Lockheed jets

[Dr Jekyll]

At the end of WW2 Lockheed were building the first successful US jet fighter (the P80) and arguably the most advanced airliner of the time (the Constellation). So why did they not get around to building a jet airliner until the Tristar?

[twochai]

Because Lockheed fixated for too long on incremental improvements to the Super Connie, while Douglas and upstarts, Boeing and Convair had the nerve to launch daring new products. There was no space remaining in the market.

[Groundloop]

Also Lockheed then decided to go the turboprop route with the Electra - the other main US manufacturers went straight to pure jets.