The Douglas Aircraft Company first announced its intention to build a jet-powered airliner on June 7, 1955. Known as the Douglas Model 1881, from the outset the manufacturer enlisted the help of its airline customers to refine the new design.
Chicago-based United Airlines was approached and the then-president, William A ‘Pat’ Patterson pushed for six-abreast seating. Douglas ensured that the fuselage was wide enough to accommodate his request and on October 25, 1955 United became one of the aircraft’s launch customers. It signed a $175m deal for 30 examples – the largest single order for a commercial airliner.
Delta’s relationship with the quad jet came about when fierce rival Eastern Air Lines cancelled the first six airframes of its 20 aircraft order. Eastern’s CEO, Eddie Rickenbacker, was unhappy with the performance of the Pratt & Whitney JT3C-6 engines that powered the early examples. However, these airframes were already under construction at Douglas’s Long Beach facility, meaning Delta could secure early delivery slots and become the type’s joint launch customer with United.
United became the first carrier to welcome the DC-8 when a series -11, N8004U (c/n 45281) ‘Mainliner Capt RT Freng’ joined the fleet on June…
