[Paleo Conservative]

You've probably seen its larger cousin, the MD-80 or MD-90 as well as the predecessor to both the 717 and MD-80/90 series, the DC-9.

Do you think there's any chance Northwest will be still flying their DC-9's in ten or twenty years?

[COEXERJ145]

I'm not sure. It would depend on how many cycles the aircraft have right now. IIRC, Northwest plans to fly their DC-9's to roughly 114,000 cycles. That is the point where the wing box would require serious maintenance which would be cost prohibitive.