Posted on 12/24/2013 12:12:05 PM PST by Olog-hai
Delta Air Lines on Jan. 6, 2014 will retire its remaining Douglas DC-9 aircraft following Flight 2014 scheduled to depart Minneapolis/St. Paul for Atlanta at 4:20 p.m. (CST), the last scheduled commercial flight of the DC-9 by a major U.S. airline.
“The DC-9 has been a workhorse in our domestic fleet while providing a reliable customer experience,” said Nat Pieper, Delta’s vice president (for) Fleet Strategy. “The aircraft’s retirement paves the way for newer, more efficient aircraft.”
Since 2008, Delta has removed or retired more than 350 aircraft from its fleet including 50-seat CRJ-200s; Saab 340s and DC-9s; while adding economically efficient, proven-technology aircraft such as the Boeing 777-200LR; two-class, 65 and 76-seat regional jets and variants of the 737 and 717, largely on a capacity-neutral basis. …
(Excerpt) Read more at news.delta.com ...
Probably a leftover from the Northwest Airlines merger. Braniff used to have a bunch of DC-9’s in their fleet back in the day.
I remember getting on one of these in the 90s and seeing on the serial number plate it was almost as old as I was LOL.
North Central had DC-9s when they were bought by NWA.
They’ve been called MD-80’s for a long time. It was really nice when Alaska retired the last one. I hated flying in the things.
So what happens to them?
Are scrapped or sold to 3rd world airlines?
Some will be sold to foreign or smaller carriers while others will likely be converted to cargo use.
Very nice quiet ride if you sat near the front. Back near the engines was another matter.
The older DC-9s are still called DC-9. The “MD-80” started with the DC-9-80 airframe.
North Central had merged with Southern by the time the NW merger happened and was Republic Airlines.
I remember getting on one of these in the 90s and seeing on the serial number plate it was almost as old as I was LOL.
I believe there are two sons of BUFF pilots flying the same aircraft their fathers did. Well, the H model anyway.
Amazing.
5.56mm
You’re right.
I’d lost track of Republic but don’t remember “Southern.”
There are several big advantages in the "Blended Wing & Fuselage" design, the most important being the Lift to Drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, resulting in an overall weight reduction of the aircraft by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more fuel efficient than the A380, and thus making the Airbus's $13 Billion Dollar investment look pretty shaky.
Damn, duped again.
His dad flew it too. David “Swoop” Welsh. Searchable, several articles.
On July 31, 1973, one of these DC-9s (Delta) flew several hundred feet over my East Boston childhood home before crashing into a seawall killing all 89 aboard (though one surviver lasted several months). My father, who worked at the airport at the time, was on the scene.
Pilot error. He came into the fog too low.
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