The Quiet Little Dutch Invader

When Frans Swarttouw took over the sleepy Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker a decade ago, he predicted the little company would survive only "if it dares to start digging in the front garden of the American airplane manufacturers." Never has the garden been greener than now. With U.S. airlines expanding their fleets and replacing aging jets, the two major American aircraft makers, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, have enough orders to keep them busy through the early 1990s.

The backlog has created a perfect opening for Fokker, which started producing the compact Fokker 100 jetliner in 1987. The company scored a major coup last week when American Airlines announced plans to buy 75 Fokker 100s, to be delivered in the next six years, and an option to purchase 75 more later on. The American deal, worth as much as $3 billion, is the largest foreign contract ever won by a Dutch company.

The cost of developing the new F-100 almost throttled Fokker, which the Dutch government had to bail out with loans that grew to $700 million by 1987. The new F-100, designed to carry about 100 passengers on trips of 1,000 miles or less, is as technologically advanced as the offerings of Fokker's larger rivals. Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the plane is highly fuel efficient and quiet. In test flights in February, the F-100 performed well within the toughest airport-noise restrictions.

The jet is likely to become a familiar sight on U.S. runways. Fokker is negotiating with United Airlines for the sale of as many as 200 planes, and with Delta for 100. Says Fokker's Swarttouw, 56, who plans to retire soon: "We have secured a future for Fokker of 15 to 20 years."