mmoser2

I was on MD88 N959DL this morning SRQ-ATL She was in pretty rough shape. 2 out of 3 seats on the ABC side in my row were broken and stayed reclined. There was a lav issue upon arrival into SRQ that delayed us for just over an hour while they waited on the shoddy contract maintenance guys they called to figure out which lav it was that was non operational due to a faulty gasket on the service valve.

audidudi

Another MD-90, N955DN, ferried from ATL>SBD today:

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N955DN

Chadg

N931DL was ferried to SBD today
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N931DL

N515CR

M90 N954DN to retire today: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n954dn

CMK10

Wow I just flew her on March 30th.

3Cforme

Parked at the ripe old age of 21.9 years. I'll say it again - the MD-90s and 717s will not see 30 years in service as 757s and MD-88s did. A320s are getting parked at 26-27.

ATLflyer2017

Why are they retiring the MD-90s before the -88s? Does it have something to do with parts?

Mountain Explorer

I'm guessing that plane was due for major maintenance or something like that. DL is currently receiving about 1 new plane every week, and they are not substantially growing their route network, so they can park planes rather than overhaul them.

N515CR

V2500s are expensive to maintain; that is a part of it.

MCO Flyer

ethernal

Any reason as to why you think that way? I think MD-90's are great - one of the best birds to fly on Delta. The seat width is better than most of Delta's fleet, and the seat pitch is comparable to planes that would otherwise fly the routes (e.g., 737s).

I'd take a transcon MD-90 over a Boeing narrowbody any day. You could debate versus an Airbus with proper seats.

readywhenyouare

Sad times. The MD-88/90, 717, and 757 are the only remaining aircraft with any sort of character.

MCO Flyer

Longboater

From what I've heard, the maintenance on the M90s, in particular on the IAE engines, has become very expensive and time consuming over the past year. Notice several M90s being parked long term because they have to wait on IAE engine maintenance. While it is true there are airlines out there that use IAE engines on their A320 family fleets, the IAE engine for the M90 is different as they are on the tail instead of the wings. As Delta is the only operating these engines, sooner or later they were going to become expensive to maintain. Delta purchased quite a few old M90s from EVA for parts but they're out of parts planes to purchase. Delta had a decision to make a couple of years ago on whether they should bring IAE engine maintenance "in-house" in addition to the CFM engines they do maintenance in house. The alternative was to order more A321s and Delta's cost-benefit analysis heavily favoured this plan. I don't disagree with Delta's decision, being the only airline to operate the M90 for the past several years is not sustainable long term, however, its possible they could have made this work. Unlike the M88 fleet, which has a drop dead date by the end of 2020 due to required upgrades that Delta decided several years ago the cost isn't worth anywhere near worth it (Remember the Super 98 upgrade, which promised improved fuel burn and glass cockpits? Turns out there upgrade fell WAYYY short of expectations and Delta stopped the upgrades after just a few aircraft. That decision essentially meant the end of the M88 fleet. Also didn't help parts were becoming increasingly scarce with AA's S80 retirement.), the M90 could have remained well into the 2020s had engine maintenance not become so time consuming and expensive. The airframes themselves are fine considering the DC9 heritage. While many here mourn the M88 retirements, they are being parked right at around the time a durable aircraft will be retired, i.e. 25-30 years old. Delta has a few that are older than 30 years old but those won't last much longer. The M88 fleet had a great life with Delta but its time for them to be parked. I don't expect the M90 fleet to last much longer. Last I heard is that will be gone by the end of 2023. I'd bet on it being sooner than that. The A321neo order is more about replacing older A320s and 757s than M90s. The A321ceos are going to be the predominate aircraft replacing the M90. They, and the 737-900ERs, are already replacing the M88 fleet. The upgauge strategy has been brilliant on Delta's part and its something UA and AA are catching onto.

readywhenyouare

Delta still has another single-aisle order to place. I'm guessing it will be an order for the A320neo since the 321 is too much for many markets. I would look for the CS300 to replace the A319.