Airliners, Ranked

The world's first wide-body, first flown in 1969, its hump and 400-plus seats slashed the cost per passenger and made mass intercontinental travel affordable. Over 1,500 built across a 54-year production run.

The 1935 DC-3 was the first airliner reliable and economical enough to earn money carrying passengers alone, without mail subsidies. Roughly 16,000 were built and many still fly.

Entering service in 1958, the 707 brought fast, smooth jet travel to the masses and coined the phrase 'Jet Set,' cementing American dominance of the airliner market for decades.

The only sustained supersonic airliner, cruising at Mach 2.04 and crossing the Atlantic in under 3.5 hours from 1976 to 2003. A peerless feat of Anglo-French engineering.

The first airliner with digital fly-by-wire flight controls (1988), it made Airbus a true rival to Boeing and became one of the best-selling jet families ever, with well over 11,000 delivered.

The best-selling commercial jet in history, in continuous production since 1967 with more than 11,000 delivered — the backbone of short-haul fleets worldwide.

The first airliner with a majority carbon-composite fuselage and wings, entering service in 2011, enabling higher cabin pressure, bigger windows, and roughly 20 percent better fuel efficiency.

The largest passenger airliner ever built, with two full-length decks certified for up to 853 passengers. An engineering triumph, though a commercial misstep — production ended in 2021.

The largest twin-engine jet and the first airliner designed entirely by computer, entering service in 1995, it proved two engines could safely fly the longest oceanic routes and reshaped long-haul flying.

The world's first commercial jetliner (1952), it was a British pioneer undone by fatal metal-fatigue crashes that taught the industry hard lessons about pressurized fuselage design.

Its graceful curved fuselage and triple tail defined 1950s luxury air travel, and its pressurized cabin let piston airliners fly high above the weather.

Airbus's modern composite widebody (2015) answers the 787 with class-leading efficiency and range, including ultra-long-haul routes exceeding 18 hours.

With three tail-mounted engines and built-in airstairs, the 727 opened smaller airports to jet service and sold over 1,800 units through the 1960s and 70s.

The 1974 A300 was the world's first twin-engine widebody and Airbus's very first product, launching the consortium that would eventually rival Boeing.

A capable long-haul tri-jet of the 1970s, but early cargo-door and maintenance failures — including the 1979 Chicago crash — gave it a lasting safety stigma.

The world's second jet airliner into service (1956) and, for a time, the only jetliner flying anywhere — though a high early accident rate marred its record.

A flawed MCAS system caused two crashes — Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian 302 — killing 346 people and grounding the fleet worldwide for nearly two years from 2019.

The first supersonic transport to fly (1968), but a fatal 1973 Paris Air Show crash and chronic reliability problems ended passenger service after only a handful of flights.

This DC-10 successor missed its range and fuel targets and was quickly outclassed by twin-engine widebodies, surviving mainly as a cargo hauler.

The USSR's first long-range jetliner (1967), a rear-engined design that served state carriers reliably but lagged Western rivals in efficiency and range.