Airbus is currently the biggest aviation company, and one of the most well known. But what a lot of people don’t know is that Airbus almost failed.
December 18, 1970
Airbus is founded
October 28, 1972
Airbus’s first ever model, the A300, takes flight - this model is the world’s first widebody twinjet
May 23, 1974
The A300 is delivered to Air France
1974-1988
While Airbus was finding a decent amount of European success, Europe was not what they wanted to dominate or at least hold a presence in - the United States. But airlines like American and Pan Am did not trust a new European company with tech they have never seen before. So Airbus needed to think of ways to get their airliner to them, because if they didn’t, they would fail fast. The thing they came up with was leasing Eastern airlines 4 aircraft for free. While Eastern was hesitant at first, they did accept because - they are free aircraft.
Eastern loved them. While they were hesitant about the twinjet technology, it worked out for them spectacularly, with low fuel prices being a main reason. With this, other airlines, such as American, started considering and buying the plane. The A300 ended up as a huge success, but almost failed, with barely any orders at first.
1974 - today
If it weren’t for leasing Eastern the aircraft for free, they would have been beaten out by Boeing, and failed as a company. But they didn’t - now they are one of the most recognizable manufacturers in the world, with a gigantic lineup, from the massive A380 to the tiny A318.
If I got any details or facts wrong, PM me. I can research and fix them :)