A newspaper article from 2005 say the NWA DC-9s have a 105,000 cycle limit. Another article said, in 1998, that the cycle limit is 205,000 cycles and NWA averaged 2,000 cycles per year with the fleet averaging at that time 70,000 cycles. Go conservative and say 105,000 cycles are the limit and in 1998 the planes had 70,000 cycles with 2,000 per year and you have them lasting until 2015. Use 205,000 cycles and you've got them until 2065.

Another article said there is no limit, however, inspection intervals over time can become increasingly involved and the time between major inspections so short that its cost prohibitive.

Douglas Report MDC-J0005 evidently lists the DC-9 limits but I'm sure NWA might have its own program. I can't find the report online.

Someone mention a DC9/MD95/717 with RJ engines on it and Rockwell flight deck? Being done. As far as I know, "not interested." The 4th generation RJ's are better airplanes than the 11th generation DC9. There is the other advantage of being able to push the cost of acquisition off balance sheet to a subcontractor.

AVIC I ARJ21-700 - arj21 - AirSpace

AVIC I ARJ21-700 - arj21 - AirSpace

ACAC ARJ21 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Douglas/Boeing left the MD90 tooling in China from the Trunkliner program... what do you know, the Chinese use it to build airplanes. But as the Chief Designer admits...

Isn't just amazing that some version of the DC9 is still being built half a century after its' first design was laid out with pencils and slide rules?

Does anyone remmber how many pax our DC-9-10's held a few years ago? Was it 78? It's a shame, but we used to have Compass and Mesaba flying under the mainline NWA banner. Now we have to fight to get back what we gave away.

If we give away 100 seat flying, whats next, 125 (319's), 148 (MD-88/320's)? Where will it stop?

Talking about drawing a line in the sand sounds good, but enforcing it it what really counts. :(

What's funny is that most of us are closer to furlough than we are to the left seat of the 777 or 747-400, yet all we talk about are fences to aircraft positions that we never may see. So, instead we fall for the possibility of pie in the sky rather than covering our a**es.

In my opinion, recapturing the 76 seaters and beyond should be a major focus of our negotiations in the upcoming years.

New K Now

Excellent observation. I cringe every time I hear giving an exception. First it was the commuter clause, then large turbo-props, then 50 seat RJs, then 78 seat RJs, some now have 90 seat RJS.

If pilots do not think management would like to take another slice of the pie, then they are truly out of touch.

AA

Not only did we give that flying away, it is the newest equipment. It would be a lot easier being on the bottom if we got to be in new equipment. Flying the E175 would be a lot nicer/easier than the DC9. Don't get me wrong though, I'm much happier with an NWA number than a Compass number.

Not to be all schizophrenic and everything, but 60 Minuets is doing a piece on what happened in the oil market last year.

New - just what I was saying last year....

"If you buy a contract, you have to take delivery."

That simple rule would keep out those who simply wish to employ the Enron loopholes to drive up the price of a commodity for the rest of us.

My apologies for the thread creep. Back working on a cover of Tom Petty's Refugee. Guitar Center had a good sale....

EXACTLY!!!

Hey, we laid right there for the adoption of NWA's outsourcing plan during the JPWA. I know Super wrote his Rep. But most of the folks on this board lack the will to corner their Reps and push for our job protections. Who's willing to push a unpopular resolution through an LEC meeting? Until we stop "reveling in our abandon" nothing is going to change. Same song, second verse....

I did write my reps and EVERYONE should do the same! This MUST be a major issue. Giving away OUR jobs to the lowest bidders is the absolute dumbest thing we can do. Those that thought they were "protected" were but only their jobs. Outsourcing only pushed thousands of pilots farther from upgrade and made less mainline jobs available for thousands of others. This is a huge issue and the more planes and Jobs at mainline the better all of our pay, schedules, careers, and QOLs will go up.

Write them