travelers will embark on a comparable journey aboard an Airbus A350 equipped with an additional fuel tank and reduced seating capacity to minimize overall weight. According to Hudson, traveling non-stop to Sydney in first class will become the pinnacle of prestige in aviation—akin to "the new Concorde." Currently, she is determining just how exorbitant she can set the ticket price. I would bet on around £20,000 for a round trip.
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