Why do commercial jets need so little time inbetween flights?

Commercial aircraft take short times to turn around because they are designed to do exactly that. They cost a lot of money, and only make money when they are actually flying and not sitting on the ground. Today's aircraft are very reliable as they are designed to be so, and to make lots of flights a day with little or no maintenance. They are a far cry from the DC-6 and DC-7 and other aircraft of days gone past.

Single-point fueling allows one fueler to load the designated amount of fuel quickly with a truck or a hydrant system. In the old days, a fueler had to pump fuel over the wings into each tank in turn. Now, it can be done by just throwing switches at one point without moving the hose or climbing on top of the wings.

The food/beverage service areas holds enough that several flights can be carried on board to eliminate service there at every stop.

Aircraft are very expensive pieces of machinery, so it pays to keep them flying.

Regards,

Dan

often the stop is simply just to refuel the plane as they are built to recover quickly and engines are designed to not over heat. the fuel is heavy and this is the reason for a stop :)