Aircraft/Airline/Livery Combos that Didn’t Exist

JJ Skippy

Well-known member
Hello everyone! I am starting a new thread showcasing airline/aircraft/livery combos that didn’t fly, or those that had their livery changed upon delivery of the aircraft.

First up is the Northwest A330 and A340 Bowling Shoe, a scenario in which the airline had updated their livery by delivery, the other resulting in a complete cancellation. In 1987, Northwest placed an order for 20 A340s and 10 A330s, which were meant to replace the aging 747-100s and DC-10s. Due to a number of complications resulting from IAE pulling out, rising fuel prices, and issues arising from a leveraged buyout, Northwest canceled the A340 order in 1992. Only a handful of drawings and a large-scale model were made of the A340 in Northwest’s Bowling Shoe livery, the latter of which is on display at the Northwest Airlines History Center in Bloomington, just south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. I personally have not been there, but I’ve heard it’s a great place and their website has been very helpful for a number of reasons!
1950CA2A-DF63-4F02-8BD0-E90D2B8F97BD.jpeg

So what about the A330? Following the cancellation of the 330 and 340 orders, they ordered the 330 again in 2001 and deliveries began right as their final NWA livery debuted across the fleet, so none would wear Bowling Shoe. The NWAHC also has a large-scale model of an A330 on display, this one in the old Thermometer paint scheme! It was made at the time NWA had placed the original order. You may also notice the difference in the winglet design, of which was changed to a slanted winglet. NWA’s 330 fleet still operates with Delta today.
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Both images above come from the Northwest Airlines History Center website; you can find them here.

Edit: feel free to post any airline/aircraft/livery combos that never existed as well!
 
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Transbrasil ordered the Boeing 777 but cancelled back in the early 90s.
Their tail is even depicted at the fuselage of the 777 prototype wearing Boeing colors.

Here's a custom model owned by a fellow Brazilian collector (@400collector)

TBA77.png
 
Nice find! Never knew this airline existed.

They were the third biggest Brazilian airline, operating from 1955 to 2001.
First operator of the Boeing 767 in Latin America, back in 1983.
Had regular flights to United States and European destinations: Miami, Orlando, Washington DC, New York, Amsterdam, Vienna...
 
Here’s a fun one. In 1989, TWA a placed an order for some A330-300s, with delivery scheduled for 1994. During the 90s alongside their bankruptcies, TWA ended up renegotiating the order. I couldn’t find if they ever officially canceled the order during this time, as in 1995 they said their firm orders were unaffected. Rumors of TWA reordering the A330 surfaced in 2000 per this Airliners.net thread, shortly before they were acquired by American. It would’ve been nice to see a TWA A330 at some point, but Schabak did make a 1:600 model of it during their time in the sun. It looks really nice with Twin Stripes on it, even if it is a little old for a then-new aircraft.
C561CE57-FBED-4851-ABDE-D2726FC2BDDD.jpeg
 
Early 90s Delta Airlines Widget livery 777-200 concept. This was produced back when the 777 was expected to come with foldable wingtips.
61397-441f0da19e70f775970fe0f1fbe98aef.jpg


Late 70s Delta Airlines 7N7 (757) concept. The 757 was originally going to look more like a 727.
DiO9pdLU0AAob4Z.jpg:large
 
When Cathay Pacific begin to lure into the widebody jet operations, DC-10s are in fact being considered at some point but were ultimately turned down due to a myriad of reasons. It is believed that the British government has pressured CX through the colonial government to get the RR powered L1011. An artistic render can be found on the internet on Pinterest, see below👇🏻
And when CX ordered A350s back in 2010s, they create renders on the old 1994 brushwing livery which they ultimately didn't wear when introduced into service in 2016. The 777-9X has similar fate - but we yet to see the real aircraft anyway. 😜
A350 in Landor "Brushwing"
B777-9x in Landor "Brushwing" - this pic is taken from a press release by CX.
Boeing+777-9X.JPG
B777-300ER in retro "Lettuce Sandwich" are also a fantasy made into models by NG recently.
Screenshot_20230221-092856.png
Do you know there is a 1/500 CX 767 in retro "Lettuce Sandwich" - I do😜
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/net-models-cathay-pacific-airways-1844166283
Screenshot_20230221-092440.png
I also remember there has been an artistic render of CX A330 in retro "Lettuce Sandwich" floating on the internet, but unfortunately I can't find the pic.:cry:
 
