Teddy Roosevelt () He was known for his large smile. One of the best Presidents this country ever produced - A republican who took on big business, started the National park system, and led the charge up San Juan hill while being shot at! I don't think we will see his kind again.
Scoop

 

The DC-9's will be the next aircraft phased out. There is nothing complicated here. They burn a lot of gas and are really old! Perhaps some of the oldest aircraft in passenger service anywhere. Delta operated a large fleet of DC-9's. They retired them earlier then planned because of the high maintenance costs. Combine that with the fuel burn and you have a aircraft that is going away. In fact NWA is getting rid of them about as fast as they can. They had 160 of them a few years ago and will be down to 60 by the end of the year. With or without a merger with Delta they will be leaving. The average age is over 35 years old. The Delta MD-88 average age is about half that number. The real question that should concern both Delta and NWA pilots is how do you recapture that flying at the mainline and not let it be outsourced. Delta retired the 737-200 a few years ago (same engines and similiar performance and fuel burn and all built after 83) and most of that flying was outsourced. Lets not let it happen again.

 

[QUOTE=sailingfun;362273]The DC-9's will be the next aircraft phased out. There is nothing complicated here. They burn a lot of gas and are really old! Perhaps some of the oldest aircraft in passenger service anywhere. Delta operated a large fleet of DC-9's. They retired them earlier then planned because of the high maintenance costs. QUOTE]

OK...I'm getting tired of DAL guys Sh1tcanning on DC-9s....What does your almighty MD-88 type rating state? OH???? DC-9. The MD-88 is a DC-9-80 that carries 20 more seats than a DC-9-50 and at a slightly better fuel cost. They are both old DC-9s....Our maintenance cost????How's your DC-9-88 grounding going? Any cost there...geeezeeeeee.......

 

[QUOTE=reddog25;362346]
Hey, you know better than to post facts. You are going to start confusing people People have been saying the dc9s are going away for years and guess what? they are still here and they are FULL of fair paying pax. Some are going away but they will be here for a couple more years.

 

No, Reddog. If you Google your fleet, it comes up with an average age of 34 years old. Google Delta's MD-88 fleet and its 15.2. Additionally, the MD88 is MUCH more fuel efficient, and has a much lower CASM.

THAT'S the difference. Who cares what the type rating says.

 

I agree they will be here for a couple of more years however I would say two more years after this year max. You have been retiring them at a rate of more then 30 a year for a while. The MD-88's burn 50% less fuel per passenger and are half the age of the nines. No real comparison there. If we keep the 88's as long as NWA kept the nines the first retirements would be in 2020.

 

Reference my post on the other thread in regards to this.

 

I dunno, I still think the DC-9 is a sharp looking aircraft.

 

Yes, I can see where that might be confusing. Apparently nobody told you we Delta guys hate the MD-88 too!

 

Now that's pretty funny.