The Rise and Fall of McDonnell Douglas

today's video has been brought to you by nordvpn stay tuned for a special offer macdonald douglas was a leading us airplane manufacturer from 1967 until 1997. never merger from two much older manufacturers the company was eventually purchased by boeing despite its relatively short time as an independent player mcdonnell douglas made significant contributions to aircraft and aviation development but how did the company start and why did they ultimately merge with boeing the douglas aircraft company was formed in 1921 and was a major contributor to us aviation's early development this included the first aerial circumnavigation of the world in 1924 with a team of douglas world cruiser aircraft the company was also a major military aircraft supplier during the second world war and developed the dc series of commercial aircraft mcdonnell aircraft corporation had a slightly different focus formed in 1939 it developed a series of military aircraft and eventually contributed to the u.s space program like douglas it grew significantly during the second world war as well as after with the development of the popular f4 phantom 2 fighter douglas's success continued long after the 1940s it moved into commercial jets and launched the dc-8 in 1958 to compete with the boeing 707 by the late 1960s however it was struggling financially development costs for the new dc-10 along with commitments to the vietnam war were taking their toll the solution was a merger deal with mcdonnell after several years of negotiations the two companies formally merged in april 1967. while the merger had stemmed from douglas's struggles at the time it made sense for both companies to team up douglas had strong commercial products while mcdonald had grown through military contracts that did not have a significant commercial operation together mcdonald's revenue was able to grow both of these operations from the 1970s to the 1990s mcdonald douglas made a leading contribution to aircraft development by that time boeing was well established with the 7x7 series and airbus was still in its infancy douglas had already gone up against boeing with the dc-8 they would try again with a new dc-10 which would also take on the lockheed l-1011 tristar with cash now available the new joint company started production of the dc-10 in 1968 just a year after forming the dc-10 went on to outsell the l-1011 later aircraft took on an md naming convention the md-80 developed from the dc-9 first flew in 1980 with swiss air american airlines was the largest operator with 360 aircraft at its peak 40 percent of its fleet evolving through several variants the md-80 remained in production until 1999 and was a serious competitor to the boeing 737 and a320 family although many airlines have now retired their fleets 145 md-80s of all variants remain in service today the md-90 continued the narrow body competition with boeing and airbus it offered a longer fuselage and more efficient engines to keep up with the advances in the a320 family and the 737 next generation series it launched with delta airlines in 1995 but only had a brief production run the shorter md95 variant was kept following the merger with boeing and renamed the boeing 717 both the mcdonnell and douglas companies initially made their names in government and military work but you don't need to be an either in order to have the best vpn on the internet with 5500 servers in 60 countries nordvpn provides more servers to achieve the best connection speeds for your needs and it's available on up to six devices from accessing the cheapest airfares online to real-time flight data your ip address will be protected with military-grade encryption and a strict no logs policy nordvpn also covers remote locations allowing you to choose from thousands of servers worldwide nordvpn stops you from being bombarded with ads as it keeps your browsing protected and your data won't be sold to advertisers with a 30-day money-back guarantee 24 7 customer support and a strict no logs policy to protect your personal data you can rest assured that your data will stay protected especially useful when traveling use the discount code take off or click the link in the description to try nordvpn today to get 70 percent off a two-year plan plus one month free mcdonnell douglas continued with wide-body development as well the md-11 tri-jet succeeded the dc-10 and launched with thin air in 1990 it offered a longer fuselage upgraded engines and a glass cockpit however it suffered several problems with safety and efficiency and mcdonnell douglas only sold 200 aircraft with less focus on efficiency the md-11 found more success in use with cargo airlines where it remains popular today interestingly there was an attempt from mcdonald douglas to go even larger the 1980s and 1990s saw a lot of excitement around larger aircraft boeing of course had great success with the 747 and airbus launched the a380 to take the concept further mcdonnell douglas proposed the md-12 in the early 1990s as its twin deck option despite interest from airlines there were no orders mcdonnell douglas had a great run with aircraft development especially narrow bodies however in the late 80s and early 90s boeing's order book was growing while mcdonnell douglas's production and manufacturing capacity was declining plans for a merger between the two rivals began in the mid 1990s but it was not made public until 1996 the final deal went through in 1997. approval for the merger was granted despite concerns from the european commission over strengthening boeing's position in supplying large jets as concessions boeing agreed to cease exclusive supply deals and also to license patents to other manufacturers the deal of course was not just about commercial aircraft boeing and mcdonnell douglas were also leading players in the defence sector competing strongly with lockheed martin despite the loss of mcdonald douglas brand much of it still remains following the merger mcdonnell douglas's president and ceo harry stonecipher became boeing's chief operating officer and later became boeing ceo until 2005. the personnel and cultural integration of the two companies was of course a major change bringing thousands of people together from two competing companies is never easy in an interview in 2000 with the economist then president philip condit explained how in his view such integration was still only partially complete it takes time after all they were bitter rivals each lot thought since our production was better when the other guy won it was only by playing dirty it's not about making everybody from mcdonald douglas or boeing happy it's about making one new boeing company with the best people in the best place as for aircraft production of the md-11 soon ended after the merger the smaller variant of the md-90 the md-95 was retained though this became the boeing 717 and gave boeing a new offering in the smaller jet category this market has risen in importance recently with a slowdown seen in 2020 and into 2021 this is working well for regional manufacturers such as embraer and airbus has done well with the a220 the 717 though has been out of production since 2006 leaving boeing out of the smaller jet market and for a lasting reminder of douglas aircraft and mcdonnell douglas take a look at boeing's current logo it was changed after the merger to integrate the two companies previous logos the retained globe image still reminds us of douglas's early achievement in aerial circumnavigation douglas aircraft mcdonnell and mcdonnell douglas have managed to play a pivotal role in aviation and aircraft evolution for a hundred years what do you think was their greatest contribution feel free to share your thoughts in the comments did you know that we publish over 175 stories every single week on simpleflying.com be sure to check the link in the description for more great stories just like this you

Channel: Long Haul by Simple Flying

Views: 114,617

Keywords: aviation, flying, flight, boeing, airbus, planes, aircraft, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 777x, a320, a321, airbus a380, a380, airports, american airlines, united airlines, delta airlines, british airways

Id: IGZ-3yEC2f8

Length: 10min 1sec (601 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 01 2021