Jets for the Short Haul

At a signal from outgoing Commerce Secretary Luther Hodges in Washington, the giant doors of the Douglas assembly hangar in Long Beach, Calif., opened this week and out rolled the first U.S. entry in a rising competition among international planemakers. The competition is a struggle to win the huge potential market for short-to medium-range jets for the world's airlines. The U.S. plane is the DC-9, a trim, red-white-and-blue craft that Douglas has rushed out a month ahead of schedule. And just in time, too: the British twin-jet BAC One-Eleven has been flying away with the orders.

Among other U.S. firms not wanting to be left on the ground, Boeing is rounding up customers for its own short-range jet, the twin-engined 737, which is expected to be cleared for production within a month. North American Aviation is studying designs for its Centuryliner, a slightly smaller entry in the field. Abroad, The Netherlands is preparing to enter the race by designing a Fokker F28 Fellowship, and France already has four Nord 262 turboprops in the air and has orders for seven Super-Caravelles, which are only months away from delivery date.

Everybody's race is against the British, who almost won by default. Not since 1953, when the British introduced the Viscount turboprop, have they made such a determined selling push. British Aircraft Corp., maker of the $2,800,000 BAG One-Eleven, has lined up 74 orders and 16 options from airlines, including three customers in the U.S.--American (25 planes), Braniff (14) and Mohawk (5). Deliveries will begin in a couple of months, nearly a year ahead of Douglas, but Douglas hopes that many airlines may hold off ordering until its plane takes to the air.

Douglas already has 58 firm orders for its DC-9 (price: $3,100,000) from TWA, Delta, Air Canada, Bonanza, Swissair and Hawaiian Airlines. Figuring that there is a market for close to 1,200 short-to medium-range jets for the next decade, it expects to win at least 400 orders for the DC-9--a package that would amount to $1.2 billion for the company. The DC-9 is one-third the size of the DC-8, has a wing span 8 ft. less than the ancient DC-3. It can carry from 56 to 90 passengers, depending on the seating arrangement, and can fly at speeds of 560 m.p.h. More important, it can land and take off at nearly any commercial airport now serviced by ordinary piston planes. The advent of the DC-9 and other short-haul jets will bring the jet age within the reach of nearly every run and runway. The new planes will gradually replace the old piston and turboprop jets on runs of up to 1,000 miles, which now account for more than 60% of the world's passenger business.

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