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Bloomberg

Julio Gomez has flown the MD-80 for his entire 20-year career at American Airlines. But he can’t bring himself to make that final trip into the New Mexico desert.
“I just cannot take that airplane to its grave,” Gomez, 52, said of the iconic jets’ retirement flights on Wednesday.
“It’s just too heartbreaking.” Instead, the veteran pilot made his closing flight late Tuesday.
The retirements mark the end of an era at American for the workhorse known as the Super 80, whose old-school design and noisy rear engines spawned love-hate relationships over the four decades it flew.
It also earned other nicknames through the years: including “silver bullet” for its polished aluminium fuselage.

The plane once provided the backbone of American, powering the carrier’s expansion through the end of last century on bread-and-butter routes such as Chicago to New York or Dallas to St Louis.
The jet “basically was American Airlines,” Gomez said.
At its 2002 peak, 362 of the MD-80 aircraft made up 44 per cent of the carrier’s fleet.
“If American kept the Super 80 until I’m 65, I’d be flying it,” Gomez said.
The single-aisle jet could be challenging to fly, but it sharpened pilots’ skills and earned the loyalty of aviators like Gomez, who relished having more control over every aspect of the plane.
End of the A380 superjumbo: Airbus to stop making world’s biggest passenger jet in 2021
Airlines now have moved on to models with better fuel efficiency, additional seats and the latest technology, including a more computerised cockpit.
The routes dominated by the MD-80s have been taken over by newer versions of jet families such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
So on Wednesday, after 36 years, American operated the last commercial trip of the MD-80, flying from Dallas to Chicago. It was Flight 80.

American is ferrying the last 23 of its MD-80 jets to a desert parking lot in Roswell, New Mexico, with one staying at DFW Airport to be used for future de-icing practice. Two more will be donated to flight-training schools.
“It certainly has served us well,” American Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said.
Delta Air Lines continues flying some MD-88s and MD-90s, later vintages of the model.
American Airlines, led at the time by Chief Executive Officer Robert Crandall, leased its first 20 of the new commercial jet from McDonnell Douglas in 1982, then quickly added 13 more. The airline began operating the aircraft the following year.
Flights of the Concorde: a look back on the world’s first supersonic passenger jet
In March 1984, American placed what was then the largest-ever order for commercial aircraft, for 67 MD-80s with options to buy 100 more. The fleet got another boost when American acquired Trans World Airlines and its 104 MD-80s in 2001.
The planes had 12 first-class seats and 130 in coach, with two on one side of the aisle and three on the other. They flew routes of as long as 2,900km for American, and helped to launch the airline’s hub-and-spoke operating system.
“I remember thinking it was the most un-ergonomic cockpit I had ever seen, with switches and dials seemingly placed at random spots all over the cockpit, bearing no semblance to any other aircraft I had ever seen,” said American pilot Sam Mayer said.

“When they talk about ‘seat of the pants flying,’ the MD-80 will be the last of the breed.”
The MD-80 had other quirks. The interior of the planes would get so hot while sitting on airport tarmacs during the summer – particularly in sweltering Texas – that passengers weren’t allowed to board until the cooling system got the temperature below 32 degrees Celsius.
Air conditioning condensation would flow to the back of the aircraft and drip onto the flight attendant sitting in the plane’s tail cone. Many flew with an umbrella to keep from getting wet.


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Aviation

Hot, noisy MD-80 passenger jet dubbed the ‘silver bullet’ retired from American Airlines after 36 years

The interior of the planes would get so hot while sitting on airport tarmacs during the summer that passengers weren’t allowed to board until the cooling system got the temperature below 32 degrees Celsius. Photo: Bloomberg

An American Airlines MD-80 aircraft sits at a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) near Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. On Wednesday, after 36 years, American will operate the last commercial trip of the MD-80, flying from Dallas to Chicago. Airlines now have moved on to models with better fuel efficiency, additional seats and the latest technology, including a more computerized cockpit. Photographer: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg

The cockpit of an American Airlines MD-80 aircraft is seen at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) near Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. On Wednesday, after 36 years, American will operate the last commercial trip of the MD-80, flying from Dallas to Chicago. Airlines now have moved on to models with better fuel efficiency, additional seats and the latest technology, including a more computerized cockpit. Photographer: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg

