midway7 wrote:

Would anyone in the know be able to tell us which gate the last flight will arrive at ORD?

Planned arrival gate in Chicago for AA80 is K5 and there should be a gate celebration there.

Why didn't Crandall order the MD-87?

blacksoviet wrote:

Why didn't Crandall order the MD-87?

Same reason most airlines didn't.

Just checked in for N9677W’s sched final revenue run. May her 6 scheduled missions today run mx free (kow).

Well, today is the last full day of MD-80 operations at AA... Still hard to believe! I remember when they used to fly to SHV in the early 90s!

WN732 wrote:

blacksoviet wrote:

Why didn't Crandall order the MD-87?

Same reason most airlines didn't.

I remember the -87 at Midway I. They were the launch customer. Nice planes. I believe I heard much later they were pretty heavy for its size. I think it was pretty much a DC9-50 with new engines and some tail modifications.

blacksoviet wrote:

dc10co wrote:

blacksoviet wrote:

Why does AA call it the Super 80? They didn't call the MD-90 the "Super 90".

Not to be pedantic but AA did in fact call the MD90 the Super 90. If you look up pictures of it the Super 90 emblem is clearly in place below the cockpit on the former Reno Air birds

Was there a water cannon for the final Super 90 flight? Which tail number operated that flight?

I honestly wish I could tell you but I don’t know. Most of the Reno Air birds were quietly parked and the 87’s and the 90’s left the fleet without much fanfare.

So the day is almost upon AA. Its certainly a watershed moment for an aircraft type that has been associated with the airline for nearly 40 years.

Hopefully a few of them will be saved for museums to celebrate their legacy with the airline.

AA2055 is the last scheduled MD-80 out of MCI this evening. If Flightradar24 is correct, it should be N9677W.

-Rowen

The intended ferry schedule on Sept 4, 2019. Updated to include STL and TUL

FLT ORD ROW
9605 1330 1530

FLT STL ROW
9670 1145 1315

FLT TUL ROW
9627 1320 1400

FLT DFW ROW
9615 0715 0745
9628 0720 0750
9466 0730 0800
9607 0800 0830
9642 0855 0930
9636 0900 0940
9651 0905 0945
9625 0910 0950
9656 0915 0955
9629 0925 1005
9612 0930 1010
9644 1035 1105
9608 1040 1110
9667 1045 1125
9458 1050 1130
9454 1200 1230
9635 1205 1235
9677 1210 1240
9626 1230 1300
9660 1415 1445

To anyone else taking part in any of the MD80 flights tomorrow, what gate were you assigned for your arrival into DFW?

As currently, my 9:30 arrival from ABQ is scheduled to arrive into A13, I want to see if AA will get them all parked near each other

The last MD80 into BNA just landed.

blacksoviet wrote:

Why didn't Crandall order the MD-87?

AA did fly a few MD-87s that they inherited from Reno Air. AA pilots referred to the ex-Reno MD-80/-87/-90s as “White Trash”. Remember they had white fuselages, not the unpainted stainless steel.

Thank goodness, soon DL will be rid of them and airline travel will take a giant step forward.

GF

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

Thank goodness, soon DL will be rid of them and airline travel will take a giant step forward.

GF

Seriously.

Give me a nice modern A321, I'd much rather fly on that than an MD80 that AA hasn't upgraded since 1996.

runner13 wrote:

The last MD80 into BNA just landed.

Last MD80 into CMH just landed as well. Water cannon salute planned for its final return to DFW in about an hour. Good group of spotters on hand to say goodbye.

Surprised AA did not delay the MD80 retirement at all as they need to cancel flights for grounding of MAX. They only have 24 MAX, so delaying the retirement of 24 MD80 by a few months until Jan 2020 can allow them to resume full schedule. They have the crew qualified to fly the MD80 anyway.

raylee67 wrote:

Surprised AA did not delay the MD80 retirement at all as they need to cancel flights for grounding of MAX. They only have 24 MAX, so delaying the retirement of 24 MD80 by a few months until Jan 2020 can allow them to resume full schedule. They have the crew qualified to fly the MD80 anyway.

