Moderators: jsumali2, richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Tan Flyr wrote:Somewhere in the last week I read that Pratt is withdrawing support for the JT8D model engines used on the MD 82 & 83's..and thus, supposedly, AA is now on some sort of an accelerated schedule to be done with them. Exactly what that is I do not know, but the general gist of what I read was by the end of the year (2017)
Do they have enough new aircraft coming to replace one on one? Or will they fly them thru the Christmas/ New Yeras season, and send them all to Roswell in January? That makes sense, as there are some reductions in domestic flying in the first 2 or 3 months of the year. Business is usually a tad slower and overall vacation or F & F traffic is reduced.
MO11 wrote:The AA fleet plan (as updated last month) still shows 42 at the end of the year.
ADrum23 wrote:Why are they taking so long to retire the MD-80s? Gotta get those newer, fuel-efficient 737's in the fleet!
panam330 wrote:Short of a fuel price spike, a couple dozen will be with AA until 1Q2019.
KICT wrote:Considering how many Super 80s AA has retired in recent years, they should have plenty of spare engines in Roswell should the need arise. They can probably limp along with retired aircraft's parts without worrying too much about an extended service agreement with P&W.
ADrum23 wrote:Why are they taking so long to retire the MD-80s? Gotta get those newer, fuel-efficient 737's in the fleet!
ADrum23 wrote:Why are they taking so long to retire the MD-80s? Gotta get those newer, fuel-efficient 737's in the fleet!
Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
American 767 wrote:ADrum23 wrote:Why are they taking so long to retire the MD-80s? Gotta get those newer, fuel-efficient 737's in the fleet!
Because the MD-80 fleet was huge at one point. Look how large it was 10-12 years ago, 360 MD-80s! At that time LGA, DFW, ORD and STL were MD-80 heaven, especially DFW. It takes years to phase out such a large fleet. The MD-80 fleet has shrinked a lot.Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
I believe that the MD-80 phase out began in 2008 or 2009, around that time. It was right at that time American decided to buy more 737s to be added to the initial fleet of 75 they had since the early 2000s. And a couple of years later came the huge narrowbody order to be split half Airbus (A319 and A321) and half Boeing (737-800).
727LOVER wrote:AA had 260 MD-80s, one was lost @ LIT in 1999, so that brings us to 259. There were 103 acquired from TWA, so that brings it to 362. This would have been early 2001. So after 9/11, it is my understanding that some of TWA's early birds were dumped.
727LOVER wrote:My question is...did every TWA aircraft get AA paint?
727LOVER wrote:Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
This excludes the Reno Air fleet.
AA had 260 MD-80s, one was lost @ LIT in 1999, so that brings us to 259. There were 103 acquired from TWA, so that brings it to 362. This would have been early 2001. So after 9/11, it is my understanding that some of TWA's early birds were dumped. My question is...did every TWA aircraft get AA paint?
Also remember, this is the largest fleet retirement in history It will be eclipsed by WN -700s & I believe Ryanair's 738s.
MO11 wrote:727LOVER wrote:My question is...did every TWA aircraft get AA paint?
MD-80s, 757s, yes. Boeing 717s & 767s, no. The DC-9-30s were gone before TWA Airlines LLC merged with American.
KICT wrote:Considering how many Super 80s AA has retired in recent years, they should have plenty of spare engines in Roswell should the need arise. They can probably limp along with retired aircraft's parts without worrying too much about an extended service agreement with P&W.
EXMEMWIDGET wrote:[threeid][/threeid]727LOVER wrote:Northwest1988 wrote:Quick question... When was the first American MD-80 retired? With such a large fleet it seems like the drawdown has taken a long time since it began.
This excludes the Reno Air fleet.
AA had 260 MD-80s, one was lost @ LIT in 1999, so that brings us to 259. There were 103 acquired from TWA, so that brings it to 362. This would have been early 2001. So after 9/11, it is my understanding that some of TWA's early birds were dumped. My question is...did every TWA aircraft get AA paint?
Also remember, this is the largest fleet retirement in history It will be eclipsed by WN -700s & I believe Ryanair's 738s.
Didn't AA retire an MD-80 after a maintainance mishap around 2005?
spyglass wrote:EXMEMWIDGET wrote:Didn't AA retire an MD-80 after a maintainance mishap around 2005?
There was a temp grounding due to certain wiring routed thru wings incorrectly (according to FAA inspectors) with potential for shorting and fire about then....don't recall any one particular plane being singled out, tho' the phase-out of the very oldest ones had begun. Personally, I think our techs and mechanics had forgotten more about '80's (and other metal in the fleet) than the FAA folks ever knew, but ya gotta be in compliance.
BAeRJ100 wrote:spyglass wrote:EXMEMWIDGET wrote:Didn't AA retire an MD-80 after a maintainance mishap around 2005?
There was a temp grounding due to certain wiring routed thru wings incorrectly (according to FAA inspectors) with potential for shorting and fire about then....don't recall any one particular plane being singled out, tho' the phase-out of the very oldest ones had begun. Personally, I think our techs and mechanics had forgotten more about '80's (and other metal in the fleet) than the FAA folks ever knew, but ya gotta be in compliance.
I believe the incident in question was from 2012. N110HM was written off after the fuselage was penetrated by a tail jack.