c9 | Post #717

The twinjet Boeing 717 is Boeing Commercial Airplanes' smallest commercial airliner intended for the 100-seater market. It entered service in September 1999, making it one of the newest airliners on the market, and yet one of the oldest - the 717 is a renamed McDonnell Douglas MD-95, which itself was based on the venerable Douglas DC-9 that first flew in 1965. On January 14, 2005, the Boeing Company announced that it will discontinue production of the 717 in 2006. This will end the long history of McDonnell Douglas commercial aircraft in Long Beach, CA.

Boeing had apparently skipped the "717" model designation when the 720 (not as some claim, the 727) became the airliner which followed the 707. But "717" had, in fact, been used by the company to refer to the military version of the 707, which the U.S. Air Force redesignated the KC-135 Stratotanker. It had also been used to promote an early design of the 720 to airlines, before it was modifed to meet market demands as the eventual 720. This left "717" available until the MD-95 was rebranded.

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Maintenance costs are very low: a check C inspection, for example, takes just three days and is required only once in 4500 flying hours. (For comparison, the old DC-9, which was always well-regarded by engineering departments for its fuss-free nature, needed 21 days for a check C.)