This is low season. The MD-80s wouldn't be needed until Thanksgiving. Once everyone returns from Labor day holidays, demand falls off what (I'm asking) 30% to 40%? Leisure oriented airlines, such as Allegiant, have a greater drop in demand.

There is a Thanksgiving spike that morphs into an end of year business/ winter holiday/New Year travel spike. But not to where 24 aircraft are needed.

AA is next really short of aircraft by May.

Winter is coming. Worse, September is here.

Lightsaber

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

Thank goodness, soon DL will be rid of them and airline travel will take a giant step forward.

GF

Seriously.

Give me a nice modern A321, I'd much rather fly on that than an MD80 that AA hasn't upgraded since 1996.

The MD-80 is history. I rarely fly propellers, never for over 90 minutes, as I know the downside of their history. Anyone who sat next to the MD-80 engines knows what I mean.

But a great dependable plane.

After tomorrow, DL has, per airfleets, a hundred MD-80+MD-90 (32 of the later, so 68 of the MD-80).

DL retires MD-80s when the new avionics are required as no one upgrades the t-tails economically. When is that in 2021?

Lightsaber

lightsaber wrote:

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

Thank goodness, soon DL will be rid of them and airline travel will take a giant step forward.

GF

Seriously.

Give me a nice modern A321, I'd much rather fly on that than an MD80 that AA hasn't upgraded since 1996.

The MD-80 is history. I rarely fly propellers, never for over 90 minutes, as I know the downside of their history. Anyone who sat next to the MD-80 engines knows what I mean.

But a great dependable plane.

After tomorrow, DL has, per airfleets, a hundred MD-80+MD-90 (32 of the later, so 68 of the MD-80).

DL retires MD-80s when the new avionics are required as no one upgrades the t-tails economically. When is that in 2021?

Lightsaber

Delta's last remaining MD-88 aircraft will retire on December 31, 2020.

With the Super 80 retiring from American, it prompted me to go through my dad’s old files when he was on the new aircraft acquisition committee for Allied Pilots Association. Most of the stuff is from the Boeing 7n7 and 7x7 time frame but I did find two documents from the Super 80 time frame. There is more information in the automatic reverse thrust book, including runway and range charts.
https://imgur.com/gallery/Sz0LKzc
https://imgur.com/gallery/XOK2RsT
https://imgur.com/gallery/h3W9NZ5
Sorry I am not sure how to get pictures to post on this forum.

Is the last MD-82 flight today or tomorrow?

Why the Mad Dog is like Lindsay Lohan,

(1) Both started out cute, but got stretched
(2) Both smoke
(3) Both make noise when they really should be quiet
(4) Both have legal restrictions which limit how high they are supposed to get
(5) Neither does math very quickly
(6) Both are unpredictable when you take them out in public & neither follows commands well
(7) Both get droopy when not powered up
(8) Both leak inappropriately
(9) Both show up in sequels
(10) Both drink waaay too much

GF

For all the MD-80 fans, I scanned my copy of the DC-9 Super 80 Configuration Guide (from January 1981):

https://bslabs.net/2019/09/02/so-long-super-80/

raylee67 wrote:

Surprised AA did not delay the MD80 retirement at all as they need to cancel flights for grounding of MAX. They only have 24 MAX, so delaying the retirement of 24 MD80 by a few months until Jan 2020 can allow them to resume full schedule. They have the crew qualified to fly the MD80 anyway.

September is one of the slowest, if not THE slowest, travel months of the year. No school holidays and all of the kids are back at school, plus the weather is beautiful in most parts of the US so people aren't desperate to escape the cold for somewhere warmer.

I don't think people appreciate that you can't just flip a switch and keep the MD80s. Most of the pilots have moved on to other fleets, the ones that are left will need recurrent training, parts stocks are depleted, maintenance would be required, etc. There's a lot of logistical planning that goes into something like that - you can't just wave a magic wand and change those plans over night.

