RRDD

I was bored during boarding and noticed that we were about to board an MD90. Further research noted that DL is the only carrier flying MD90s. Any particular reason no one else uses them?

airmotive

Simple bad timing.
Shortly after Delta placed their order as the launch customer, Boeing bought MD.
The 90 was pretty much a direct competitor with Boeing’s own 737. There were a couple smaller orders, but I believe Delta eventually bought those planes too.
The 717 (the last DC9 variant) went a similar route, except AirTran was the buyer. (and Delta bought those too).

Andy49

Around 30 airlines have used them according to an MD website

Jeff767

Delta picked up most of the available MD-90's for very low prices. The aircraft actually has a better fuel burn than the A320.

nystateofmind

Even though the purchase of McDonnell Douglas killed off the MD-90, it never gained traction as a 727-200 replacement because fuel was cheap. American did not start receiving their 737-800 until 1999. Had the need arose sooner they likely would have gone with a large MD-90 order. Northwest and United both went with A320 series instead. Because of issues with MD-11 program, that also delayed MD-90 so by the time it actually went into service with Delta, Boeing 737-800 wasn’t far away

pk45cu

MD90 ownership costs are very low, DL bought a bunch of them dirt cheap for cash on the used market.

While their fuel burn isn't good, oil prices have to be very high (~$200) before the low ownership costs become meaningless. Also maintenance costs are higher, but DL's efficient in-house maintenance unit helps.

The benefit of cheap fully-paid for planes is they are good to pull down capacity in slow days/months/seasons, no leases to be paid. Just park them.

GateGuardian

No complaints about the MD-90 or 717 from here. It pretty much upgraded my routes to mainline.

NOLAnwGOLD

It's kind of like why NW held onto the DC-9s for so long, all were like 40+ years old.

is the C-100's going to replace anything? Or just augment services?

KBMIFlyer

Close, Southwest actually still owns them and leases them to Delta. The 717 has been a very good fit for Delta, just as the MD90 has been.

MSPeconomist

Yeah, but PMNW kept those aircraft in great mechanical condition, despite using them as real workhorses. It was very cost effective and wasn't bad for the passengers, especially after they renovated interiors in the ones that only had two rows of FC. I grew to love those old DC-9s.

StayingHomeIsBetter

I too have fond memories of them.

Of course, at this point (and age) I cannot be sure whether it was the aircraft itself that engenders nostalgia... or NW's indulgent UG policies.

teCh0010

I didn't make plat for the first time until after the merger, but man as a gold based in MEM I got upgraded a lot.

The four engine Avro's were my favorite plane.

jrl767

+1 (well, actually +85 for the ARJ-85) ... great little jets

C W

As long as they aren't 3-3 like AF's current ones. Then they're torture boxes even on short hops.

RaflW

As has been said, the MD-90 was a solid if not stellar performer as an aircraft, but McDonnell-Douglas had a lot of problems as a company and they performed poorly in sales terms. Delta, via their PMNW mechanics who knew the DC9s well, has an excellent maintenance system for the MDs.

I tend to like riding in the MD-90 (less so the -88s), though it can take a while to deplane when seated in the exit rows. A lot farther back than the 'bus.

As to the CS100 question above, Delta has stated that they are to replace the MD-88s, which seat fewer passengers than the -90s, have more thirsty and noisy engines, and are older. The CS300 is closer seat-count, and DL can (if the proposed US tariffs don't scuttle things) shift some of the C-series order to that larger plane. We'll see how that goes.

It would take a serious spike in oil prices to get DL to park the MD-90s early. They have quite a few years of life in them, and if moved from longish domestic (I've gone MSP-SJC or 1,570miles on MD-90s), the extra fuel burn on 500 or 700 mile flights is not that important to the flight's total 'trip cost' v. an A320 or 738.