ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170054
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
The merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas will build a company for the future. But what about the planes of the past?
Industry experts say travelers need not worry - the 1,000-plus McDonnell Douglas planes flown in the United States will be safe for decades to come.
In announcing a $13.3 billion merger on Sunday between the nation's two largest commercial airplane manufacturers, Boeing said it would continue to make and service the McDonnell Douglas line.
``We're not going out of the commercial airplane business at all,'' said Don Hanson, a spokesman for the Douglas Aircraft Co., a division of McDonnell Douglas based in Long Beach, Calif.
Most major U.S. airlines fly McDonnell Douglas aircraft, including Delta, American, Continental, United, USAir, Trans World Airlines, Northwest and Alaska.
Some of those airlines announced in recent months that they were ordering new planes to replace aging fleets - including some older McDonnell Douglas models.
American Airlines, which signed Boeing to be the sole supplier of up to 630 jets to refurbish its fleet over the next 20 years, said Monday that it has no plans to accelerate delivery of those aircraft because of the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger.
``The McDonnell Douglas aircraft we have are all very good airplanes,'' said Tim Smith, an American spokesman in Dallas. ``We don't expect any problems or difficulties with the support of existing McDonnell Douglas aircraft in our fleet.''
American has 18 DC-10 models, which haven't been made since 1989. Northwest has 175 DC-9s in its fleet, and they haven't been made since 1982.
The DC-8, still flown by air cargo companies such as United Parcel Service, was last made in 1972.
``We have ongoing very active product support programs for all of those,'' Hanson said Monday. He said parts are still made for the DC-3 under licensing agreements with other manufacturers.
Indeed, the airlines are so comfortable with the proposed deal, that their reaction was not to react. Continental won't be changing its plans to put 16 more DC10-30s and 62 MD-80s into service by the end of 1999.
``We are happy with them,'' spokeswoman Sarah Anthony said. ``We plan to fly them for a considerable length of time, beyond 2000.''
For travelers, the merger could be good news for comfort, as well as safety.
Ed Perkins, editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, said the MD-80 and MD-90 aircraft have slightly wider seats and fewer middle seats than their Boeing counterparts, the 737 and the 757.
``If would be unfortunate for consumers if the net result of all this is that we will fulfill present orders but not continue to develop the product line,'' he said.
As for the DC-10s and MD-11s, Perkins said, they are about the same in comfort as their former competitors, the Boeing 767 and 777.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Machinist Dan Bisson inserts the last bolt into a PWby CNB4090 jet engine at the Pratt & Whiney engine plant in Middletown,
Conn., in this July 1995 photo. color.