BoeingGuy wrote:

blacksoviet wrote:

Why didn't Crandall order the MD-87?

AA did fly a few MD-87s that they inherited from Reno Air. AA pilots referred to the ex-Reno MD-80/-87/-90s as “White Trash”. Remember they had white fuselages, not the unpainted stainless steel.

How long did it take for the AA pilots to transition from the MD-80 to the MD-90?

My last (and probably final) MD-80 flight was on N971TW on 28 September of last year. It had been a good decade since my last MD-80 flight and I remember noticing how much more connected I felt to the experience of flight aboard that airplane. Modern narrowbodies seem to insulate passengers from the experience, but that MD-80 reminded me that I was flying and I loved every loud moment of it.

Thank you, MD-80s, for all the rides over the years.

And yet...the Mad Dog is not dead yet. DL has every single MD-90 still in service (55 of them) and they are still fun to fly as a passenger. But time is short. I believe they are slated to be retired at the end of 2022. So get your tickets while you still can.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 3685251498


MEM says Goodbye

Its pretty amazing to see the gathering of employees, customers, and enthusiasts at cities across the country today (and tomorrow) for the last MD-80 flights.

CMHtraveler wrote:

Last MD80 into CMH just landed as well. Water cannon salute planned for its final return to DFW in about an hour. Good group of spotters on hand to say goodbye.

Also that was N984TW operating that flight, which will be going to MSY next before overnighting in DFW a final time tonight before AA80 tomorrow.

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

Why the Mad Dog is like Lindsay Lohan,

(1) Both started out cute, but got stretched
(2) Both smoke
(3) Both make noise when they really should be quiet
(4) Both have legal restrictions which limit how high they are supposed to get
(5) Neither does math very quickly
(6) Both are unpredictable when you take them out in public & neither follows commands well
(7) Both get droopy when not powered up
(8) Both leak inappropriately
(9) Both show up in sequels
(10) Both drink waaay too much

GF

1. Congratulations, you've ruined my childhood (I grew up watching The Parent Trap on repeat)
2. This has to be the post of the millennium, hands down

American 767 wrote:

blacksoviet wrote:

American 767 wrote:

I sure remember those days, 90s and 2000s. ORD-DFW and ORD-LGA hourly flights were mostly, if not all, MD-80s. Once in a while you would see one 757 a day to LGA, and one MD-11 or 777 to DFW, but other than those, all of these flights were MD-80s. And add to that, the numerous other markets served with MD-80 equipment from ORD: STL, MSP, DEN, ABQ, PHX, West Coast markets....that was well over 50 MD-80 departures a day.

Did the MD-82 have enough range to fly ORD-SAN or was this route always operated by an MD-83?

I'm pretty sure it did. The MD-82 had a range of 2000NM with 155 pax. I don't know when the first -83 arrived at American, the first -82 arrived in 1983 or so, but by the late 80s they (American) were already flying the Super 80 from ORD to West Coast markets. The MD-83 had a range of 2500NM with 155 pax, that one had enough range to fly ORD - West Coast markets nonstop for sure, even if headwinds were strong.

The first MD-83s arrived with a batch that were received in 1987. Interestingly, the next 75 or so aircraft from 1988-91 were -82s thereafter, until the final 10 in 1992, which were also -83s.

American 767 wrote:

midway7 wrote:

Would anyone in the know be able to tell us which gate the last flight will arrive at ORD?

Hard to believe the end of this era. I can remember all the M80's at ORD. I recall an overview picture, taken of Concourses H&K, from the old control tower, showing most all gates with an MD-80 on it, and one 767. Many years ago, it was almost a little treat to fly something besides the MD-80.

I sure remember those days, 90s and 2000s. ORD-DFW and ORD-LGA hourly flights were mostly, if not all, MD-80s. Once in a while you would see one 757 a day to LGA, and one MD-11 or 777 to DFW, but other than those, all of these flights were MD-80s. And add to that, the numerous other markets served with MD-80 equipment from ORD: STL, MSP, DEN, ABQ, PHX, West Coast markets....that was well over 50 MD-80 departures a day.

