The year is 1957 and Ocean Liners have dominated global transport for well over 100 years.
But this year something new happens, for the first time,
more people cross the Atlantic by air than by ship.
The world is changing. Can the passenger ship survive?
Hi I am Chris Frame and I write books about maritime history and
lecture aboard cruise ships and at museums about maritime history and cruising. I also
make youtube videos about cruising and maritime history – if it sounds like the
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From the 1840s to the early 1950s, if you were travelling overseas you’d
most likely be going by ship. Even though aircraft were utilised by
airlines such as Qantas and KLM for regular passenger transport as early as the 1920s,
it wasn’t until after World War II when aircraft would truly appeal to the masses.
Up until the late 1940s, flying was usually for the rich and the brave.
Aircraft were unpressurised and flew at low altitudes – subjecting them to far
more weather and turbulence than we are used to today.
Travel by ship could also be an unpleasant business, with stabilisation technology
not always available. In fact, even Queen Elizabeth didn’t get stabilisers until the 1950s.
Yet sea travel still seemed like a safer way to go.
When pressurised aircraft like the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-6 were introduced
in the late 40s, air travel had its chance to really take off. At least on the Atlantic route.
The distance of the Atlantic allowed piston-driven aircraft to link Europe and America in a matter of
hours. The speed of this connection was appealing to those who could afford it,
though at this stage, flying remained expensive which contained its growth.
Globally, neither the Constellation or DC-6 had the range to offer quick point
to point flights over long distances. Flights linking Australia, America, Asia and Africa
required numerous fuelling stops, making the flying experience less than ideal.
But the Boeing 707 changed all this. Jet aircraft offered increased range & speed
compared to the piston-driven airliners. Their larger size and improved economies
led to cheaper tickets; luring more passengers away from ocean liners.
The 707 made its debut on the Atlantic in 1958;
tipping the balance in favour of aircraft. The question on many travellers’ minds was:
Why spend days travelling by ship when I can cross the Atlantic in a matter of hours by air?
This question became even easier to answer in winter,
when rough Atlantic crossings had made sea travel unappealing for decades.
It also didn’t take long for jet services to start across the world. Qantas was the
first non-US airline to operate the 707 – with its first flight taking to the sky in 1959.
Vickers VC10s and Douglas DC8s also joined airlines around the world,
increasing the number of jet services available.
In the years following, shipping lines struggled to compete with the jet.
Many lines did not adapt to the new operating environment, and started the gradual withdrawal
of their ocean liners. At the same time, containerisation of freight shipping saw
liners lose their secondary income source – cargo – and quickened their collapse.
There were a few strongholds that lasted through the 1960s – including ocean liner
voyages to Australia under the Assisted Passage Scheme. The Australian Government would pay for
the majority of a person’s fare to immigrate by ship to Australia – allowing P&O-Orient,
Sitmar and Chandris – among others – to provide line voyages into the 1970s.
When the Boeing 747 took to the sky in 1970, it further revolutionised air travel.
Its wide body design and huge capacity further reduced the price of a ticket,
making air travel far more accessible to the masses.
Yet ocean liners – while greatly impacted – were not completely obsolete. Several
shipping lines were able to adapt to the jet age, introducing a new style of dual-purpose liner.
Examples of these ships include the Homes Line’s Oceanic, Holland America’s Rotterdam and Cunard’s
QE2. These ships were each designed to offer line voyages during the warmer summer months,
as well as cruise holidays in the winter. They were built to provide amenities expected
at a luxury resort – meaning they could cruise around the world, and make a profit year round.
Other lines such as P&O were able to adapt existing liners
Canberra and Oriana to operate as cruise ships. These conversions were successful
because both ships had been designed to link the UK and Australia – meaning they had to
cross the equator and sail in the tropics – so they had features such as swimming pools,
air-conditioning, open decks and lido areas – all of which made them good for cruising.
And cruising was starting to make waves. Passenger ships were no
longer just a means to get from place to place. Now the ship was the destination.
And as the popularity of cruising grew there was a new alliance formed between the former foes.
Airliners make cruising accessible. While the old ocean liners used to operate direct line
voyages between cities, cruise ships often do round-trip voyages from one central hub.
To facilitate this style of travel, Cruise lines rely on airlines to bring passengers
to the various cruise ports – a relationship that has allowed for massive growth in cruise
hubs such as Miami, Seattle, Vancouver and Genova, as well as provide the economies of
scale needed to operate huge fleets of modern cruise ships year-round.
There have also been other partnerships,
such as the one between Cunard and British Airways during the 80s and 90s to offer QE2 /
Concorde combination holidays – where travellers could cross the Atlantic in 5 days aboard QE2
and then fly home at supersonic speeds in a matter of hours aboard the Concorde.
This partnership was so successful that Cunard became one of the largest customers of the
Concorde throughout its career. And while QE2 entered service before Concorde it also outlived
the supersonic jet – which retired in 2003 – 5 years before QE2 was withdrawn from service.
Today there is one ocean liner left in service – Queen Mary 2. Unlike liners of old, QM2 does not
compete with aircraft for passengers – but rather maintains a mode of
transport that appeals to people wishing to reconnect with the slower pace of the past.
And as a final thought - it is a good thing that
there is at least one ocean liner left as an alternative to flying.
The benefit of this was witnessed in 2010 when an Icelandic Volcano grounded transatlantic flights,
leaving QM2 as the only way to cross the Atlantic – at least for a few weeks.
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