What could have been: Continental Airlines A340-300

Rip Continental. Why didn't and US Airlines buy the a340? It was a great plane. 

Rip Continental. Why didn't and US Airlines buy the a340? It was a great plane. 

Because Boeing

Rip Continental. Why didn't and US Airlines buy the a340? It was a great plane.

I mean, the A330 was a better plane economically, and it could do everything that the A340 could do, but better. See Delta, US Airways, and now American for reference. That being said, the A340 does have an aesthetic advantage IMO and Airbus still makes the best planes flying in the skies today.

I mean, the A330 was a better plane economically, and it could do everything that the A340 could do, but better. See Delta, US Airways, and now American for reference. That being said, the A340 does have an aesthetic advantage IMO and Airbus still makes the best planes flying in the skies today.

Delta really just kept the A330 I think all of theirs were Northwest.

Rip Continental. Why didn't and US Airlines buy the a340? It was a great plane. 

Adding to what Pasti and Vision said, think about it. The A340 family as is basically an A330 with 2 extra, fuel hungry engines. As proved by the A330, there was no need for these engines in the first place; All they did was add weight, suck more fuel, and cause higher maintenance costs. As for the A340-600 specifically, despite its higher seating capacity over other airbus models, there was the Boeing 777, which performed the same role with just 2 engines. Boeing also likely offered discounts to select their airframe over the A340, as they've done with many other products. So, after all of that, plus some extra reasons, it no longer made sense for most airlines to buy the A340 and they instead opted for the A330 and 777.

 

All that said, IMO the A340(-600 especially) is by far the coolest - and most beautiful - Airbus ever made. It's one of the planes that I suspect made me interested in aviation in the first place. It's almost tragic that it never really succeeded.

I mean, the A330 was a better plane economically, and it could do everything that the A340 could do, but better. See Delta, US Airways, and now American for reference. That being said, the A340 does have an aesthetic advantage IMO and Airbus still makes the best planes flying in the skies today.

The 787 is the best plane in the sky but I dislike all the other Boeings built today. I prefer airbus in any other case.

Adding to what Pasti and Vision said, think about it. The A340 family as is basically an A330 with 2 extra, fuel hungry engines. As proved by the A330, there was no need for these engines in the first place; All they did was add weight, suck more fuel, and cause higher maintenance costs. As for the A340-600 specifically, despite its higher seating capacity over other airbus models, there was the Boeing 777, which performed the same role with just 2 engines. Boeing also likely offered discounts to select their airframe over the A340, as they've done with many other products. So, after all of that, plus some extra reasons, it no longer made sense for most airlines to buy the A340 and they instead opted for the A330 and 777.

 

All that said, IMO the A340(-600 especially) is by far the coolest - and most beautiful - Airbus ever made. It's one of the planes that I suspect made me interested in aviation in the first place. It's almost tragic that it never really succeeded.

 

In the case of the engines, timing is also a crucial factor. The A330 and A340's design predecessors (the TA9 and TA11) were both designed in 1982, when the most powerful engines were the RB211-535 and the JT10D-232 (which could've made a widebody trijet, but not a twinjet). Looking at the technology available at the time, it was physically impossible to build a twinjet without severely impacting range. 

 

The 777 didn't begin design until 6 years after the A340, and did not have its first flight until 3 years after the A340. In that time, Boeing asked its potential engine suppliers (RR, PW, and GE) to design a 77,000+ lbf engine, about twice that of what Airbus had available with the RB211-535. While the difference in time may not seem that large, in retrospect, it allowed for a complete overhaul in the amount of thrust available. 

 

The 777 was not better than the A340 due to cost — it was superior because the time it was developed allowed for technological advancement over the A340. The A330, thus, does so well because the more modern versions of it could also take advantage of the new thrust capability of new engines, all while reducing fuel consumption. 

Northwest did originally order A340s in the early 90s. But after trouble with the original engines intended for the 340 they elected to cancel/convert their orders to A330s. With the industry's downturn in the late 90s/early 00s those orders were deferred some years before they were finally delivered.