American Airlines operated 362 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft back in 2001 and now they are left with just 30. They will be gone from the fleet in 2019.
Once the Embraers depart in 2020, this will leave American Airlines with an all Boeing and Airbus fleet. Since the MD-80s are on borrowed time, where can you still find them flying?
American’s MD-80 Routes for November 2018
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the home of American’s MD-80 fleet. Virtually all the routes still being operated by the aircraft are going from or to here. Good to know both for those who want to fly on one and those who want to actively avoid one!
The below map was created by Edward Russell who writes for Flight Global. It shows all the routes being operated in November 2018 and the Dallas centric nature is immediately apparent.
For those that don’t speak fluent airport code, the destinations from ELP on the left and going clockwise are as follows. El Paso, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Tulsa, Kansas City, Des Moines, Northwest Arkansas, Minneapolis St. Paul, and Milwaukee.
I’m not done yet! They will also fly to Chicago, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Toronto, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Memphis, Washington Dulles, Baltimore, Raleigh-Durham, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, Tampa, Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, New Orleans, Houston, McAllen and San Antonio.
How Old Are These Aircraft?
According to Airfleets.net, there are two MD-82 aircraft that were manufactured in 1989 and 1990 meaning they are 29 and 28 years old. This is a pretty respectable age for an aircraft. Of course, they are completely safe as they are well maintained by American.
The remaining 28 MD-83s were built in 1997, 1998 and 1999, meaning they’re 21, 20 and 19 years old which is on the younger side of old really. Many of these were originally built for TWA and include the very last MD-80 ever built.
Overall Thoughts
Whether you love them or hate them, the MD-80 played a huge part in not only the American Airlines story, but the story of many other airlines around the world. Starting life as the DC-9, they were one of the longest lived products from Douglas.
As they are all leaving the fleet, they are the only American aircraft remaining in the old livery. Will you try to catch one before they go out of service or would you rather avoid the affectionately named “Mad Dogs”?
Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Matthew Wallman – Jetwash Images via Airliners.net
American Airlines November 2018 Route Map via Edward Russell on Twitter.
TWA by Jon Proctor via Wikimedia Commons.
Loved these birds. Having a 2 side is so much better than 6 across on the 737s.
Yes, I always found that nice – the Boeing 717 (which was originally the MD-95) still has that and Delta has many of those. I also know that the Airbus A220 (which was originally the Bombardier CSeries) is 5 abreast as well and Delta have 75 of those on order, plus Air Canada do with 45. So there’ll be plenty of opportunity to experience that in future. Thanks for the comment!
There is now only one MD80 flight from DFW-MSY-DFW. It is flight # 2536 and it alternates between a 738 and MD80. I don’t see it lasting much longer with an MD80 as MSY is seeing more and more 738’s for the majority of our routes. We still get the A319, 320, and occasional 321 but 75% are 738s.
Yes, I’d say it’s almost the end of the line for that flight, what with the 738s on it most of the time. Not long to go now really!
Truly a workhorse
That’s for sure!
I most recently flew an MD-83 from DFW to PHX in 2007. I was at the back of the plane and we hit mild turbulence especially over the desert areas of TX, NM & AZ. The plane creaked A LOT, giving me cause to feel it was either very old or had been used quite frequently.
It was probably just the way the ceiling panels and so on attach to the structure. It wouldn’t be anything to worry about at all really. There’s always movement of the panels, bins and sidewall. I can’t remember my last MD-80 flight, but it was probably on American and a while ago now. They weren’t quite as popular in Europe or Australia as they were in the USA. Thanks for the comments!
I think you are wrong about all those MD80s built in 2001. That is simply the year they transferred to American Airlines from TWA. They are still dinosaurs. Time has nothing to do with the aging of an aircraft. It is “cycles”. Take off and landings dictate when the airframe is done
You are correct – they are from 1997, 1998 and 1999 rather then 2001 when the official transfer to American Airlines occurred. Great catch and thanks for letting me know – I’ll update the post. I know that straight age has nothing to do with airframe life – I point it out as the general public generally freak out about aircraft age, which has no bearing on whether it’s safe or not. Thanks for the comment!