DISTANCE
The aircraft in your photo(s) was too far in the distance, resulting in too much 'empty space' in the image.

The best way to avoid this problem is to get closer to the aircraft, or use a lens with a longer focal length.

In some cases this problem can be corrected by cropping the image more tightly. However, severely cropping an image will always lead to a decrease in image quality. This in turn may lead to a subsequent QUALITY rejection of the corrected image.

The photo above illustrates the issue quite well; while it would most probably have been rejected for distance it was acceptable due to the frame filling background effects. If your photo shows no such effects or any other subject related items justifying a wider angle then get closer to the subject! - Photo copyright © Thierry Deutsch

too wide unjustified crop leading to a distance rejection / accepted tighter cropped version - Photo copyright © Thierry Deutsch

Would need a closer crop - Photo copyright © Henk Schmidt-Bergemann