If the 90s come will they ever make their way to ATL M88 or still be flown by CVG and SLC crews only?

No idea. I know there was talk of converting everyone if they actually got more.

The 90s can make it coast to coast from MSP.......

Well it only takes an hour long CD to convert the FO's and the Captains can do the same CD and get the qualification during recurrent. If we get more I would be very surprised if they didn't convert the ATL guys within a year. The FO's could be done within a month, then they could do all the Captains as they come through the school house. They could also just put more 90's in SLC and CVG then use those guys to cover ATL flying which is what they are doing right now.

Speaking of Latest and Greatest at Delta.... When are the 2009 Delta Pay Rates going to be posted in the Profiles Section?

Why only 3 years? If the price of fuel below $90/bbl they are viable for years. While some are timing out on heavy check cycles, a substantial portion will still be good to 2020 :eek:

Obviously they will be the first NB acft to be replaced, however 3 yrs sounds rather arbitrary - I think it will be more a factor of fuel, profit, lift required, and what kind of a deal we get/availability of a suitable replacement.

I also hope we get Compass and the 175 series as mainline jobs and staple those pilots where they belong.

A 3-5 year timeframe for retiring the 9's is what I heard, but it was pointed out that some of them could fly for as many as 20 years FROM NOW. Not that anyone is saying they would fly that long for DAL, just that they could. Gotta love that airplane.

It was also mentioned that 3 of the 320's that we got in 1989 are already in the desert, parked, retired, caput, gone, ect.

Nobody had better not say nothing bad about my DC-9. I am proud to fly it and I will be sad when they leave. But, at this rate, I might retire before they do. :)

New K Now

Heyas,

"The last DC-9 Captain at NWA was just born"

RA, pilot's meeting in MSP, circa 1999.

That might be a bit of an optimistic estimate ;). But pessimistically, I'd say the last DC-9 Captain at DAL has yet to be hired.

My guess it was a -9 that brought the ferry crew back.


Nu

All the DC-9's will require a major overhaul by 2012. As each airframe hits the hour limits they will be retired. This was restated recently. The company has no plans to put more money into the aircraft. There are issues beyond just the airframe costs for overhaul including the airspace changes and new approachs coming online along with increased noise standards. The question that still remains is can we get the company to put some replacement airframes at the mainline. So far the answer has been no.

That is an incorrect statement - many of the aircraft will not hit the hour limits for many many years. Not sure on the numbers, but a significant number will be around for 20 years based on these hour/overhaul limits.

Again I understand the need to replace the DC9 at the first opportunity, but it is not due to them all "timing out" in 2012.

I will attempt to get the actual numbers from the fleet managers and post them...