- The Boeing 717 is a slightly offbeat aircraft that went out of production in 2006.
- Boeing chalked it up as a failure, a result of absorbing some McDonnell Douglas planes when it acquired the planemaker in the mid-1990s.
- But the 100-seat 717-200 is now in serious demand, as carriers move away from regional jets.
- I recently flew on a Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 from Newark to Detroit.
I've flown on many big aircraft and plenty of small ones. I've flown on Boeings, Airbuses, and Embraers, Bombardiers and a host of more obscure names.
But until recently, I'd never set foot on a Boeing 717, a smaller aircraft that Boeing inherited when it bought McDonnell Douglas in 1995 for $13 billion.
Transform talent with learning that worksCapability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More I tend to like really small jets, tolerate regional aircraft, richly enjoy big planes - and dislike the narrow-bodies that do most of the grunt work of hauling passengers around the US on domestic routes these days.
The 717-200, in Delta livery, that I boarded last month for a flight to Detroit from Newark, NJ, was a mystery. I wasn't sure what I was strapping into.
I figured out quickly what I was dealing with - and then settled back to enjoy the ride. Which was unexpectedly thrilling.
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