and Ziegler, he was the mastermind behind
the A300B, a technically ambitious aircraft.
He pushed to use the best technology
available, wherever it came from. “If the
Chinese have the best engine, we will use
it,” he said. Beteille, Ziegler and Kracht also
agreed that Airbus would not succeed in the
long term with only a single product. The
A300B would have to be developed into a
family of aircraft if the Europeans were to
compete with Boeing, McDonnell Douglas
and Lockheed. To say so publicly early on
did not seem prudent politically, so they
initially kept the idea to themselves.
MARKET ENTRY
Following a nearly flawless flight-test
campaign, the A300B was certified in 1974.
Yet demand remained poor: Airbus had
collected orders for just 30 aircraft but had
committed to producing 52 at a rate of 2.5
per month.
The consortium finally convinced Air
France to buy the airliner by offering a B2
version with three more seat rows. Even
with the A300B2 in commercial service,
though, the European venture’s future was
still uncertain.
Then came a day in May 1977 that
would be a crucial turning point. On that
day, Ziegler’s successor, Bernard Lathiere,
shook hands on a deal with Eastern Air
Lines Chief Executive Frank Borman, and
Thai Airways International signed up for
A300s. Under the Eastern deal, the airline
would get four A300B4s free of charge for
six months. The American carrier could not
afford a real order—it had lost money over
the past 10 years—but Airbus desperately
needed a customer in the U.S. Production
was down to one aircraft per month.
The experiment was a big success.
Eastern ordered 23 A300B4s in April- The agreement between two rather
desperate companies—Eastern eventually
filed for bankruptcy in 1989 and ceased
flying in 1991—was Airbus’s breakthrough
in the U.S.
THE FAMILY GROWS
Kracht’s and Beteille’s vision of a family
of Airbus aircraft also became a reality.
AWS&T points out that studies of various
aircraft, such as A300B derivatives, both
short-haul and long-haul models, had been
discussed for years. Some plans assumed
cooperation with other manufacturers
including, at some point McDonnell
Douglas. Ultimately, it became clear that
Airbus had to go it alone.
The A310, initially designated the
A300B10, became the first derivative. In1978, Lufthansa and Swissair were launch
customers for the aircraft, which featured
a shortened fuselage and new wings and
engines. But the big breakthrough was that
the aircraft had a two-crew cockpit. This
caused discord with the Air France pilot
unions, which wanted to stick to three in the
cockpit. The A310 derivative flew for the
first time in 1982.
Not only was the A310 the first
substantially different Airbus aircraft after
the A300, the programme also marked the
return of the UK aerospace industry to the
partnership. British Aerospace took a 20%
stake in the programme that it would keep
for 27 years.
There were other types in the making: a
single-aisle aircraft that ultimately became
the A320, and the TA9 and TA11 projects,
today known as the A330 and A340. It was
long debated which one should have priority.
Just two years after the A310’s first flight,
Airbus launched the A320 narrowbody in- It entered service in 1988 and has
become the backbone of the manufacturer’s
success and its profit driver. The same year
the A320 was launched, the last of Airbus’s
founding managers departed. A strong new
leader had to be found.
A huge breakthrough for Airbus was sales to Delta Airlines.