The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving. It allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics, and it could be mechanized, allowing for automatic machine looms. It was patented by John Kay (1704–c. 1779) in 1733.

In order to understand the importance of this invention, it is useful to review the action of weaving prior to it. In a typical frame loom, the operator sits with the newly woven cloth before him or her. Using treadles or some other mechanism, the heddles are raised and lowered to open the shed in the warp threads. The operator must then reach forward, holding the shuttle in one hand, and pass it through the shed; the shuttle carries a bobbin for the weft. The shuttle must then be caught in the other hand, the shed closed, and the beater pulled forward to push the weft into place. This action (called a "pick") requires a lot of bending forward over the fabric; more importantly, however, the coordination between the throwing and catching of the shuttle requires more than one operator if the width of the fabric exceeds that which can be reasonably reached across (typically 60 inches (150 cm) or less).