The concept of a full-length double deck commercial jetliner was not originally an Airbus concept after they created the A380. The Boeing 747 was originally conceptualized as a full-length double deck aircraft but ended up as a partial full-length double decker. There is another plane though that was envisioned to be a full-length double deck commercial jetliner, and this is the McDonnell Douglas MD-12.
So yes, the Airbus A380 was not an original concept, nor was it even the very first full-length double deck aircraft. If the McDonnell Douglas MD-12 went into production, this would actually be the very first full-length double deck commercial jet in the world. The A380 will merely just be a competitor. However, it didn’t happen.
In the early 1990s, McDonnell Douglas embarked on an ambitious project to create a large wide-body airliner that would redefine air travel. The MD-12 was conceived initially as a trijet, larger than its predecessor, the MD-11. However, the vision for the MD-12 quickly evolved into a quadjet airliner, boasting two full-length passenger decks, aiming to surpass the Boeing 747 in size and passenger capacity.
The Evolution of the MD-12
The journey of the MD-12 began with the study of stretched versions of the MD-11 trijet, known as the MD-12X. McDonnell Douglas envisioned a revolutionary design featuring a possible lower-front passenger deck with panoramic windows. By October 1991, the company decided to offer the MD-12X design to airlines, marking the start of an ambitious endeavor.
The design transitioned into the MD-12, a larger aircraft with four engines and two passenger decks spanning the entire length of the fuselage. This design aimed to directly compete with the Boeing 747 and was similar in concept to the Airbus A3XX and Boeing’s New Large Airplane proposals.
Challenges and Cancellation
Despite the initial excitement and aggressive marketing, the MD-12 failed to secure any orders. The project’s feasibility was further jeopardized when Taiwan Aerospace, a key partner, withdrew from the project. Financial constraints and the complexity of developing a new double-deck widebody aircraft contributed to the project’s demise. Skeptics speculated that the MD-12’s announcement was a strategic move to influence Boeing’s acquisition plans. Ultimately, the MD-12’s ambitious vision remained unrealized.
In April 1992, the MD-12 project encountered significant hurdles, ultimately leading to its cancellation without a single order placed.
Following the cancellation of the MD-12, McDonnell Douglas shifted its focus to the MD-11 derivatives, proposing the MD-XX series at the 1996 Farnborough International Air Show. The MD-XX, offered in Stretch and Long-Range variants, aimed to enhance seating capacity and range. Despite these efforts, the MD-XX program was also terminated, underscoring the financial and technical challenges McDonnell Douglas faced in developing a new generation of wide-body aircraft.
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