| McDonnell Douglas was a major American | | | | Douglas was strained by the cost of the |
| aerospace manufacturer, producing a | | | | DC-8 and DC-9, and the companies began |
| number of famous commercial and military | | | | to sound each other out about a merger. |
| aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 | | | | Inquiries began in 1963; Douglas offered |
| to form The Boeing Company. | | | | bid invitations from December 1966 and |
| Background | | | | accepted that of McDonnell. The two |
| The company was founded from the firms | | | | firms were officially merged on April |
| of James Smith McDonnell and Donald | | | | 28, 1967 as the McDonnell Douglas |
| Wills Douglas. Both were graduates of | | | | Corporation. In 1967, with the merger of |
| MIT and had worked for the aircraft | | | | McDonnell and Douglas Aircraft, Dave |
| manufacturer Glenn L. Martin Company. | | | | Lewis, then president of McDonnell, was |
| Douglas had been chief engineer at Glenn | | | | named chairman of what was called the |
| L. Martin before leaving to establish | | | | Long Beach, Douglas Aircraft Division. |
| Davis-Douglas Company in early 1920 in | | | | At the time of the merger, Douglas |
| Los Angeles. He bought out his backer | | | | Aircraft was estimated to be less than a |
| and renamed the firm the Douglas | | | | year from bankruptcy. Flush with orders, |
| Aircraft Company in 1921. | | | | the DC-8 and DC-9 aircraft were 9 to 18 |
| McDonnell founded J.S. McDonnell & | | | | months behind schedule, incurring stiff |
| Associates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in | | | | penalties from the airlines. Mr. Lewis |
| 1928. His idea was to produce a personal | | | | was active in DC-10 sales in an intense |
| aircraft for family use. The economic | | | | competition with Lockheed and the |
| depression from 1929 ruined his ideas | | | | L-1011. In two years, Mr. Lewis had the |
| and the company collapsed. He went to | | | | operation back on track and in positive |
| work for Glenn L. Martin. He left in | | | | cash flow. He returned to the company's |
| 1938 to try again with his own firm, | | | | St. Louis headquarters where he |
| McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, this | | | | continued sales efforts on the DC-10 and |
| time based near St. Louis, Missouri. | | | | managed the company as a whole as |
| The war was a major earner for Douglas. | | | | President and Chief Operating Officer |
| The company produced almost 30,000 | | | | through 1981. |
| aircraft from 1942 to 1945 and the | | | | The DC-10 began production in 1968 with |
| workforce swelled to 160,000. The | | | | the first deliveries in 1971. In 1977 |
| company produced a number of aircraft | | | | the DC-9 "Super 80" (later named the |
| including the C-47 (based on the DC-3), | | | | MD-80) Series was launched. This proved |
| the DB-7 (known as the A-20, Havoc or | | | | to be a very successful program. The |
| Boston), the Dauntless and the A-26 | | | | next aircraft to be launched was the |
| Invader. Both companies suffered at the | | | | MD-11, an upgraded DC-10. To date, the |
| end of hostilities, facing an end of | | | | MD-11 remains the only modern trijet. |
| government orders and a surplus of | | | | After its launch in 1986, the MD-11 sold |
| aircraft. Both heavily cut their | | | | 200 units, but was discontinued after |
| workforces, Douglas sacking almost | | | | the merger with Boeing (see below) as it |
| 100,000 people. As part of their wartime | | | | competed with the Boeing 777. McDonnell |
| work Douglas had established a United | | | | Douglas' final aircraft was launched in |
| States Army Air Forces think-tank, a | | | | 1988. The MD-90 series was a stretched |
| group that would later become the RAND | | | | version of the MD-80, equipped with |
| Corporation. | | | | International Aero Engines V2500 |
| Douglas continued to develop new | | | | turbofans, the largest rear-mounted |
| aircraft, including the successful | | | | engines ever on a commercial jet. The |
| four-engined DC-6 (1946) and their last | | | | MD-95, a modern regional aircraft |
| prop-driven commercial aircraft, the | | | | closely resembling the DC-9-30, was the |
| DC-7 (1953). The company had moved into | | | | only McDonnell Douglas jet to remain in |
| jet propulsion, producing their first | | | | production (as the Boeing 717) after the |
| for the military - the conventional F3D | | | | merger with Boeing. |
| Skyknight in 1948 and then the more 'jet | | | | In 1992, McDonnell Douglas bravely |
| age' F4D Skyray in 1951. Douglas also | | | | unveiled a study of a double deck |
| made commercial jets, producing the DC-8 | | | | jumbo-sized aircraft similar to the |
| in 1958 to compete with the new Boeing | | | | Airbus A380, designated MD-12. Despite |
| 707. McDonnell was also developing jets, | | | | briefly exciting the market, the study |
| but being smaller they were prepared to | | | | was perceived as merely as a public |
| be more radical, building on their | | | | relations exercise to disguise the fact |
| successful FH-1 Phantom to become a | | | | that Douglas was struggling under |
| major supplier to the Navy with the | | | | intense pressure from Boeing and Airbus. |
| Banshee, Demon, and the Voodoo. The | | | | It was clear to most in the industry |
| advent of the Korean War helped push | | | | that Douglas had neither the resources |
| McDonnell into a major military fighter | | | | or the money to develop such a monstrous |
| supply role, especially with the noted | | | | aircraft, and the study quickly sank |
| F-4 Phantom II (1958). | | | | without trace. Interestingly, the |
| Both companies were eager to enter the | | | | concept was used in Boeing's later |
| new missile business, Douglas moving | | | | Ultra-Large Aircraft study intended to |
| from producing air-to-air rockets and | | | | replace the 747, but ultimately the |
| missiles to entire missile systems under | | | | double deck concept would eventually see |
| the 1956 Nike program and becoming the | | | | the light of day in the Airbus A380. |
| main contractor of the Skybolt ALBM | | | | Through the years, McDonnell Douglas |
| program and the Thor ballistic missile | | | | also produced many successful military |
| program. McDonnell made a number of | | | | aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle |
| missiles, including the unusual ADM-20 | | | | (1974) and the F/A-18 Hornet (1975) as |
| Quail, as well as experimenting with | | | | well as the Harpoon and Tomahawk |
| hypersonic flight, research that enabled | | | | missiles. The oil crisis of the 1970s |
| them to gain a substantial share of the | | | | was a serious shock to the commercial |
| NASA projects Mercury and Gemini. | | | | aviation industry and McDonnell Douglas |
| Douglas also gained contracts from NASA, | | | | was forced to contract heavily and also |
| notably for part of the enormous Saturn | | | | began to diversify to reduce the impact |
| V rocket. Both companies were now major | | | | of potential future downturns. In 1984 |
| employers, but both were having | | | | the corporation acquired Hughes |
| problems. | | | | Helicopters, soon McDonnell Douglas |
| McDonnell/Douglas merger | | | | Helicopters. |