The following table shows the development of commands in the RAF. For clarity's sake, commands which were established and then disbanded or disaggregated without reference to any other command are not shown.
For a complete list of RAF commands, see List of Royal Air Force commands.
| Year | Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | Col 4 | Col 5 | Col 6 | Col 7 |
| August 1917 | Training Division (August 1917 - 20 May 1918) | ||||||
| April 1918 | South-Eastern Area (1 April 1918 - 20 September 1919) | South-Western Area (1 April 1918 - 20 September 1919) | Midland Area (1 April 1918 - 18 October 1919) | North-Eastern Area (1 April 1918 - 23 May 1919) | North-Western Area (1 April 1918 - 12 June 1919) | ||
| May 1918 | |||||||
| Early June 1919 | North-Western Area (1 April 1918 - 12 June 1919) | ||||||
| Late June 1919 | Northern Area (12 June 1919 - 1 April 1920) | ||||||
| September 1919 | |||||||
| October 1919 | Southern Area (20 September 1919 - 1 April 1920) | ||||||
| November 1919 | Northern Area (12 June 1919 - 1 April 1920) | ||||||
| 1919 | |||||||
| Coastal Area (15 September 1919 - 14 July 1936) | Northern Area (12 June 1919 - 1 April 1920) | ||||||