Date: 23 Dec 96 22:48:01
From: David Lednicer <dave@amiwest.com>
Organization: Analytical Methods, Inc.
References: 1 2 3
Followups: 1
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> >I don't think Airbus killed Douglas. McDonnell killed Douglas.
>
> Good observation. Or, in their haste to nail Lockheed, McDonnell left
> the gate open so Airbus could kill Douglas, and Airbus did a fine job
> of exploiting that opportunity to its fullest.
If you read the histories, you will find that Douglas first
mortally wounded themselves. They were too late with the DC-8 and had
poor management during the 1960s, resulting in huge debts. McDonnell
"saved" them, but then shut down the DC-8 line too early (1972), before
it reached break even. Mr. Mac, seeing the high development costs and
low sales of the DC-10, due to L-1011 competition, vowed to never launch
another airliner, hence, in the late 1970s, they sat on their hands while
Boeing launched the 757 and 767. By then, it was too late.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
David Lednicer | "Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics"
Analytical Methods, Inc. | email: dave@amiwest.com
2133 152nd Ave NE | tel: (206) 643-9090
Redmond, WA 98052 USA | fax: (206) 746-1299
