The world's first air traffic control tower was announced on February 25, 1920. At the time, the United Kingdom's Air Ministry called it an "Aerodrome Control Tower" because Croydon's airport was called an Aerodrome.
That ought to say something about volume commercial air service. TR ---------------------------------------- *From: *Henk Guitjens via Mifnet <[email protected]> *To: *[email protected] *CC: *David Wardell <[email protected]>; srbrown <[email protected]>; Henk Guitjens <[email protected]> *Date: *2026-06-16T07:31:13Z *Subject: *[Mifnet 🛰 76429] Re: COMAC: China's Looming Threat to the Global Aviation Industry | Reports & Briefings | Jun 15, 2026 | Information Technology and Innovation Foundation > Simon > > KLM was founded in 1919 and is considered the oldest airline in the world . > > Also believe that their first flight was > Amsterdam Croydon in 1919 with a Fokker aircraft . > > Cheers > > Henk Guitjens > > On Tue, Jun 16, 2026 at 9:10 AM srbrown via Mifnet <[email protected]> > wrote: >> "/The United States—and later Europe—pioneered the commercial aviation >> age,..."/ >> / >> /Is that true? I've read a flying boat service across Tampa Bay was the >> first fare paying use of aircraft but wasn't London-Paris the first >> international fare paying route around 1919, with KLM starting up around >> that time too? Avianca have been around since that era too, I believe. >> >> If the author's definition of the "commercial aviation age" only starts with >> 707s, DC8s and the like, some might argue that these were just developments >> of the already well established commercial air operations, already well >> represented by European and other non-American operators. Didn't the DH >> Comet pioneer the jet age with the French Caravelle rolling off its >> production lines before the 707? I think the 707 entered passenger service >> just before the Caravelle, but weren't both types just enhancing existing >> propeller engined services? >> >> Simon >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]> >> Date: 16/06/2026 04:59 (GMT+02:00) >> To: Mifnet Postings <[email protected]> >> Cc: David Wardell <[email protected]> >> Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 76426] COMAC: China's Looming Threat to the Global >> Aviation Industry | Reports & Briefings | Jun 15, 2026 | Information >> Technology and Innovation Foundation >> >> “The United States—and later Europe—pioneered the commercial aviation age, >> with iconic companies such as Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed and aircraft >> such as Boeing’s 707, 737, 747, and 787; Douglas’s DC-8; and Lockheed’s >> L-1011. America’s aerospace sector has been one of the country’s most >> important advanced-technology industries, providing a critical source of >> innovation, exports, high-tech jobs, and defense industrial base spillovers. >> >>  >> >> “Yet, America’s leadership in this critical sector is no more assured than >> it is in any other high-tech sector, from biotechnology to semiconductors.1 >> That’s especially true when China—just as it has in virtually every other >> high-tech sector from artificial intelligence and biotechnology to electric >> vehicles (EVs) and semiconductors—has targeted commercial aircraft as a >> sector in which it wishes to rise to global dominance. And just as it has in >> those other sectors, China is deploying a vast panoply of “innovation >> mercantilist” policies—from massive industrial subsidization, intellectual >> property (IP) theft, forced tech transfer requirements, and preferences for >> domestic firms—to transform its national champion, the state-owned >> enterprise (SOE) Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), into a >> capable global competitor, especially initially in low- and middle-income >> countries. Moreover, China wishes to run the same playbook in commercial >> aircraft that it has deployed in countless other industries: develop a >> domestic competitor than can supplant international competitors in its >> domestic market and then have the national champion capture market share in >> third-party economies, depriving Western airplane makers of revenues in >> those critical markets, which in turn will reduce their ability to invest in >> research and development (R&D) and slow their innovation.2 >> >>  >> >> “From a market-based perspective, COMAC is an illegitimate company.” >> >>  >> >> _*Complete report may be read here (this is a lengthy piece, with >> references).[https://wardell.us/url/guxx9]*_ >> >>  >> >>  >> >> *David Wardell* >> >> (757) 561-0582 >> >> *[email protected]* >> >> [Image][Image >> link][cid:ii_19ecf4d387fad7999131][https://wardell.us/url/b5s86] >> [Image][Image >> link][cid:ii_19ecf4d387f11bfad142][https://wardell.us/url/s9qvz] >>  >> >>  >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Revised: 20250507 >> >> You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. >> >> The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't >> exactly cost-free. 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