McDonnell Douglas MD-90

The McDonnell Douglas MD-90 is a twin-engine, short-to-medium-range narrow-body airliner developed from the preceding MD-80 series. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 737 Next Generation and the Airbus A320 family. The aircraft is characterized by its rear-mounted engines and T-tail design, utilizing high-bypass IAE V2500 engines which made it much quieter and more fuel-efficient than its predecessors at the time of its introduction in the early 1990s.

While most MD-90 units were manufactured at the Long Beach line in California, a small number were produced in China under the Trunkliner program. Following the merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997, the production of the MD-90 was eventually phased out to consolidate the product line with Boeing’s existing narrow-body offerings. Today, the legacy of the aircraft lives on through the technology integrated into Boeing's subsequent narrow-body designs and in the history of commercial aviation engineering.