Apparently, in the late 1960s Douglas Aircraft Company was having a great deal of trouble, between rising development costs for the DC-10 and difficulties with its other production programs. IOTL, this led to their merger with McDonnell to form McDonnell Douglas. Suppose that instead Douglas simply goes under without finding a merger partner; what happens? Is this even plausible (after all, at the time Douglas was the "other" US civil airliner manufacturer, next to Boeing...powerful asset line there)?