Template:Featured article/September 2023

Cathay Pacific’s Debt to Howard Hughes

Fans of the Martin Scorsese film 'The Aviator' may be surprised to learn that Cathay Pacific has Howard Hughes to thank for its successful evolution into the jet age – a major milestone in the airline’s history. The eccentric billionaire, movie mogul, industrialist and aviation pioneer was for many years principal stockholder in Trans World Airlines (TWA). In the mid-1950s, Hughes approached Convair – a division of General Dynamics – to come up with a design for a revolutionary new jetliner to meet TWA’s needs. At the time, Convair was lagging behind Boeing and Douglas, who were cornering the long-range commercial jet market with the B707 and DC-8 respectively, and Hughes convinced the company that there was a need for a medium-range jet that was both smaller and faster than these aircraft. Click here for more...