TWA makes another appearance in this thread:

Back in 1998, TWA placed an order for 50 of the Airbus A318, of which would be the first Airbus type in their fleet. They had ordered the A330, but as seen in post #1, that didn’t happen. This was part of a larger order, containing Airbus A320s and additional Boeing 717s. Their goal with this order was to bring down their fleet’s average age, which was quite high due to their fleet of DC-9s and 747s. With American acquiring TWA in 2001, the order was canceled, and American would not operate any Airbus A320 family aircraft until their acquisition of US Airways in 2013.

A scale model was produced, which is currently at the TWA Museum in Kansas City. I quite like the final livery on the Airbus.
C19A7237-B825-4349-95F3-6A4F4DA61B0B.jpeg
 
TWA makes another appearance in this thread:

Back in 1998, TWA placed an order for 50 of the Airbus A318, of which would be the first Airbus type in their fleet. They had ordered the A330, but as seen in post #1, that didn’t happen. This was part of a larger order, containing Airbus A320s and additional Boeing 717s. Their goal with this order was to bring down their fleet’s average age, which was quite high due to their fleet of DC-9s and 747s. With American acquiring TWA in 2001, the order was canceled, and American would not operate any Airbus A320 family aircraft until their acquisition of US Airways in 2013.

A scale model was produced, which is currently at the TWA Museum in Kansas City. I quite like the final livery on the Airbus.
View attachment 15070
Potential Fantasy A318 For NG?
 
A few more...
Lauda Air once opted for a 747-400, but the production slot wasn't taken.
lauda744.jpg


Aero Lloyd ordered three MD-11s, even though line numbers were assigned, the airline didn't take them in the end.
image.jpg


Two 707-120's were built for Cubana but never delivered to Cuba. They were taken up by Western Airlines but kept their Cubana customer code ("39") throughout their life.
1550-cubana%20707%20edit%20small%20format.jpg
 
And a livery/aircraft combo that did exist but didn't make it into service:
In 1970, three 727-200s were built for THY and were about ready to be taken up. The deal failed and TC-JBA/B/C - after spending quite some time on ground - were converted to Continental specs and taken up in 1972 by this airline as -224s.
3c3907653f98853da44e58d26c307329.jpg
 
TWA
TWA makes another appearance in this thread:

Back in 1998, TWA placed an order for 50 of the Airbus A318, of which would be the first Airbus type in their fleet. They had ordered the A330, but as seen in post #1, that didn’t happen. This was part of a larger order, containing Airbus A320s and additional Boeing 717s. Their goal with this order was to bring down their fleet’s average age, which was quite high due to their fleet of DC-9s and 747s. With American acquiring TWA in 2001, the order was canceled, and American would not operate any Airbus A320 family aircraft until their acquisition of US Airways in 2013.

A scale model was produced, which is currently at the TWA Museum in Kansas City. I quite like the final livery on the Airbus.
View attachment 15070
I have the LVFR A318 in MSFS, and the TWA globe livery is featured.
 
A few more...
Lauda Air once opted for a 747-400, but the production slot wasn't taken.
lauda744.jpg


Aero Lloyd ordered three MD-11s, even though line numbers were assigned, the airline didn't take them in the end.
image.jpg


Two 707-120's were built for Cubana but never delivered to Cuba. They were taken up by Western Airlines but kept their Cubana customer code ("39") throughout their life.
1550-cubana%20707%20edit%20small%20format.jpg
@Phantom image is broken when viewing the thread, but is showing while writing the reply?
 
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