The Atlantic represented an important challenge for long-distance passenger transportation modes, as it required testing technologies over long distances and limited intermediate locations where a technical stop could be made. Both sides of the North Atlantic have substantial economic activity, implying that a mode capable of crossing the North Atlantic non-stop and safely would be a commercial success. The steamship was the first powered mode to offer regular passenger services, beginning in the late 1830s; initially, voyages took more than 10 days, but technical improvements reduced the transit time to about 6 days by the 1870s. By the time transatlantic liner services began to be abandoned in the 1950s, transit times had been reduced to 4 days.
Dirigibles were seriously considered in the 1930s, with the setting of the first transatlantic air passenger flights. Their slow speeds and the Hindenburg’s destruction during a landing accident in 1937 marked the end of airships as long-distance passenger transportation modes. Both propeller and seaplane (“flying boat”) transatlantic services began in the mid-1930s. The seaplane initially had an advantage in its ability to land on water. Still, this advantage was undermined as technical improvements were made to propeller planes, leaving the seaplane with limited range. It was later abandoned as a long-distance mode of transport. The introduction of pressurized propeller planes (e.g. Constellation) in 1945 permitted the first regular transatlantic services with two technical stops, Gander (Newfoundland) and Shannon (Ireland), and a flight time of about 11 hours.
The introduction of passenger jet planes (e.g., Boeing 707) on transatlantic services in 1958 marked the downfall of long-distance propeller plane services. The flying time was reduced to 8 hours with one technical stop in Gander, Newfoundland. Technical improvements in the 1960s eliminated the need for technical stops and enabled, for the first time, direct long-distance transatlantic services. Fast transatlantic supersonic services were introduced in 1976 and remained operational for a quarter of a century. However, high cost and high energy consumption made supersonic services commercially nonviable, and the technology was retired in 2003. Therefore, transatlantic flight times have remained relatively constant for more than half a century.