Delta Airlines (NYSE: DAL) has retired its McDonnell Douglas MD-88 and MD-90 model jets earlier than the airline had previously anticipated. The aircraft was slated to be retired within the coming years, but the airline moved up the retirement of the aging jets amid the ongoing pandemic.
Delta is the last airline to operate the MD-88 and MD-90 model jets, which were introduced by McDonnell-Douglas in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively. The MD-88 and MD-90 are single-aisle, narrow-body airliners made to compete with the likes of the Boeing (NYSE: BA) 737 and the Airbus (OTC: EADSY) A320. The liners were mostly phased out in North America by the 2010s; American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) phased out its MD-80 series aircraft by 2019, leaving Delta as the sole American operator.
The final flight of the airline's MD-80 series aircraft was an event that drew employees, enthusiasts, and the press alike. Seats disappeared quickly, especially as Delta had restricted how many tickets were sold as part of the company's efforts to prevent coronavirus infections aboard its planes. The flight had an atmosphere of a retirement party for a departing coworker, with balloons, banners, refreshments, and a final salute as the jet departed. Addressing the passengers as the plane departed, the flight crew remarked on what the MD-88 meant to them and Delta, as the MD-80 family had been a workhorse for the airline for decades.
Delta had initially planned to phase out the aging aircraft over the next few years; the MD-88 was scheduled to be fully retired by the end of 2020 while the MD-90 was scheduled for retirement by 2022. The jets, averaging around 30 years in age, are loud, fuel-inefficient, and comparably low-tech compared to their modern brethren. The retirement of the older jets was sped up by the monumental drop in demand for air travel as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds of planes have been put in reserve due to the drop in demand, though, likely as a cost-saving measure, the company decided.