Equipment: Boeing 717

The Boeing 717 was originally created by McDonnell-Douglas as the MD-95 in 1995. In 1997 MD merged with Boeing, and the plane was renamed the Boeing 717 (more specifically, the Boeing 717-200).

The plane is a twin engine configuration with both engines at the rear of the aircraft on the fuselage. The plane is normally configured for 100 passengers, and was positioned in the market for short-haul/regional flights. The planes were mostly purchased by AirTran Airways, and their recent decision to purchase 100 Boeing 737's probably sealed the 717 line's fate. My observation has been that the Canadaire Regional Jets are everywhere for smaller regional flights (even some longer ones -- United runs a IAD-DFW non-stop on them which is a 1700 mile flight), and the 737's are the workhorse for the low-cost domestic flights.

As a side note, AirTran still promotes the 717 as part of their image.

I've been on a few of these, always AirTran, and they always seem nice because they're usually pretty new. The rear engines are very quiet -- usually when the engines are on the fuselage it seems to transmit noise into the cabin easier. The cockpit is also a modern "glass" cockit with modern avionics.

In January of 2005 Boeing announced that it was halting production of this aircraft. Boeing maintains that this plane continues to offer tremendous value to their customers, but that the market demand for the plane doesn't justify keeping production going.



Product Site: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/717/flash.html