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Disappearing into the Desert: American Sends 8 Super 80s to Roswell
As part of its efforts to fully retire its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80s by 2019, American Airlines has sent 8 of its Super 80s, as the airline refers to them, to Roswell International Air Center today where they will be stored indefinitely. (airlinegeeks.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
AA's retired fleet of Super 80's at Roswell will help keep Delta's fleet of Mad Dog's flying for a few years yet. I visited the facility at Roswell last year and there were a load of boxes awaiting shipping to Atlanta. Delta know that AA's fleet of Super 80's are well maintained, so Roswell is their 'go to' place for quality, documented, pre-owned spare parts.
Not all are fans of the MD-80, but have you ever ridden up front in one? The ride is awesome and quiet with those pushers sitting all the way back at the tail section. While not the most efficient of birds, the ride was always nice... for those in the first 10 rows at least.
Actually,the MD-80 is the most fuel efficient transport of its size for routes 1500 nm or less. Far less fuel consumption than a 737 for short missions - 2 to 3 hours. Even the leadership at B and of course the operators know this. Best ride up front for sure.
I'm glad I got to fly on them. Good planes.
As a frequent business traveler, typically flying out of SJC on AA, I can't count the number of times I was aboard an MD80. A lot of other travelers at my company really disliked those airplanes - I didn't. I rather enjoyed flying on them. I'm also a Private Pilot, with a ton of hours, and my only reservation about the MD80's was in the air and on the ground the CG looked all wrong. I still haven't taken the time to figure out why they appeared so damn nose heavy, but maybe I'll do that today... after about 25 years of flying on them. They were comfortable, had a nice ride and were small enough to get you on and off the aircraft quickly. The AA routes I flew generally had a plane change at DFW, an airport I loathe. Oh well, another good bird going into the history books, but they'll be flying for many years to come.
Pretty impressive service record for such a mundane aircraft.I flew on them a bunch of time from Dallas to Pittsburgh and were smooth riding.