Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Jetting toward a smaller world : early commercial aviation -- Far and wide : wide-body jetliners and the growth of the global airline industry -- Space-makers and pace-setters : Boeing and Airbus -- Letting go : the liberalization of the airline industry -- Survival of the fittest : network carriers in the global airline industry -- A world taking wing : low-cost carriers and the ascent of the many -- People on the move at 1,000 kilometers per hour -- The high ways of trade -- Points of departure : airports in the airborne world -- Dangers hidden in the air : the broader costs of commercial aviation -- Coming back down to Earth? The cloudy future of air transportation.