I want to say at its peak (1995-2005) ORD saw 200+ AA Super 80 departures per day. Not quite to the level of DFW or ATL, but certainly third place as far as any Mad Dog operation we’ve seen worldwide.

The MD-80 and DC-10 have "legacy" written all over them. The DC-10's portrayed "wide-body" better than any other aircraft to date (maybe with the L-1011). The sound of the MD-80 engines at the time gave a promising future to the jet-age! American harnessed both aircraft well in their network as they sported the classic AA livery. Thanks, McDonald Douglas! Good memories!

itripreport wrote:

To anyone else taking part in any of the MD80 flights tomorrow, what gate were you assigned for your arrival into DFW?

As currently, my 9:30 arrival from ABQ is scheduled to arrive into A13, I want to see if AA will get them all parked near each other

Will be a fun early a.m. ride from the Sunport. Hoping all goes well with the remaining legs for the plane today and that it gets in close to schedule tonight so that we depart as planned/scheduled @ 6:50am. We will find out in about 12hr.

AAFlyGuy

Back when it was announced we were getting them my fellow flight attendant aviation buff and I were SO excited to work a DC9! A plane other than a Boeing. When they started in service we still served full meals in coach. In the beginning, the entrees were loaded in this thin tall carrier that was placed on top of the tray cart. Very clumsy. I’m surprised we were able to balance it on top. It held maybe 12 entrees, and then the #2 would go to the back with empty entree sleeves and return with an armful of new entrees. I guess we had galley gloves to prevent us from burning ourselves. Memory is a little fuzzy on this whole procedure but it was changed fairly quickly to have the entrees just slid into the carts on the top racks like is done on all flights now.
I loved working FC on that aircraft. Immense amount of counter space and two sides with lots of room to do multiple tasks. It was so quiet upfront. I once worked an 80 that was either going to Ozark or that was leased from them. It had their brown interior with different galleys. We worked it DFW to MAF and back. I think it was in AA colors but could be mistaken.
I am certain that my hearing loss I am experiencing after 40 years was mainly caused by reverse thrust while sitting on the back jumpseat for landing. People liked being able to have 2 seats on their side instead of 3. For whatever reason, there were several occasions when water would drip down right over the back jumpseat, mainly on takeoff and landing. It was very easy to get drenched. I’m sure this had something to do with the air conditioning in summer months. In the past year or so they were so prone to mechanicals that I avoided flying them. But what a dependable workhorse. Along with the 707 and DC10 it will makeup my 3 favorites list. I never, ever had a bad landing on one. Thanks Mad Dogs for making my work environment a pleasure. You will be sorely missed by many.

AAflyguy wrote:

itripreport wrote:

To anyone else taking part in any of the MD80 flights tomorrow, what gate were you assigned for your arrival into DFW?

As currently, my 9:30 arrival from ABQ is scheduled to arrive into A13, I want to see if AA will get them all parked near each other

Will be a fun early a.m. ride from the Sunport. Hoping all goes well with the remaining legs for the plane today and that it gets in close to schedule tonight so that we depart as planned/scheduled @ 6:50am. We will find out in about 12hr.

AAFlyGuy

Gosh, I don't know how many MD-80 ABQ-DFW flights (with a few to ORD thrown in there) I had when I lived in The Duke City a decade or so ago. Plus plenty more around the AA network, and a few on Delta over the years. I get the appreciation for the more modern Airbus/Boeing/Embraer jets, with their in-seat power, better wifi, and improved efficiency and reliability. Progress requires moving forward. But, give me the 2-side in Y or 4F up front on an AA MD-80 any day. Plus, it has that classic T-tail look which won't be around much longer. Not to mention the beautiful polished aluminum.

Yes, time to move on. But thanks to the AA MD-80. So many great rides, for good times and bad.

JM

DeltaMD95 wrote:

American 767 wrote:

midway7 wrote:

Would anyone in the know be able to tell us which gate the last flight will arrive at ORD?

