3 ms·

Missing in this analysis is the MD-95 (now renamed as Boeing 717). McD did a bunch of expensive reengineering and the gamble didn’t pay off when the launch cus

• Cacti 3y ago
  The MD-95 didn’t even get type certification until 1999. Are you thinking of ValueJet? That was in 1997 and wasn’t a MD-95 but a DC-9, and the cause of the crash was, you know, it was ValueJet. MDC in 1995 and 1996, when the talks were occurring, was not in dire financial shape. The C17 had a contract finally and was printing obscene amounts of money. But there was nothing new in the pipe, so once they bombed on JSF, it was either merge then at the top or ride the trainwreck for the next 30 years. And Boeing made out, because they picked up the desperately needed cash from C17 and the military business. Which was the right move, since there have been 2 or 3 times since then where commercial nearly bankrupted the company. PS I agree the MD95 sucked and was a poor decision. My understanding is that a new design was considered too expensive at the time (the 80s), hence the decision to go with the derivative. It can work, but if it backfires you end up with the MD-95 or the MAX.