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Contact:
Warren Lamb |
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Contact:
Warren Lamb |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
97-29
LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 27, 1997 -- James R. Phillips has been promoted to vice president-general manager of the MD-95 program at the Douglas Aircraft division of McDonnell Douglas (NYSE: MD). Phillips succeeds John Wolf, who has announced his retirement effective March 28 after 33 years with McDonnell Douglas.
Jerry T. Callaghan, currently MD-95 program manager-technical, will move up to be second in charge on the MD-95 as development program manager. He has been the technology leader on the project for four years.
The executive changes were announced today by Douglas President Michael M. Sears.
The MD-95 is a new short- to medium-range, twin engine jetliner in the 100 passenger class, being developed by McDonnell Douglas for introduction to service in 1999.
As the new MD-95 program chief, Phillips, 53, brings 29 years of experience with Douglas Aircraft to the task. He joined the company in 1968 as a power plant engineer. He rose to become MD-80/DC-9 chief design engineer, director of twin jet product definition, and then deputy vice president-general manager of twin-jet programs.
In October 1990, Phillips was selected to lead the reorganization of the Douglas commercial product support division as vice president of product support, a post he held until becoming vice president-deputy general manager on the MD-95 in 1995.
Callaghan, 58, has been with McDonnell Douglas for 34 years, all of it at the Douglas Aircraft division. He became head of MD-95 design and technology with the 1995 program launch. Previous assignments include service as general manager of MD-11 program engineering and Wide Body Development Programs, and as director of aerodynamics and acoustics engineering.
In their new roles, Phillips and Callaghan will lead a worldwide team of aerospace companies participating as supplier-partners in the MD-95 program. Both have been wholly involved in the project from the start. They took part in selection of the partner companies and have established an advanced computer-based program management and design control system that keeps the entire global team tightly linked together through the program offices in Long Beach.
"The MD-95 is proceeding on plan. Last year the first major assemblies were completed on schedule," Sears said. "All the system preliminary design reviews were completed, and 90 percent of the critical design reviews are done. The program is on track to all of its technical, schedule and cost parameters.
"Under the continued leadership of Jim and Jerry, the Douglas and supplier-partner team expects to complete the development and certification tasks as planned, and will deliver the first MD-95 production aircraft to ValuJet on schedule in the summer of 1999," Sears said.
The Douglas Aircraft Company, based in Long Beach, is the commercial aircraft division of the McDonnell Douglas Corp. In addition to the MD-95 in development, the unit produces the MD-11 wide-cabin trijet, the MD-80 mid-size twin jet and the MD-90 advanced technology twin jet.
McDonnell Douglas is a $13.8 billion company that designs, produces and supports a variety of aerospace and defense products. Headquartered in St. Louis, it employs more than 63,000 people worldwide.