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The Douglas DC-3 revolutionized commercial aviation during the late 1930s by enabling airlines to profit from passenger services. Prior to its introduction, airlines depended on mail contracts and freight services to remain profitable. Along with its durability, economy of operation, and ease of maintenance, another contributing factor to the DC-3’s success was its passenger capacity, greater than most airliners of its day. The DC-3 could seat twenty-one passengers comfortably in the standard seven-row, one-by-two-across day-use configuration and as many as thirty-one in later two-by-two-across seat configurations. In sleeper and Sky Club configurations, it had a capacity of fourteen. With a range of 1,500 miles, passengers could expect to spend long durations of time seated in the cabin, particularly on transcontinental flights. As these aircraft were unpressurized, they flew at much lower altitudes compared to airliners of today, and passengers could expect to endure many episodes of atmospheric turbulence. See “Remain Seated: Airliner Passenger Chairs,” on display, pre-security in the Aviation Museum and Library, located on the departures level of the International Terminal and online at: https://bit.ly/AirlinerChairs
This image was posted on July 28, 2023.