AirTran is a major user of the Boeing 717 jetliner, which is built in Long Beach. At list prices, which are routinely discounted, the 114 new jets would be worth just over $6 billion.

AirTran Airways' 717 aircraft accommodates 117 passengers and offers 12 Business Class seats, spacious EasyFit overhead bins and 100 percent fresh air circulated throughout the cabin.

Florida-based AirTran, which was the launch customer for the 717-200 in the mid-1990s when the plane was known as the MD-95 and AirTran was known as ValuJet, had talked with Boeing about a more ...

1997: McDonnell Douglas merges with Boeing Co. 1998: Boeing 717 begins production. 1999: Last MD-80 is delivered. In all, 1,191 built. Spring 2000: Last MD-90, the 114th, is built.

It was the first major 717 contract since AirTran Airways’ 1995 commitment to buy 50 planes with options for 50 more. Boeing also had orders for 50 planes and options on another 50 from TWA.

But it also means that Boeing may have seen the last 717 orders from its most important customer. AirTran has 76 of the planes now and will cap its fleet at 85 planes toward the end of next year.

Moreover, Boeing has had difficulty finding customers for the 717, a medium-range jet model the aerospace giant acquired in 1997 when it merged with rival McDonnell Douglas.

AirTran Airways has received its 50th 717-200, a reliable short-range, high-frequency twinjet built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Long Beach, Calif. AirTran is the launch customer and largest ...

Boeing this week delivered its 100th 717 to AirTran during a ceremony at the company's final assembly facility at Long Beach, Calif. AirTran's 717 fleet now numbers 37 aircraft, with 13 additional ...

AirTran Airways has signed an agreement with Boeing Capital Corporation to lease 23 additional 717-200 jetliners. All the airplanes are scheduled to be delivered by Boeing in 2003.

CHICAGO (CBS.MW) -- Boeing appears to have come out ahead in a $6 billion deal to provide 100 airplanes to AirTran. The discount carrier, one of the few to post profits in recent quarters, is ...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- AirTran Airways said Tuesday that it ordered 100 Boeing 737s and 10 Boeing 717s in a deal that could be worth $6 billion to Boeing.