Final 717 being built

The last McDonnell Douglas product comes to an end, plane #156 for AirTran. Basically an awesome little plane, the MD95 as it was first known, never got the traction it needed. MD was at the end of its life and could not get the little plane to sell as well as it could have. There were natural customers for this plane - Northwest being the most obvious. Boeing adopted the plane and renamed it, but was not going to push the design. AirTran wanted a -300 but Boeing only offered the 737. They were not going to let the 717 eat into 737 territory. Unfortunately the MD line withered in the end. The MD11 dissapointed with a 5% range problem that was never fixed. (But try get your hands on one today; its an awesome freighter) This led to order cancellations from influential carriers such as Singapore. Loyal customers like American and Delta were irritated enough to limit their orders. Without the critical mass, MD was doomed. Robert Crandall's ravings at MD did the manufacturer a power of no-good, too. Interesting historical note: American wanted a two engined DC10, Douglas wouldn't listen. Lo and behold! The A300 was in like Flint. (moral - listen to your customers) The MD90 (above), a replacement for the MD80 series, was also a great plane. At the time (maybe even today) it was the quietest large airplane. Indeed it was cleared to fly in and out of Orange County airport without restrictions. Note the large engines, which are the same as on the 320. Rumor was that Delta's MD90s had the highest dispatch rate of any airplane in their fleet. Another commercial aviation chapter is closed.