Following final assembly at the Douglas Products Division, the first four 717-200 airplanes were used in a flight test program that began in the summer of 1998. In 2000, after the merger with Boeing, the jet was assembled using a moving assembly line, an automobile production technique that had never been applied to airplanes before. In this image, the traditional stationary manufacturing methed is shown. The 717 program pioneered breakthrough business and manufacturing processes for Boeing Commercial Airplanes and concluded its 156-airplane production run in May 2006.