Without the A300, Airbus wouldn’t exist!

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It’s definitely not as notable or as impressive as the 747, the Queen of the Skies. It doesn’t look as distinctive as a Douglas DC-10 or a Lockheed 1011 Tristar. Frankly, it looks just… ordinary, by today’s standards.

But THAT’s the point. The Airbus A300 that I’m going to look into today, is the first EVER twin-engine widebody, a configuration shared by ALL widebody airliners available in the market today.

And on top of that, the A300 was the aircraft that practically launched one of aviation’s giants: Airbus. So how did Airbus and its A300 come to be? And WHY did Airbus decide to start off with a widebody??

Stay tuned!

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Below you will find the links to videos and sources used in this episode.

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[Cynsham]

The last A300 was an A300F delivered to FedEx in 2007! I love the 747 as much as anyone, but I find it crazy how few people give a plane like the A300 the recognition and respect it deserves for having a near 50 year long production run!

[bobogus]

One of the most incredible stories about the A300 is the one that survived getting hit with a missile. In November 2003, a DHL A300 got hit with a man-portable missile shortly after takeoff from Baghdad International Airport. The impact occurred on the left wing, which destroyed much of its trailing edge, bled out all hydraulics, and caused a fire in the wing. Using differential thrust, the pilots managed to turn around and land back on the runway with minimal additional damage, and the plane was actually repaired afterward.

[idioten-yd]

Airbus is an innovator. First twin engine wide-body, fly-by-wire, full glass cockpit, and so on and so on. Airbus, listened to its potential customers and has delivered on that philosophy from the first A300. Congratulations Airbus.

[RetiredPilot]

I have over 1000 hours as a captain on the A300. It truly was a wonderful aircraft with great power and performance. The 3 crew cockpit was also enjoyable and we flew with engineers not third pilots who knew the aircraft inside out. Ours were all freighters and could carry 100k of cargo, replacing DC-8's at that time. Many unique systems started with the A300 that made it very reliable. After many years flying Boeings the Airbus became one of my favorite aircraft.

[anthonyvallillo]

Interestingly, the original airline specification that the A-300 was designed towards was a specification from American Airlines. In the time when the slightly smaller widebodies (DC-10 and L-1011) were under development, AA floated a specification for this type of aircraft. This spec was developed by Frank Kolk, of the AA Maintenance and Engineering department, and called for two, rather than three engines. AA wanted this kind of layout for the DC-10, in fact; but the other US airlines held out for three engines. Somehow, the specification wound up in Europe, and Airbus apparently incorporated that thinking into their design. They pitched it to AA, but by that time, of course, AA was already invested in the DC-10; but came the day, in the late 1980's, when Airbus made another "offer you can't refuse", this time to Bob Crandall, and AA wound up with 35 of the -600 variant, which we kept for 20 some years. In that roundabout way, the original AA spec ended up at AA.

I flew it for 9 years in the 1990's, and it was a good airplane, except for that then-unknown rudder issue that would raise its' head shortly after 9-11. The short, stiff wing did not like flying high, and I only ever flew it above FL370 on a couple of occasions when it was empty. You couldn't get it over 330-350 until close to the end of a flight.

[Sacto]

The biggest selling point was how Eastern used the A300B4 to fly from Miami and Atlanta all the way to Los Angeles and San Francisco with much less fuel burn than the L1011's Eastern were also already flying. The was the critical juncture that got other airlines to buy the plane.

[KyrilPG]

Oh the Dassault Mercure ! I LOVED this aircraft, having spent hours flying on them in my childhood.
Crews nicknamed it the fighter, not only because it was made by Dassault, but because it kinda handled like a fighter jet.
That's also why, while I was jumping of joy at the idea of flying on one, my mum was exactly the opposite, as she really didn't like aerobatic maneuvers.
This aircraft was a godsend for Air Inter and ATC as it could fit into empty slots in approach queues by performing some quite steep maneuvers. Which also meant exceptional punctuality.
The approach to Paris during rush hour was always quite the ride, with the cockpit asking everyone to be seated over the PA. That meant we'd be in for some thrilling sensations.
I think this aircraft is responsible for at least half of my huge love and craving for high thrill sensations.
Plus, Air Inter was a great company, an ancestor to nowadays low-cost carriers, with their "colored fares" : blue, white or red. They really had very affordable tickets and helped democratize air travel.
To the point that they even used A330's for short hauls briefly before being taken over by Air France. Air Inter was an A330 launch customer if I recall correctly.
They obviously also flew several A300's, especially on the Paris <> Nice, of which I was a frequent passenger with my mum as she worked in Sofia Antipolis several days a month.

