McDonnell Douglas Anticipates SAS Order
McDonnell Douglas Corp.’s proposed 100-seat commercial jetliner, the MD-95, could move closer to being formally launched today if it gets a sizable order from Scandinavian Airline Systems.
Stockholm-based SAS, a longtime McDonnell customer, is expected to announce an order for perhaps 50 or more small jetliners today valued in excess of $1 billion, and the MD-95 is considered a front-runner to win all or part of the deal.
Boeing Co. and Fokker NV of the Netherlands are among the other manufacturers competing for the order.
McDonnell, whose Douglas Aircraft airliner operation is based in Long Beach, has announced plans to build the MD-95 in Dallas. But the company has yet to launch production pending sufficient orders.
A Douglas spokesman declined comment on SAS, but cautioned that one order alone might not be enough to launch the airplane’s manufacture.
Byron Callan, aerospace analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co., recently said that “SAS is a likely initial customer” for the MD-95 but that McDonnell needs an order of at least 50 planes to break even on the plane’s development costs.
