Page 26 - AAA OCTOBER - DECEMEBER 2023 Latest Magazine | GBP

Worsham landed at the right
time. Deregulation was rapidly
changing market dynamics with
point-to-point giving way to hub-
and-spoke operations, which
demanded smaller 150 seat
jets. Worsham responded with
a once-only innovative rent-a-
plane deal and secured orders
from TWA and American for a
total of 35 Super 80s and sold
another 30 to Alitalia.
A beaming Worsham, who
was appointed President of
Douglas on 15 November 1982,
told the Los Angeles Times that
“reports of Douglas’ death were
exaggerated.”
The Super 80 orders sparked
an avalanche of business so the
agenda at the time of interna-
tional collaboration to cut risk
fell off MDC’s radar for a short
time. The production rate on the
DC-9 Super 80, later renamed
the MD80 to deflect the bad
publicity relating to the DC-10,
jumped to 2.5 a week in 1987.
With orders flowing plus fat mil-
itary contracts, Worsham was
able to get Douglas back into
profit.
In late 1986, MDC launched
a modest improvement of the
DC-10 – dubbed the MD-11 –
with various commitments for
92 aircraft from 12 airlines but
it was a compromised design
because of the decision by the
MDC board not to sanction fund-
ing for an all-new wing – a fact
that would come back to haunt
the company. Australia’s Qantas
concurred with the opinions of
other airlines when it told the
author that it would not consider
the MD11 because the wing had
no growth potential.
So in 1987, the MD11 was at
the limit of its design guarantees
26 | OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2023
Former Douglas Aircraft President Jim Worsham at the 2004 interview.
©Geoffrey Thomas
and battling Airbus’ all-new his view Kracht was a “manufac-
A340/A330 combo. “At MDC we turing genius,” and Beteille was
were starved of R&D,” Worsham an “engineering giant.”
told the author in 2004. “So,
we were shopping around for
at least $1 billion so we could “
a new wing which would cost
I had the idea of
stretch the MD11.” In October
of 1987, MDC even proposed a getting MDC and
stretched MD11 with the existing
wing but with a much-reduced Airbus into some
range of just 5,000nm – well sort of marriage,...”
down from the 7,920nm of the
standard offering. he recounted.in 2004.
Worsham raised the issue
Ironically, while bleating with Airbus’ executives at the
about Airbus’ “subsidies” from famous Conquistador Club for
European Governments in its aircraft manufacturing chiefs at
1987 annual report, MDC was a Wyoming ranch in 1987.
actively courting Airbus for a
marriage of sorts to take advan- The basis of the discussions
tage of its deep pockets as well started with the MD11 utilizing
the wing of the A330/A340.
as its technology. Talks focused on a super-
stretched MD11 with an A330
Worsham was bullish about wing (AM300) to challenge the
a French connection for MDC 747, production of the A320 at
drawing on his vast experience Long Beach, new 13 and 16
with GE and Snecma. He also frame stretches of the A320 and
had great respect for Airbus a new 100-seat aircraft.
leaders, lauding Felix Kracht
and Roger Beteille as “great According to Worsham and
visionaries.” He added that in insiders at Airbus, agreement
WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA