MKEflyer95

I'll be on two MD-90's in about a month (originally booked on three in fact) so it'll be exciting for me as I've never been on one. Also I was looking on planespotters.net and on AerSale Inc it said there were 22 stored MD-90's. What are the chances of Delta getting those birds?

CMK10

I was in 27E last weekend and it did not recline. Made for a pretty miserable flight between that and the tiny slanted tray table.

N639DL

Right now according to Planespotters.net there are 5 MD-90s that are stored. My guess is that they are in the process of cabin work, seats, etc. to get them ready to fly for DL.

Heads up to anyone flying the MD-90 in Comfort+... I was on N960DN in January and right above row 12 in Comfort+ and right above that bin on the ceiling of the aisle was what appeared to be an emergency raft storage area. That unit being right there made the overhead bins directly over row 12 unable to open all the way and therefore unable to store a standard suitcase. I had to put my bag behind us.

Not all MD-90s have that as I was also on N942DN in January and that did not have that (I was in row 13 on that flight). I'm guessing the ones that came from Europe (953-965) have it. Not sure about original DL MD90s.

MKEflyer95

Just to bring it out there, I was in Row 35 on one MD-90 and Row 17 on the other MD-90. Not that much louder in the back IMHO.

And I wonder what's going to happen with the MD-90's from EVA and UNI. Both have three in service each. So if possible Delta can possibly get six more MD-90's bringing it up to 71 rather than 65.

RaflW

I have this same question, has anyone figured this out since bgriff asked it a while back? I just ticketed for an MD-90 flt in 8 days. It's under 2 hours so really any aisle seat is basically fine, but grabbed this one as it seemed the best of the few remaining 'premium' seats.

My guess would be that it maybe has the extra 1" of pitch (DL seat map says 30-31" pitch for main cabin) vs 30" for rows 17 & 18?

Thanks for any insight.

bgriff

The weird thing about row 19 is that unlike the other "preferred" rows near the front, only the aisle seats in row 19 are preferred -- if there was extra legroom there presumably the window seats would be preferred too.

I was on an MD-90 a few weeks back and tried to see if there was anything different about those seats, though I wasn't sitting in them. There didn't seem to be.

MKEflyer95

I noticed that too. I was in 17A on a flight and I remember looking back and I didn't notice a difference in between 19A or 19B. Also the funny thing is is that I was booked in seat 19A on what was supposed to be my third MD-90 flight back in April but was changed to a 752. And as far as I know neither 17B or 18B is a preferred seat.

demue

I'll be on an MD-90 MSP-PHX in F with my GF and picked 2C & 2D which I assume are pretty save. I'm not familiar with the a/c (or DL for that), but given I don't like bulkheads that restrict leg room (which most do) I made this "conventional" selection.

Anything to look out for? Thanks.

Duke787

Have a 2.5 hour flight coming up on this ATL - AUS. Looks like 25B, 26E, and 27A are the best bets remaining (won't give me a C+ buyup offer maybe bc this was booked through work/Amex Travel or else I'd jump on that).

Thoughts?

TravelLawyer

Looks like no one has been here for awhile. I took my first Delta flight since about 10 years ago yesterday. It was on a MD-90 in first class. On this flight, there was no seatback entertainment system. And the plane seems to me to be considerably louder than the other planes I’ve flown on AA. It was actually so loud that it gave me a headache while in flight and I had to yell out my drink order to the FA. Has anyone else noticed this?

3Cforme

No. And I've spent hundred of thousands of miles in AA MD-80/82/83s.

Among Delta's mainline fleet 717s/MD-88s and MD-90s do not have AVOD.

DCP2016

Nope. Just you.

bgriff

The MD80/MD90/717 family tend to be among the quieter aircraft in first class since the engines are all the way at the back of the fuselage, not under the wings like on many other aircraft types. So it can be very loud if you're seated near the rear of the cabin, but the engines are quite far away from first class so it's usually not too bad. Not really sure what would have caused the difference for your flight.

As for AVOD, just like AA's MD88s, Delta's MD aircraft don't have it as they generally operate on shorter routes. Unlike AA's fleet, all of Delta's 737s, 757s, and A319/320/321 aircraft do have AVOD, though.

tnair1974

Delta publicly announces that it wants to accelerate the phaseout of its MD-90s.

Looks like the skyrocketing cost of MD-90 engine overhauls has come to a head:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...with-m-457377/

The above link was posted about two months ago by "Zorak" in the MD-88/90 Retirement thread, but seems it could also be included here.

As recently as the beginning of this year, Delta was stating in internal memos/conferences that at least some stored MD-90s could return to service starting in early 2020. Up to now, withdrawn MD-90s were generally being stored in flying condition. More recently, some of the Chinese built birds have entered the scrapping process. My amaturish guess is that if any grounded MD-90s do fly with Delta again (a big if in light of recent news), it would be those that could undergo a relatively quick C check.

The stored planes that need a D check may likely never fly again.

Anyway, Delta will reveal more details about MD-90 phaseouts later this year.

godfreyb

My 12/31/19 flight from RSW-ATL has already had the scheduled MD-90 switched to a 737-900. Pity, I was looking forward to one last trip on one.