Airliner · Turbofan passenger aircraft that collapsed continents into hours.
Icons are not always the best sellers — they are the ones that stuck in culture, engineering lore or both.
Use the comparison lab on this page to weigh their stats side by side.
Iberia Airlines · CC BY 2.0
Boeing 747 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1969– placed Boeing 747 in United States's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Pedro Aragão · CC BY-SA 3.0
Airbus A320 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1988– placed Airbus A320 in Europe's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Towpilot · CC BY-SA 3.0
Douglas DC-3 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1935– placed Douglas DC-3 in United States's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Eduard Marmet · CC BY-SA 3.0
Concorde stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1976–2003 placed Concorde in UK / France's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
pjs2005 from Hampshire, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0
Boeing 787 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2011– placed Boeing 787 in United States's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Maarten Visser from Capelle aan den IJssel, Nederland · CC BY-SA 2.0
Airbus A380 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2007–2021 placed Airbus A380 in Europe's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Boeing 737 stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1967– placed Boeing 737 in United States's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Comet stands among the reference airliner designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1952– placed Comet in United Kingdom's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Stats are relative 0–100 marks within this type, for comparison only.
Toggle icons on and off — every bar rescales to the leader of your selection.
Should a airliner be judged by passenger-km and uptime, or by how completely it owns the public imagination?
Some legends dominate one corridor; others become templates copied worldwide.