It seems like the days of DC-10 as a passenger airliner is fast approaching its end with the its last flight with Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Dhaka to Birmingham in February 2014 (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/05/tr...rticle_sidebar). Would travelers give the plane a fond goodbye or good riddance?

Personally, for airliners with 3 engines, I always preferred the Lockheed Tristar over the DC-10. Even if the Tristar was never a commercial success for Lockheed, technically it was a superior design (in my opinion) to the DC-10. That being said, I have nothing against the DC-10. In a sea of same-looking airliners, the DC-10 stood out.

True, I suppose one must also mention the DC-10's reputation as a "dangerous" or "unsafe" aircraft. This label, fairly or not, has bedeviled the aircraft ever since a string of disasters in it's early career during the 70's, forcing a grounding of the DC-10 by the FAA in 1979. Granted, the design flaws of the aircraft (especially with the cargo door) were eventually fixed and the airliner has proven to be fairly safe and reliable for the rest of it's career. However, I guess reputation, once acquired, is not easy to change.

More than any alleged safety issues, the DC-10 and it's successor, the MD-11, was done in by increasing competition from Boeing and Airbus. The MD-11 also could not initially meet it's performance targets which impacted sales, and along with McDonnell Douglas's takeover by Boeing in 1998, spelled the end of the line for the aircraft.

So what are your thoughts on the (passenger version) of the DC-10/MD-11?