What was Boeing's first pressurized commercial airliner?

Short answer

The Boeing 307 Stratoliner, which was also the first airliner in paid commercial service with a pressurized cabin. Pressurization, combined with supercharged engines, allowed it to cruise above bad weather. Its cruising speed was 350 km/h (220 mph) at 6,100 m (20,000 ft).

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What was Boeing's first pressurized commercial airliner?

Boeing 307 Stratoliner "Clipper Flying Cloud

The first pressurized cabin in commercial service

The Boeing 307 Stratoliner was the first airliner in commercial fare-paying service with a pressurized cabin. Pressurization, combined with supercharged engines, allowed it to cruise above bad weather. Its cruising speed was 350 km/h (220 mph) at 6,100 m (20,000 ft).

Two routes across the Atlantic

During the war, the Stratoliners that served in the US Army Air Forces under the designation C-75 flew two main routes: between Washington, D.C. and Cairo, across the South Atlantic, and between New York and Prestwick, in Scotland, across the North Atlantic. The first North Atlantic crossing by those C-75s was made in March 1942. From 22 April their crossings were already being made regularly. On 10 July 1942 the airfield on Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic, was opened.