Aircraft
End of the line for Boeing 717
Bombardier Aerospace’s case for the C Series may just have grown sounder last month as Boeing announced it would pull the plug on the 110- to 115-seat 717,

Bombardier Aerospace’s case for the C Series may just have grown sounder last month as Boeing announced it would pull the plug on the 110- to 115-seat 717, the proposed Canadian jet’s main competitor. Boeing plans to end production of the weak-selling 717 by the middle of next year, after the last of a backlog of 18 airplanes rolls off its Long Beach assembly line.

The fate of the 717 seemed all but sealed when it became apparent a bulk order for 100-seat jets from four Star Alliance members wouldn’t materialize. Air Canada broke from the group first, opting instead for a mix of Embraer 190s and Bombardier CRJs, while Austrian Airlines began taking ex-American Airlines Fokker 100s it plans to fly until at least 2008.