"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
01/24/2014 at 12:54 • Filed to: planelopnik
1
12|
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
01/24/2014 at 12:54 • Filed to: planelopnik | 1
| 12 |
Delta Air Lines, the last major commercial carrier to fly the DC-9, officially retired the venerable jet after a flight from Minneapolis/St.Paul (MSP) to Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL) on January 6 of this year. This video was shot at ATL on January 1. There's no emotional music, there are no high speed edits, no exciting fly pasts. It simply shows the DC-9 quietly going about its business, doing what what it has done so well for almost 50 years.
While there was much hoopla surrounding that final flight, it really wasn't the end of DC-9 operations. Two airframes quietly continued serving to support delayed 717 deliveries. The real final flight took place when N779NC, one of the planes shown in this video, operating as Fight 310, landed at ATL after a flight from Eglin AFB in Florida on January 22. N779NC will be ferried to Charlotte, North Carolina, where it will reside at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.
André - Volvo4Life
> ttyymmnn
01/24/2014 at 13:04 |
|
Thank you Jesus.
Now, when will American stop flying those 200 year old Super 80s?
f86sabre
> ttyymmnn
01/24/2014 at 13:08 |
|
It is time to move on.
Bad Idea Hat
> f86sabre
01/24/2014 at 13:09 |
|
I don't understand how you guys kept those things airborne.
|
ttyymmnn
> André - Volvo4Life
01/24/2014 at 13:10 |
|
American is currently working to retire the MD-80.
Former CEO Robert Crandall placed a historic order for MD-80s in 1984. Today American still operates about 200 MD-80s, with all but 45 to 60 of them scheduled to come out of the fleet by 2016, when new Boeing and Airbus jets replace them. The newer MD-80s, which came from TWA in the 2000 merger, are only 12 to 16 years old, Powell said.
American has orders for 260 new Airbus jets and 260 new Boeing jets, all set to join the fleet by 2016. Last week, American took possession of its first A319. ( Forbes )
|
Bad Idea Hat
> André - Volvo4Life
01/24/2014 at 13:11 |
|
They're proven, cheap, reliable.
Well, they are getting less cheap as the years wear on them, but still.
|
ttyymmnn
> f86sabre
01/24/2014 at 13:11 |
|
Indeed it is. But you must allow us aerophiles a little time for nostalgia.
|
f86sabre
> ttyymmnn
01/24/2014 at 13:19 |
|
I might have ended up with a control yoke from one of the desert birds about a month ago.
|
f86sabre
> Bad Idea Hat
01/24/2014 at 13:25 |
|
NWA reskinned them in critical areas a while back. The engines and avionics were a known quantity. To the passenger you put fresh paint and a new interior into them, which we did, and they don't know the difference. Fuel burn and getting some parts is what necessitated parking them. The fuselages would last pretty much forever.
|
Bad Idea Hat
> f86sabre
01/24/2014 at 13:29 |
|
I knew those things drank fuel, but the continued ability to get parts for them is what surprised me the most.
|
f86sabre
> Bad Idea Hat
01/24/2014 at 14:06 |
|
The avionics were pretty damn old and supporting those units became tough. Reliability of those units also didn't meet modern standards. It was also getting hard getting parts for the JT8D-15/-17.
|
Bad Idea Hat
> f86sabre
01/24/2014 at 14:09 |
|
I love how that's basically the same engine from an A-6.
|
f86sabre
> Bad Idea Hat
01/24/2014 at 14:47 |
|
Not a lot of them being flown around either.