In the 1950s, the De Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, and Sud Aviation Caravelle became the first flagships of the Jet Age in the West, while the Eastern bloc had Tupolev Tu-104 and Tupolev Tu-124 in the fleets of state-owned carriers such as Czechoslovak ČSA, Soviet Aeroflot and East-German Interflug.
Nos anos 50 os de Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8 e Sud Aviation Caravelle convertéronse nos primeiros buques insignia da era dos reactores en occidente, mentres que no bloque soviético tiñan os Tupolev Tu-104 e Tupolev Tu-124 nas frotas das aeroliñas dos estados, como a ČSA checa, a Aeroflot soviética e a Interflug da Alemaña Oriental.