4.0. Alden Boeing 707-120 1959

The dawn of the jet age brought in a new era for the airline industry. Although they weren’t any more fuel efficient than their piston-powered counterparts, jets were much simpler to maintain, and much faster. For comparison, the Douglas DC-7’s top speed of 353 knots made it faster than the company’s own A-26 ‘Invader’ attack aircraft (which had a top speed of around 312 knots.) The DC-8, meanwhile, had a maximum speed of 510 knots - nearly 150 knots faster than the DC-7, and 200 knots faster than the Invader. This fact, combined with many other advantages and PR stunts (eg. the 707 prototype doing a barrel roll in front of thousands of spectators, the DC-8 technically being the first airliner past the sound barrier, etc.) convinced airlines to buy into the new technology.

However, the new technology had its risks, as demonstrated by the catastrophic crashes of several DeHavilland Comets throughout the 50’s. Furthermore, airlines were growing at a rate that aircraft production lines could not keep up with. Simultaneously, the advantages of jets were so great that airlines couldn’t afford not to buy them. As a result, many airlines chose to operate mixed fleets.

Alden placed orders for both the 707-120 and DC-8 in 1955, receiving them in 1958 and 1959 respectively. The 707’s, due to their better hot-and-high performance, mostly operated Alden’s Latin American routes, while the Series 10 and Series 30 DC-8’s operated high-demand domestic routes. The Series 60 entered service with the airline in 1968, displacing older models on trans-Atlantic routes. Alden also received the transonic Convair 990 in 1961, but these aircraft failed to live up to their expectations. The airline found that, although the Coronado was faster, it was more expensive to operate and and the time savings were minimal when compared to its other jets. They were retired by 1968, replaced by the DC-8’s it was supposed to supplement.

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Here is an Alden 707-120 in the livery they were delivered in. This livery was relatively short-lived, being worn only from 1958 to 1965.