The Air Inter A300, as I remember it, was in high density mode with one large single cabin, so it felt huge.

Very good video that offered me a lovely trip down memory lane. The A300, Mercure and Air Inter were my first love with aviation.
Thanks a lot!

[ValNishino]

Hawker Siddley self-funding its continued participation in the project after Britain withdrew has to be one of the greatest examples of foresight in the aviation industry.

[jimcaufman]

I was fortunate to fly the A-300 at Eastern. The aircraft had the same handling as the DC-8 and was fantastic to fly. I was a little worried about flying the Airbus because of fear of poor craftsmanship but found the aircraft to be better engineered and constructed than Boeing and Douglas.

[woogiewoogie]

An absolute pioneer aircraft model. Excellent analysis and presentation as always, Petter!

[frank_avtor]

Small gripe: The BAC 1-11 didn't look like the DC-9, the DC-9 looked like the BAC 1-11 as it preceded that design by 5 years. Yes, I'm biassed here, I flew among the last BAC1-11s in regular passenger service. Love these historic videos! Keep them coming.

[Starglance]

When Airbus released the A300 their slogan was "two mouths are easier to feed than three or four". So in a way they killed off their own A340, which actually was a A330 derivate to meet ETOPS. I flew with one of the first A300s here in Germany, D-AMAX from Bavaria Germanair, a charter airline. And I flew on it again after Hapag Lloyd purchased Bavaria Germanair. Having all those little hoppers here in Germany, the A300 was so impressive.

Here in Hamburg we had a aircraft manufacturing which built military aircraft (Noratlas and Transall). This place was call HFB (Hamburger Flugzeugbau). My mother used to work there for many years. When A300 was produced, the complete are was converted to Airbus manufacturing space, which it still is.
Today the complete A320 family is produced here, and also fitting and painting of the wide bodies happens here.

They have cool guide tours as well.

[stenic]

The a300 was the first to feature a supercritical airfoil, the first to make use of composites, it used glued parts instead of rivets, it was revolutionary, and very beautiful

[PilotGery]

I flew and love 737.. but looking at the fuselage of A330 which came from A300 always gives me a "now thats how a perfect aircraft looks like" vibe

[lachd]

You could make an argument that the A300 was the most influential commercial passenger jet ever constructed. Almost every widebody out there is twin engine, and almost every commercial aircraft designed since uses fly by wire. Absolutely a revolutionary aircraft.

[elmojito]

I remember fondly flying in those first A300 leased to Eastern to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico. You did not mention it but they also made a lot less noise than the L1011 Eastern was flying in those days. I know, as I lived at the time as they were flying low into what was then called Isla Verde airport.

[balkanleopard]

The best flying experience I've ever had was in the A380. I've flown on lierally hundreds of aircraft types over more than 60 years of travel from the Vickers Viscount to the Lockheed Hercules (in 1989 as a commercial passenger) - and had some odd experiences. My father, of WW1 vintage, oft repeated a 1st WW RAF pilot who told him a good landing was one you could walk away from. Luckily I've walkeed away from all my landings - but the A380 was always the nicest.

[masbass]

Hi Peter, thank you for telling us about this Airbus history. I’m considered so lucky for having an opportunity to fly most of Airbus 24:10 type. Slightly over 30 years experience as pilot, 1992-1994 flew DC-9-32 & 1994-1996 flew B737-200 & my first Airbus on A310-300 & A300-600 in 1996-1998 (First company) was trained by Sabena Pilot. Second company flew A300-600F 2004-2007 was trained at Airbus Toulouse. Third company flew A330-200; A330-300 & A330F then CCQ A340-500 A340-600. I got upgraded as Commander A319 & A320. Fourth, fifth & Sixth company as commander A320 CEO & NEO then Seventh company as commander A330-300 then upgraded to A350-900.

[amitayudas]

My very first flight almost 35 years back was on an Airbus 310 from Delhi to Kolkata. Your comprehensive video on the origins of the Airbus and their phenomenal success story brought back memories of my very first travel on an aeroplane during my student days. Very well made documentary on Airbus.