Convair 880

In the late 1950s the Convair division of General Dynamics chose an unusual strategy for entering the jet age: rather than matching the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 in size, it would sell a slightly smaller airliner that flew faster. The Convair 880 embodied that bet, making its first flight on 27 January 1959 and being promoted as the fastest jet transport in the world, with a quoted 615 mph enabled by four General Electric CJ-805 turbojets.

Delta Air Lines introduced the type in 1960, but the niche Convair had counted on never appeared. The five-abreast cabin, sized for around 110 passengers, held little appeal for airlines that cared more about seat count than about shaving minutes off a sector, and orders dried up in the face of the Boeing and Douglas competition.

Production ended in 1962 after just 65 aircraft, and the programme contributed to losses for General Dynamics estimated at 185 million dollars, one of the costliest miscalculations of the early jet era. The surviving 880s soldiered on in secondary roles until the type was finally retired in 1998.