Claim: One of the most important people in the Douglas Aircraft Company's history is Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.

The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California . It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas , Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas . Douglas Aircraft Company largely operated as a division of McDonnell Douglas -LRB- MD -RRB- after the merger . MD later merged with Boeing in 1997 .