@ Evan:

Living near an approach path, I still see MD’s in other colors. They’re easily recognized by the tell-tale wing-tip lights as well as the deeper voice of the engines. It’s quite the workhorse.

I enjoyed the MD’s and the little kidlets slept well when we were aft of row 29 to the drumbeat of those JT8-D’s. When traveling without the kids, those front rows were very quiet.

As a ticket agent, I found the MD’s easier to work with on finding desired seating for everybody as well as boarding. Many times while helping clean the cabin or assisting special situation passengers, I would use the aft stairs to deplane instead of trying to swim upstream against 140 passengers.

Directing cargo/luggage loading of the MD was an issue as I sometimes ran out of space before running out of weight capacity. This was particularly true of flights to Guadalajara which had less tourists and more commuters.

Service to the Soviet (then later it became “Russian”) Far East did happen early on with the ’27’s, but regular service in the 90’s was carried out by the MD’s with the extra fuel tanks that took up most of Cargo Pit 3 and compounded the cargo volume issue. If I recall, the #’s were 939, 944, 945, and a couple of others. It was one of these MD’s with the famous (or notorious) pilots used cases of vodka to deice the planes when the regular deicing fluid wasn’t available. I believe #963 also had the long range tanks and tragically entered the headlines as Flight 261.

The MD was powerful too and if pushed hard, it could climb faster than the cabin could pressurize causing the masks to drop. The pilots were well aware of this and were much lighter on the controls to give a good ride for the passengers.

The newer ’37’s really are more efficient with those nifty CFM’s which are quiet, powerful, and very efficient. Plus the ‘37 frame is more efficient. A ‘37-400 is about 77k lbs zero-fuel-weight while an MD tips the scales somewhere in the mid-90’s. (Compared to a ‘27 that was over 100k).

I see why the newer jets are used, but I’ll miss the MD’s in that navy/teal color scheme.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; the MD80 isn’t on its last leg just yet. According to AA top brass, American has 80s on lease until 2024. Fly any short/medium range AA route and you’ll most likely see an 80. Their conversion to 737s is at a snail’s pace. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I’ve always liked the long and slender body of an 80 but AA really needs to do a thorough interior overhall of their entire MD80 fleet. Not just another lipstick job.

I flew MD-80’s out of ORD many times and loved the planes. Much Nicer than the 737’s, especially when travelling with a partner – the 2 * 3 seating was perfect. I’ll be sorry to see them go.

Darkwater – I’m not sure of the dates, but I’ve got some feelers out to get more info. I’ll let you know if I get an answer.

I’m going to miss these birds. While I didn’t fly MD-80s a lot, they remind me of flying the DC-9 into and out of BGM.

I got to fly two last year around thanksgiving, and I was a nice experience.

Its sad we couldn’t get these birds reenginged.

Thanks Darkwater. The MD’s are great — small enough that boarding isn’t a fiasco and frequencies can be high, large enough to hit some farther-flung destinations. And the pair-seating on one side means you and your significant other don’t have to bump elbows with your “next closest friend”. Quiet up front. What more can you ask? Just that AA would reverse course and quit parking em.

I always thought the MD80 type planes were always sleek looking with their engines in the rear and a narrower body due only 5 seats. For some reason that always made them “look” faster then 737’s.

Anon Coward, don’t forget that some, but not all, of DL’s MD80s had 3-2 seating instead of 2-3. Adding to the fun was DL’s insistence of labeling all MD80 rows as A-E with no “missing” seat: without knowing what type of MD80 you were flying on, you didn’t know whether your B or D seat was an aisle or a middle.