Passenger seats are seen in the first and economy class cabins of an American Airlines MD-80 aircraft at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) near Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. On Wednesday, after 36 years, American will operate the last commercial trip of the MD-80, flying from Dallas to Chicago. Airlines now have moved on to models with better fuel efficiency, additional seats and the latest technology, including a more computerized cockpit. Photographer: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg

End of the A380 superjumbo: Airbus to stop making world’s biggest passenger jet in 2021

FILE PHOTO: The first Airbus A380 delivered to China Southern Airlines takes off from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, near Toulouse, October 14, 2011. REUTERS/Jean-Philippe Arles/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD SEARCH GLOBAL BUSINESS 28 AUG FOR ALL IMAGES

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Boeing 787 Dreamliner. PHOTO: HANDOUT

The world’s largest airliner, with two decks of spacious cabins and room for 544 people in standard layout, was designed to challenge Boeing’s legendary 747. File photo: EPA

Flights of the Concorde: a look back on the world’s first supersonic passenger jet

FILE - In this July 25, 2000, file photo, Air France Concorde flight 4590 takes off with fire trailing from its engine on the left wing from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. A French appeals court is expected to decide on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, whether to uphold a manslaughter conviction against Continental Airlines for the crash over a decade ago of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people. Continental Airlines, Inc. and one of its mechanics were convicted in 2010. (AP Photo/Toshihiko Sato, File) MANDATORY CREDIT; JAPAN OUT

A Concorde supersonic jet lands at Kai Tak Airport during its demonstration flight.

DUB01:PEPSI DUBAI:DUBAI,07APR96 - Dubai aviation officials watch the arrival of Pepsi's Concorde, leased from Air France and sporting the new electric-blue Pepsi colours, which stopped over in the Gulf Arab emirate April 7 while on a whirlwind marketing tour of the Middle East. The visit is part of a $500 million project called " Project Blue" to win back market shares from arch-rival Coca-Cola. While in Dubai, Pepsi took 100 VIP guests on a supersonic flight. The flight arrived from Beirut and will continue on to Jeddah and Cairo. clh/cac/Photo by Charles Crowell REUTERS

FILE--The interior of an Air France Concorde is seen in this May 1973 file picture. An Air France Concorde, similar to the one pictured here, en route to New York crashed outside Paris shortly after takeoff Tuesday, July 25, 2000, hitting a hotel and a restaurant. At least 113 people were killed when the charter flight of mostly German tourists went down in the first-ever crash of the supersonic jet. (AP Photo)

(From L) Captain Jean-Francois Michel, pilot Parick Delangle and technician Bernard Collette pose in the cockpit 30 May 2003 at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, in the Air France Concorde before leaving the French capital to New Yok. The last commercial flight to New York by an Air France Concorde was carrying 58 passengers, including French Transport minister Dominique Bussereau, and eight crew for the three-hour 45 minute journey. Air France and British Airways (BA) are taking Concorde out of service after 27 years in the skies because of falling passenger numbers and soaring costs. AFP PHOTO POOL JOEL SAGET (Photo by JOEL SAGET / POOL / AFP)

Passengers get a view that many people will never see again, Mach 2 registered on the in cabin flight details of Concorde, 24 October 2003, as it flies over the Bay of Biscay before returned to London to land within minutes of the final schedule flight from New York. AFP PHOTO WPA ROTA Martyn HAYHOW) (Photo by MARTIN HAYHOW / AFP)

The Concorde was famously loud: a take-off in 1977 measured 119.4 decibels. The pain threshold for the human ear is around 110. File photo: AP

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World

United States & Canada


The plane once provided the backbone of American Airlines
Routes taken over by newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 jets



American Airlines retires the MD-80 jetliner, whose old-school design and noisy rear engines spawned love-hate relationships over the four decades it flew.


United States

Hot, noisy MD-80 passenger jet dubbed the ‘silver bullet’ retired from American Airlines after 36 years

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The plane once provided the backbone of American Airlines Routes taken over by newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 jets

The plane once provided the backbone of American Airlines

Routes taken over by newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 jets