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Triumph of the Boeing 707

Contributed by Nick Duros

Saturday, 21 January 2006

Page 3 of 3

Similar to Pan Am’s haste to get jet aircraft up and flying, American Airlines was also impressed by the 707’s promise of earlier deliveries. American was willing to go with the 707, but only if Boeing could make it wider and roomier than the DC-8. Boeing caved in and decided to widen the 707 by four inches, thus making it one inch larger than the DC-8. This broke commonality with the fuselage and wings of the KC-135. American Airlines announced then that they would be buying thirty of the 707 Jetliners. This was a great tactic for winning the sales because Boeing was willing to make changes in the aircraft to suit the airline.

During the following months, Boeing went on to use this tactic again with other airlines. Pan American decided that they too liked the new 707 Intercontinental and switched some of their earlier orders to the new model. Braniff served several high-altitude airports in South America and also needed a modification for their 707s. Boeing offered to put more powerful engines on the standard engine, and captured the sales from Braniff. Quantas purchased thirteen 707s in a short body configuration, which were built for that airline alone. To achieve the business of United Airlines, Boeing created yet another short body variant named the 720.

Boeing had effectively turned back the tables on Douglas. Douglas Aircraft had predicted that because Boeing had made the Dash-80, it would set the design of all 707s to become a “one size fits all aircraft. Unfortunately for Douglas, they were wrong. Boeing’s custom offerings turned the Douglas DC-8 into the “one size fits all” aircraft in the end because Douglas lacked the financial resources to follow suit and develop multiple versions to cater to the airlines.

While Boeing’s victory might not have been apparent at first, due to the fact that in 1955 Boeing sold 72 707s compared to the 100 DC-8 sales by Douglas, in time the figures averaged themselves out to show the true reality of the situation. By 1956 Boeings strategy finally took hold and they sold three times as many aircraft as Douglas did for that year. After 1957 the sales of the DC-8 dried up, with Douglas selling less than 50 aircraft in the following four years.

In the end, Boeing’s gamble paid off very well. They sold 1,010 707 aircraft of all types by the time the production line closed in May of 1991. Through willingness to customize aircraft to the airline’s needs, their time and planning in building a prototype, and having the assets to be able to do both through their contract with the U.S. Air Force, Boeing Aircraft triumphed over Douglas Aircraft in the first battle of the jet airliners.

Works Cited

Emme, Eugene M. Two Hundred Years of Flight.San Diego: American Aeronautical Society, 1977

Harrison, James P. Mastering the Sky. Conshohocken: Sarpedon Publishers, 1996

Heppenheimer, T. A. A Brief History of Flight. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001

www.boeing.com

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Retired UA CSR
Written by Guest on 2006-06-14 22:25:49

The years I worked with the DC-8, I found the plane to be much better for the public than the 720 UA had. The cargo containers allowed faster delivery of bags to the claim area. Also, although it didn't outpace the 747, the fact that Douglas built the DC-8 the way they did allowed them to quickly stretch the DC-8 and offer a larger aircraft.

Nice
Written by Guest on 2006-03-26 00:42:14

Good article but the conclusion was lacking in style.

Karen
Written by Guest on 2006-01-23 09:39:49

I enjoyed this article very much. Clearly well researched. Mr. Duros' writing also has an easy "flow" about it. For a subject that I know very little about, I found the article interesting and easy to follow.

Thank you!

Kris
Written by Guest on 2006-01-23 07:29:35

As an American Airlines retiree, I found this article accurate and interesting.

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