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More airlines are retiring their MD-80 aircraft. All of this begs the questions when will the MD-80 have its last commercial flight?

The three big MD-80 operators are all retiring their aircraft in favour of newer, more fuel efficient aircraft. American, Allegiant, and Delta are all looking to retire their fleet of MD-80s by the end of 2019. The three airlines are currently still operating 34, 25, and 98 aircraft respectively.

Replacement Aircraft Ordered

Each of the above airlines already has a plan for replacing the aircraft. Allegiant will replace its MD-80 aircraft with the 30 A320 family aircraft it expects to receive next year. In contrast, Delta is replacing their MD-80 aircraft with the Bombardier C Series. Finally, American is reportedly in the market for used A319 aircraft to replace its MD-80s.

MD-80 History

The first MD-80 took flight on October 18th, 1979. Almost a year later, the first MD-80 aircraft entered service with Swissair on October 10. A total of 1,191 MD-80 aircraft have been built over the years, as recently as 1999. With 5 variations, the MD-80 can hold between 130-172 passengers. Following the merger of McDonnell-Douglas with Boeing in 1997, the MD-90, a stretched version of the MD-80 became the B717.

What Will Happen To These Aircraft?

As each of the airlines retires its MD-80s, they all end up at an aircraft graveyard. An aircraft graveyard is a storage facility for aircraft waiting for their next life. This could either be as an aircraft for a different airline, spare parts for other MD-80s, or being recycled into a can. With very few operators of the MD-80, it its likely that a few will be stored, while the rest will eventually get scrapped. Airplane graveyards are typically very arid places. The little precipitation and moisture in the air means that the aircraft’s metal doesn’t rust easily.

Upon Arrival at an airplane graveyard, planes are typically stripped of their expensive or sensitive components. Next any holes or ports are sealed to stop dust and other nasty things from blocking up the inside of the aircraft. Finally, sun shades are placed over the windows to stop the sun from bleaching the seating upholstery.

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When Will The Last MD-80 Commercial Flight Be?

While this might seem like a tricky question to answer, broken down the question can be answered fairly easily. Let’s start with the last commercial flight by a major airline. All indications point to this being by the end of next year. While there is the chance that for one reason or another it could get pushed back to 2020, it doesn’t seem likely.

The final ever commercial MD-80 flight is probably significantly further away. The majority of MD-80 operators nowadays are smaller. LASER Airlines based out of Caracas in Venezuela is a perfect example. 11 of the airline’s fleet of 13 aircraft are MD-80s. It is unlikely that the smaller carriers who just operate the MD-80 will be rushing to get rid of them.

Finally, some of the retired MD-80s from the bigger airlines could be converted to carry freight, essentially giving them a new lease on life. While it’s unclear exactly when the last MD-80 flight will be, travellers can be pretty certain that they will become a much rarer sight over the coming years.