A Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-88.Carlos Yudica / Shutterstock.com
- Delta Air Lines is advancing the retirement date of its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft to June 2.
- The Long Beach, California-built jets joined the Delta fleet in 1987 and also flew for Trans World Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
- Delta is the last US passenger airline to operate the aircraft with American and Allegiant having retired theirs over the past two years.
Delta Air Lines has given an early retirement date to its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft as the carrier seeks to swiftly move forward with a fleet renewal plan amid the coronavirus pandemic.
June 2 will be the last day that the iconic T-tailed aircraft produced in Long Beach, California will fly for a US passenger airline with the final MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft descending upon Delta's Atlanta hub for the last time. For the MD-90, the final flight will arrive from Houston at 8:58 a.m. while the final MD-88 will arrive from Washington, DC at 10 a.m.
After flying Delta passengers one last time, the jets will head to Blytheville, Arkansas for retirement, 350 miles away from Delta's headquarters in Atlanta. Replacing the aircraft will largely be Delta's newest arrival, the Airbus A220.
The retirement plans put an end to a 33-year era of the iconic aircraft flying for Delta. Dating back to the 1980s, Delta's aging McDonnell Douglas fleet features some of the oldest aircraft still flying for the airline, made by a manufacturer that no longer exists.
Take a look back at the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series.
Read the original article on Business Insider