“A Persistent Exception to Textbook Economics”: A Historical Overview of International Airlines

Abstract

The recent centennial of the Wright Brothers' flight stimulated study of the history of aviation in general and this historical overview of international airlines in particular. International airlines are commercial enterprises, but their history suggests that the economics behind their development was often overridden lypolitical, diplomatic, strategic, imperial, cultural, and emotional pressures. International airlines have not always been economically rational enterprises.