But you see, the key here is "for a while"...
The name McDonnell remained in McDonnell Douglas. Now both are gone.
The name Ryan remained in Teledyne Ryan... Now it's gone.
The names Republic and Hiller remained in Fairchild Republic and Fairchild Hiller... Now all three are gone.
The name Canadair was kept for a while by Bombardier but now it's gone.
The name De Havilland Canada is gone.
The name Vought was revived by Northrop but then disappeared again.
The name Schweizer has been dropped by Sikorsky. Now it's gone.
Names like Convair, Curtiss-Wright, Bellanca are long gone. And of course I'm only taking the example of American aviation, but it happened all over the world. When European companies became conglomerates, all the names that had made aviation disappeared.
I hate it when all these emblematic names that made aviation go down the doldrums. I don't see any justification for it. The companies now claim as their rightful heritage the history of those companies they competed with for decades, almost as if it had never happened. The specifics of these rich separate companies are all lost, blended into a would-be stronger identity that is in fact a chimera, an impossible creature made up of parts that do not fit together.
Some reasons for hope ? The reappearance of Beechcraft after a long stint as Raytheon. Or the reappearance of Piasecki.
But how long until the name Grumman is lost in Northrop Grumman?
The long-gone Martin name resurfaced in Lockheed Martin. But for how long?
The names Bell and Cessna still exist, but how long until it's all Textron?
How long until Kaman becomes part of Lockheed and this identity is lost, too?
