Originally Posted by
tomgoodman
That's what I heard too, but the California Senators and Congressmen told Boeing the merger might not be approved unless they agreed to keep the Long Beach production going.
It still is, but it's just C-17's. This can be pretty easily researched on the web, but after the merger, the 80 fell first, then the 90, then the 11. I rode the MD-11 program out until the last one hit the delivery center.
The last LB built commercial aircraft; the MD-95 took on the new name, the B-717. Had Boeing gone with a -100 and a -300, there may have been a chance but having just the -200, it was a orphan. As much as I hate to admit it, there just wasn't a market for it at the time.
Related: If you look at the Photo Section from about a year ago, I posted pictures of the last 717 delivery ceremony to Air Tran and Midwest (same day)
Rick, PM me if you want to get a message to Terry.
11Fan