History
In the early days of aviation, most aircraft had a relatively short range so that all airlines were "regional" in nature. With the introduction of longer range aircraft, notably flying boats, these shorter range planes increasingly found their niche feeding the newer and longer range airliners by flying passengers to the mainline's airline hubs. Many of these smaller regional airlines were eventually bought by the larger flag carriers.
To keep these short routes economical, the airlines were generally unwilling to spend large amounts of money on new aircraft; at times they used second hand aircraft. Also, as new models slowly emerged, older aircraft were put into this service when they were replaced by progressively longer-range designs. In the immediate post-war era these were typically Douglas DC-3s, although even the De Havilland Dragon Rapide remained in service for some time. This "hand-me-down" process of supplying aircraft continued with designs like the Convair 440, Douglas DC-6 and Vickers Viscount also serving in this role while the first jets were introduced.
Read more about this topic: Regional Airliner
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