Lockheed Airways Case Study Summary

Lieutenant General Joe W. Kelly, commander of the Military Air Transport Service, sent USAF Headquarters an official request for the need of a new transport aircraft. The aircraft General Kelly proposed in 1961 would be able to airlift oversized cargo and carry 100,000 pounds at a distance of 4,500 nautical miles at 440 knots before having to refuel.1 It wasn’t until December 22, 1964 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that a new military airlifter temporarily known as the CX-HLS would be built.2 The super-convey, capable of conveying outsize cargo, would be the world’s most sizably voluminous aircraft. Fifty of the new aircraft, in tandem with a future force of more than 250 C-141s, would increase the Military Air Transport Service’s airlift capacity 600 percent by 1970.2 Lockheed Aircraft Corporation submitted its plans for the CX-HLS, which was named the C-5A. The contract for 58 C-5As was valued at more than $2 billion: $1.4 billion would go to Lockheed and $500 million to General Electric for the TF39 engines.3 The remaining money was set aside to bear the cost of services provided by subcontractors and suppliers. In light of the new aircraft, Lockheed-Georgia Company announced to the company a contest to nickname the C-5A. On June 1, 1967, Marietta, Georgia,

Since MAC’s acceptance of the first C-5A in December 1969, the stress of takeoffs and landings had caused cracks in the C-5’s giant wings, thus threatening the long-term structural life of the aircraft9. The remodeled wing would be fabricated from a special heat treated aluminum alloy and would have more corrosion resistance and structural toughness than the original wing.9 The improved wing was expected to lengthen the C-5’s service life by a marginal