De Havilland introduced the first commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, in 1952. The British company’s Comet 1 entered scheduled passenger service with BOAC on May 2, 1952, inaugurating the jet age.
The aircraft was a technological breakthrough: four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines were embedded in the wing roots, and its pressurized cabin allowed it to cruise above much of the weather affecting propeller aircraft. The prototype had first flown in 1949, giving de Havilland an early lead in high-speed passenger travel.
The Comet’s pioneering design also exposed challenges that were not fully understood. Repeated pressurization cycles contributed to metal fatigue around the square-cornered window openings, and several early aircraft suffered catastrophic structural failures. The redesigned Comet 4 returned to successful service, but the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 soon offered greater range and capacity. Douglas and Boeing therefore became major jetliner leaders, but de Havilland built the first commercial entrant.