Rolls-Royce had promised McDonnell Douglas an integrated engine-nacelle package. The nacelle, that streamlined enclosure for the engine, can be a complex, highly specialized piece of work. We really had not wanted to get involved in that part of the aerodynamic design, but we had to get McDonnell Douglas to accept our engine. Ted Stirgwolt, Ron Welch, and I got on a plane and went to Rohr Industries to convince them to design and build the nacelle. McDonnell Douglas would have a strong say in the design, but GE would be the system manager for the integrated nacelle. Getting Rohr to agree was relatively easy, but the people at McDonnell Douglas seemed to be dragging their feet, with no one willing to accept the responsibility to approve the package. After hashing out details until 10:30 one evening, I spent the rest of the night writing an agreement. In it, I described how we would work together, how we would make the integrated nacelle system work, how we would make it so that the engines could be overhauled on the wing, and then I signed it for GE. In the morning, I gave the agreement to the McDonnell Douglas representatives and said, "GE will stand behind this." This was subsequently known as the Chula Vista agreement and was one of the first Working Together programs in the industry. It ended up enabling us to build a much better nacelle and a more maintainable engine.

At the time, however,...