Trolling the Flight Archive today, I came across a truly eye-opening gem of a quote from a June 24, 1989 article on McDonnell Douglas’ selection of a final assembly site for the MD-90. In the article, then program manager Walt Orlowski discussed the company’s decision to not offer the “technically ready” General Electric GE36 unducted fan for the re-engined jetliner, which was available for a $1 million price premium. He described the company’s thinking this way:
Douglas concedes that, with fuel prices unlikely to rise substantially in the near future, there is “inadequate motivation” for airlines to gamble on unducted-fan technology in return for improved fuel efficiency.
Hard to tell what might have played out for McDonnell Douglas if its thinking had not been as short-term, especially in light of the fuel crisis that hit only decade earlier.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.