Hard to believe the end of this era. I can remember all the M80's at ORD. I recall an overview picture, taken of Concourses H&K, from the old control tower, showing most all gates with an MD-80 on it, and one 767. Many years ago, it was almost a little treat to fly something besides the MD-80.

I sure remember those days, 90s and 2000s. ORD-DFW and ORD-LGA hourly flights were mostly, if not all, MD-80s. Once in a while you would see one 757 a day to LGA, and one MD-11 or 777 to DFW, but other than those, all of these flights were MD-80s. And add to that, the numerous other markets served with MD-80 equipment from ORD: STL, MSP, DEN, ABQ, PHX, West Coast markets....that was well over 50 MD-80 departures a day.

I want to say at its peak (1995-2005) ORD saw 200+ AA Super 80 departures per day. Not quite to the level of DFW or ATL, but certainly third place as far as any Mad Dog operation we’ve seen worldwide.

STL had over 352 daily mainline TWA flights at its peak in 1999. I would bet at least half of those were MD80s since they were the lion's share of the fleet at that time.

It's worth noting these are the last TW airplanes in AA's fleet. The 767s were cast off immediately, AA wanted no part of the MD95s because of their terrible lease terms, the 757s stuck around for a few years but ultimately left because of commonality issues, and the MD80s were left. TW's 757s were much nicer on the interior than AA's and TW was one of the original airlines to fly the 757 transatlantic before everyone else started doing it.

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

DeltaMD95 wrote:

American 767 wrote:

I sure remember those days, 90s and 2000s. ORD-DFW and ORD-LGA hourly flights were mostly, if not all, MD-80s. Once in a while you would see one 757 a day to LGA, and one MD-11 or 777 to DFW, but other than those, all of these flights were MD-80s. And add to that, the numerous other markets served with MD-80 equipment from ORD: STL, MSP, DEN, ABQ, PHX, West Coast markets....that was well over 50 MD-80 departures a day.

I want to say at its peak (1995-2005) ORD saw 200+ AA Super 80 departures per day. Not quite to the level of DFW or ATL, but certainly third place as far as any Mad Dog operation we’ve seen worldwide.

STL had over 352 daily mainline TWA flights at its peak in 1999. I would bet at least half of those were MD80s since they were the lion's share of the fleet at that time.

It's worth noting these are the last TW airplanes in AA's fleet. The 767s were cast off immediately, AA wanted no part of the MD95s because of their terrible lease terms, the 757s stuck around for a few years but ultimately left because of commonality issues, and the MD80s were left. TW's 757s were much nicer on the interior than AA's and TW was one of the original airlines to fly the 757 transatlantic before everyone else started doing it.

Agreed. I thought that both the TW 757 and M80 were nicer than the heritage AA airplanes. I believe the TW 757s went to DL.

AA came close to a trade in deal with Boeing to replace the F100s with 75 717s. Unfortunately the deal fell through.

BoeingGuy wrote:

PhilMcCrackin wrote:

DeltaMD95 wrote:

I believe the TW 757s went to DL.

Yes, they went to Delta. Delta started flying them TATL back in the late 2000s, early 2010s, to Europe out of their JFK hub. I flew on those, with Delta, from JFK to BRU roundtrip a couple of times. One could tell easily they were originally with TWA because of the regs ending with TW.
I flew, in 2003, on an ex-TWA 757 from DFW to LGA. I had a window seat at the last row just in front of the last galley at the rear. Very comfy. That was how I could tell an American 757 came from TWA: the galley at the rear. Another distinguished feature was the PW engine. NAAtive 757s had RR engines.

Speaking of the MD-80s, yes the -83s are the last ex-TWA aircraft still remaining in the fleet at this point. All remaining MD-80s, less than 30 of them, are ex-TWA -83s with the exception of the one and only NAAtive -82 remaining N501AA, which is just a few weeks shy of turning 30 years old! As of September 5th, that's it, no more Super 80 no more ex-TWA aircraft in the fleet.

