As the topic states would A or B ever build another tri-jet? Or have we seen the last tri jet in the MD-11? Were they an economical aircraft vs twins or quads? Or is there even a nitch that a tri jet could fill in the world 737NG's - 7E7 - A350 etc.. Just thought I would see what the thoughts on this would be...

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Maybe,if airbus can dish out a 3-engined a380 really soon years before an alternative is offered.

The Blended Wing Body is often discussed as being a trijet powered by three 777 class engines.



Also, there is the brand new Dassault 7X, which is a trijet.



I doubt we'll see many trijets in the future, but I also doubt the idea is extinct.

We will almost certainly not see another commercial mainline trijet.

The three-engine configuration is one of the worst possible due to the added structural and mechanical complexity of a tail engine. A quad configuration is more desireable than a trijet, and it's likely that twins will continue to be pervasive as larger and larger engines become viable.

If Boeing announced that they were building a super-efficient trijet that would cruise at 50,000 feet averaging Mach .95, you know that before Airbus would announce that it will build one bigger, which would be faster, and available sooner, the German government would state that they are going to give Airbus $397M to develop a better plane to compete. First Airbus would sew triangular wings onto an A321, and paint A360 over it. Then after only one airline announces they will buy out of sympathy, Airbus will go back to drawing board and come out with a real design.

On the brightside, that would give you two new three-holers to go spot.

But to answer your question AirEMS, I think we have seen the last of the trijets. The MD-11 found a home as a freighter, but its popularity in that role really rose after the close of production was announced and Boeing chose only to offer the 744F. I am not sure that freighter demand and Finnair would be enough to reopen a trijet assembly line.

Not that it will happen but id love to see an updated more fuel efficient L1011(600) with a glass cockpit (though i prefer the original)