In the 70s the wide bodies became the standard for overseas travel, but what was the aircraft most commonly used before that for non-stop flights? I am thinking the 707 and the DC-8.
On another note, in mid-70s I took a couple of trips SFO/LAX/MEX on Western DC-10s, but no US airline runs wide bodies there anymore. Why did Western do that? And who competed with them? I am pretty sure that we left from SFO, even though we lived closer to SJC, and I can’t figure why SFO was better. I wish there was a retro Kayak that would allow me to plug in a date and do searches for the past. Or is there?
One last groundbreaking idea: the A380 is so large, it could be split for two airlines, one takes the upper floor, the other takes the lower, and they share the risk. Sort of like code-sharing, but they maintain their own brands. Has this ever been done?