Originally Posted by
DAL 88 Driver
Along these lines...
What do you guys think (especially fNWA guys who flew the DC-9) is the reason why the DC-9 has become so unreliable recently? Every single trip I fly, we end up with a major mechanical delay or even a cancellation due to mechanical. I find myself calling maintenance way more frequently than I have ever had to do with any other aircraft in my entire career. Now, the F/O's I fly with, who have flown the airplane for a long time, tell me that the DC-9 had an extremely high dispatch reliability at NWA. Is it that we're utilizing the aircraft more post-merger? (More utilization on an old aircraft = more maintenance problems?) Or is Delta doing something different in terms of preventative maintenance? Or maybe a combination of both? What do you think?
I think part of it is the fleet size. Very few spare parts, and next to no chance for a substitution. It used to be no problem when we you could just pull a -30 out of the hangar. It sometimes caused an overbooking problem if you were subbing a -30 for a -40 or -50, but it was a lot easier then canceling.