McDonnell Aircraft used the Model 220 as a demonstrator to try to gain interest in it as a commercial transport. Here the Model 220 is landing in St. Louis after a demonstration flight.

The McDonnell Model 119 was designed and built in response to a 1956 Air Force competition for a UCX utility aircraft. The Model 119 was a four-engine turbo-jet powered low-wing monoplane with a tricycle landing gear that was designed to accomodate a ten passengers and a crew of two. When McDonnell lost the Air Force contract to Lockheed, the company tried to market the airplane as a commercial business jet called the Model 220. The four-engine Model 119/220 was the first business, non-airline-type jet aircraft to receive an FAA Class I provisional type certificate as airworthy in the transport category.