Manufacturer
Douglas
United States1921
Douglas Aircraft Company
Company
- Country
- United States
- Headquarters
- Santa Monica and Long Beach, California
Founding
- Founded
- July 22, 1921Santa Monica, California
- Founders
- Donald Wills Douglas
The Douglas Aircraft Company, founded by Donald Douglas in Santa Monica in 1921, built the DC series of airliners: above all the DC-3, often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made. It merged with McDonnell in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, which joined Boeing in 1997.
Douglas is best remembered for its DC series, "Douglas Commercial", and above all for the DC-3, often regarded as the most significant transport aircraft ever made, which also served in the war as the C-47 Skytrain or Dakota. Many Douglas aircraft have had exceptionally long service lives.
The company also built bombers, fighters, attack aircraft, transports and missiles, and its range ran from the World Cruisers of 1924 to the DC-8 and DC-9 jets.
Origins
Donald Wills Douglas founded his company in Santa Monica, California, on 22 July 1921, after the dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. Its first claim to fame came in 1924, when Douglas World Cruisers made the first flight around the world.
The company was reorganised as the Douglas Aircraft Company on 30 November 1928. The DC-2 of 1934 was followed by the DC-3 in 1936.
Wartime production
During the Second World War Douglas joined the Boeing-Vega-Douglas consortium to build the B-17 Flying Fortress. From 1942 to 1945 it produced almost 30,000 aircraft, and its workforce swelled to 160,000, as at other American plants, many of them women.
The jet age
After the war came the four-engined DC-6 in 1946 and the DC-7, the last Douglas airliner with propellers, in 1953. For the Navy it built the F3D Skyknight in 1948 and the F4D Skyray in 1951, and in 1958 it answered the Boeing 707 with the DC-8.
Mergers and ownership
By 1967 Douglas was struggling to meet demand for the DC-8, the DC-9 and the A-4 Skyhawk. After almost four years of talks it merged with McDonnell Aircraft on 28 April 1967 as the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, in which it operated as a division; Donald Douglas became honorary chairman until his death in 1981.
McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997. The last commercial aircraft built at Long Beach, the Boeing 717, the third generation of the DC-9, ended production in May 2006, and the last C-17 was assembled there in late 2015.
Products
Programmes the company has built or is building. Entries that exist elsewhere in FLYPEDIA are linked.
Airliners
- Douglas DC-2Out of production
The twin-engined airliner of 1934.
- Douglas DC-3 / C-47Out of production
The 1936 airliner, also built as the C-47 Skytrain or Dakota.
- Douglas DC-6Out of production
The four-engined airliner of 1946.
- Douglas DC-7Out of production
The last propeller-driven Douglas airliner, 1953.
- Douglas DC-8Out of production
The jet airliner of 1958, built to compete with the Boeing 707.
- Douglas DC-9Out of production
The short-haul jet whose third generation became the Boeing 717.
Military aircraft
- Douglas World CruiserOut of production
The aircraft of the first flight around the world, in 1924.
- Douglas A-4 SkyhawkOut of production
A light attack aircraft in production at the time of the 1967 merger.
Genealogy
The Douglas line, from the company Donald Douglas founded in 1921 to its 1967 merger with McDonnell and McDonnell Douglas's merger with Boeing in 1997.
Scroll to see the full diagram
Timeline
July 22, 1921
Donald Douglas founds his company in Santa Monica
1924
Douglas World Cruisers make the first flight around the world
November 30, 1928
Reorganised as the Douglas Aircraft Company
1936
The DC-3 follows the DC-2 of 1934
1942
Wartime production begins: almost 30,000 aircraft by 1945
1958
The DC-8 jet airliner
April 28, 1967
Merger with McDonnell as McDonnell Douglas
1997
McDonnell Douglas merges with Boeing
- Douglas Aircraft Company, Wikipedia
Checked September 19, 2026