I'm pretty sure the TW 757s had an extra set of exit doors than the nAAtive 757s which translates to another set of seats that had four feet of leg room.

They were fantastic airplanes. I'm sad I only flew on them a few times.

Based on all of this, thus tommorrow is:

- AA retirement of the MD-80
- Last legacy-TWA aircraft in AA fleet
- Last of the polished aluminum AA livery (excluding the special retro-jet livery)

There are probably a few other "lasts" in the mix too.

DTW saw its final AA MD-80 this evening.
DTW was one of AA's inaugural MD-80 routes on the first day of operation for the fleet on May 15, 1983.

N501AA operated AA1222 DTW-DFW this evening.

Included banners in the terminal and a water cannon salute upon pushback in DTW.

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

DTW saw its final AA MD-80 this evening.
DTW was one of AA's inaugural MD-80 routes on the first day of operation for the fleet on May 15, 1983.

N501AA operated AA1222 DTW-DFW this evening.

Included banners in the terminal and a water cannon salute upon pushback in DTW.

Too bad they couldn’t have done a power back for old time’s sake.

AA MD-80s were the master at that procedure.

I wish I was in DFW tomorrow. It's already a sad feeling with the final flights counting down.

My first ride wasn't that long ago--about 5 years I think. The last one was less than two years ago. I got a bunch in during that brief period and all the while watched them get fewer and fewer at ORD/DFW gates. I'll miss the variety from an enthusiast perspective. To me the onboard experience was nothing special. I didn't like the wind noise up front, and of course the back end was not fun unless you were there on purpose. Something different, but not a huge loss IMO. They will live on through pictures.

MSY saw its final S80 departure tonight. N984TW did the honors. Flight 2257. I heard it was quite a celebration - a big cake shaped like a cassette, 80s music, balloons, etc.

I noticed on airfleets that DL retired 3 MD-80 in the last week. With tomorrow's MD-80 sendoff,. the global fleet will see quite a drop.

This isn't the end of the MD-80, but it is the final run. After DL's retirement, just over a year from now, it will be interesting to see who flies the type, but the highest utilization duty will be over.

Lightsaber

SunsetLimited wrote:

MSY saw its final S80 departure tonight. N984TW did the honors. Flight 2257. I heard it was quite a celebration - a big cake shaped like a cassette, 80s music, balloons, etc.

I was lucky enough to be on this flight, and it was a very thoughtful party at the gate in New Orleans. You could tell the employees were really trying to make it special and were saying a heartfelt goodbye to their old friend, the Super 80. The cake was delicious and they played 80’s songs like “I’ve had the time of my life” and “vacation.” Most of the passengers had no idea what was going on, and were convinced it was a famous person arriving even though I explained to them about the Super 80 retirement.

They announced that this frame was the final MD-80 ever produced, originally delivered to TWA, and that it would be operating the final flight tomorrow to ORD and then “off to its retirement in Roswell, New Mexico.”

Overall, a wonderful send off for its penultimate flight. Unfortunately, some passengers on the plane felt the celebration was “wasting time” (even though the flight departed and arrived on time), and were crabby about it, and one gentleman complained that we took a longer flight path and taxi because corporate wanted to “take pictures.” He also said to take the plane out back and put a bullet in its head so he can get home, and his wife and a nearby woman agreed. I was VERY tempted to tell them to please check out Spirit.com for their next travel needs, and that they would find it much more to their liking.

The flight was smooth and quick. Uneventful except for when a service dog near the front of main cabin got loose and ran like hell down the aisle to the back of the plane and they had to look for it with a flashlight.

Goodbye, trusty old friend!

For those interested, American is doing a lot on social media tomorrow covering the event. I’ll be on the media flight and covering the events in Roswell almost live for AA. I also got the final sunset photos from the ramp today. So many people out there taking photos of the Maddog and saying goodbyes. Instagram I believe will be the media platform of choice for those wishing to follow. Sad it’s the end... but I’m glad I get to share it with everyone