Boeing Commercial Aircraft president Ron Woodard has heightened the uncertainty surrounding the future of the McDonnell Douglas MD-95, saying: "I don't know what the contracts are like with the customer-we build a good 106-seat aircraft in the 737-600 that's doing well in the marketplace".
Woodard has also expressed doubts that the MD-95 would form a suitably low-cost base for a Boeing 80- to 100-seat regional-airliner project, assuming the merger is approved. Despite a low-level of company enthusiasm, he remains personally interested in the regional market. "I've always wanted to do an 80-seater."
The problem for Boeing remains the lack of return on small-airliner sales.
Prospects for the launch of the stretched 737-900X, meanwhile, remain good.
Source: Flight International
