Zrs70 From United States of America, joined Dec 2000, 2872 posts, RR: 10 Posted (5 years 5 months 2 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 1898 times:
Mind you, not sure if this is really a poll. While the thread will certainly get opinions, there may be facts out there as well!
So what is the next airliner that will retire? I would imagine it will be the DC-9 followed by the MD-80. But perhaps the A300 will go first. Thoughts?
Srbmod From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 16888 posts, RR: 51 Reply 2, posted (5 years 5 months 2 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 1850 times:
Quoting Zrs70 (Thread starter): So what is the next airliner that will retire? I would imagine it will be the DC-9 followed by the MD-80. But perhaps the A300 will go first. Thoughts?
The A300 will definitely stick around as a cargo a/c for years to come.
The DC-9 is essentially already retired, with the majority of the remaining a/c in service (According to Airlinerlist, 301 a/c) being with NW (99) and GB (53). Less than a third of the DC-9s that were built are still in service. Most DC-9s that get retired from an airline these days end up scrapped.
The MD-80/82/82/87/88/90 family is definitely the next major family to be retired from major airlines. When you consider that between AA, DL, and AZ, you have well over 500 a/c that will be replaced and retired in the future. Right now, close to 20% of the total MD-80 family a/c that were built (Well over 1000 a/c) are currently not in service (scrapped, written off, stored). While the last MD-80 family a/c being delivered 7-8 years ago, the newer a/c will still be in service for years to come, more than likely with smaller carriers who may have a handful of them in their fleet. You probably won't be seeing too many MD-80 cargo a/c.
I don't think you'll be seeing a major retirement of A320 family a/c in the near future. Airlines may start retiring their older ones and replacing them with new-builds of the same model. Now whether these older A320 family a/c find a second life as freighters or with smaller airlines, who knows, especially since some early A320s are already getting scrapped for parts.
The 737 Classics will probably become cargo stalwarts like it's older sibling the 727 has been. Same will be true of the 757 as well.
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