after mcdonnell douglas was acquired by boeing in august 1997, most industry observers expected that boeing would cancel development of the md-95. however, boeing decided to go forward with the design under a new name, boeing 717. while it appeared that boeing had skipped the 717 model designation when the 720 and the 727 followed the 707, the 717 name was the company's model number for the c-135 stratolifter military transport and kc-135 stratotanker tanker aircraft. 717 had also been used to promote an early design of the 720 to airlines before it was modified to meet market demands. a boeing historian notes that the air force tanker was designated "717-100" and the commercial airliner designated "717-200". the lack of a widespread use of the 717 name left it available for rebranding the md-95.