Dear American: Retire Your MD-80s!

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: June 25, 2019
Published: December 17, 2015

77 comments

Update: American Airlines is ending MD-80 operations as of September 4, 2019.

American is in the process of renewing their fleet, which I give them a lot of credit for. It has been awesome to see them transform from an airline with one of the oldest fleets in the US to one of the most modern fleets.

Their 777-300ERs are gorgeous.

American-Business-Class

And even their new domestic A319s, A321s, and 737s are perfectly nice.

American-737-Economy-Class

American’s fleet modernization has largely centered around them retiring their MD-80s, most of which are older than I am. The planes are disgusting — they smell terrible, they’re loud, they have no in-flight entertainment/110v adapters, and the interiors just feel nasty.

American-Economy

American has slowed down their MD-80 retirement, so we’re still seeing more of these than we were supposed to. Why? Because oil prices are down, so it’s still economical for them to fly these gas guzzlers, given that they’re all paid off, as far as I know. And clearly passenger experience isn’t actually that important.

American recently changed their operations at DFW so that the same plane types depart from the same terminals, in an attempt to streamline operations. The DFW plane assignment system is as follows:

737s, 757s, and A321s will depart from the A Concourse
A319s and MD-80s will depart from the C Concourse
International flights will mostly depart from the D Concourse
The lower C Concourse (gates C2-15) will act as overflow gates

In other words, with the exception of international flights, all MD-80s depart from the “A Concourse.” I’m flying my first MD-80 in a while today. Before boarding even started, I was at the gate and listening to how the flight next to us had a mechanical problem which caused a significant delay.

American-MD80

I was sort of appalled by the way the gate agent announced the delay. He didn’t bother saying “sorry for any inconvenience” or “we appreciate your patience and we’ll keep you updated if anything changes,” but instead just matter of factly said “there’s a mechanical problem with the plane and we will give you a further update in 45 minutes.”

Then as boarding for our flight was supposed to start, we were informed we also had a mechanical problem with our plane. There was something wrong with the windshield. 15 minutes later we were informed that the plane couldn’t be fixed, and they’d try to find us a new one.

I headed to the Admirals Club, and after checking in I went up to the service desk and gave the friendly agent my boarding pass:

Me: “Any chance you’ll make an announcement in the club when they find a replacement plane for this flight?”
Admirals Club agent: “Sure. Along with all the other flights which have mechanical problems. I just wish there were one day without these mechanical problems.”
Me: “I can’t even imagine how tough your job must have gotten since they’re flying all the MD-80s out of this concourse. Might be time to relocate to another concourse.”
Admirals Club agent: “We were just talking about it. It’s a mess. You have no clue.”

I guess what sort of put this into perspective is that I’ve long been an American loyalist, thanks in large part to their superior loyalty program. I’ve been a lot more forgiving of their poor operational performance (compared to Delta) than I usually would be, because I sort of unconditionally loved the airline.

Ford is flying with me and asked “so why do you love American again?” Which is a perfectly valid question in a terminal with as many flights delayed as on-time, and all for reasons within the airline’s control. All we want to do is get on our 25+ year old plane and get to our destination.

I guess big picture I’m coming to terms with finally being able to look at American more objectively now that their frequent flyer program will no longer be a point of differentiation. With the changes to their loyalty program, they need to be a good airline on their own merit. And these MD-80s certainly aren’t contributing to that.

Here’s to hoping they find a replacement plane soon!

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Ryan N. Guest

February 25, 2024, 3:27 am

Delta didn’t have this problem, and their planes weren’t much newer. I can’t remember a time when I had a mechanical delay on an MD-80. Maybe once? And I sought them out on purpose.

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JL Guest

February 8, 2019, 4:46 pm

As an aviation enthusiast: NO! The MD-80's are a relic!

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dantoo Guest

August 25, 2016, 9:49 pm

any chance off turning the 20 MD-80 into exe flights for Asian markets/hubs? retiring them is total waste of flight resources. i am trying to put together a purchase plan to revive them. any interested parties?

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Vicki J. Guest

August 5, 2016, 11:20 pm

I fly for business and personal travel monthly on several airlines but more frequently on American and Delta. Although I used to like American the best because of their large fleet of quiet and comfortable MD-80s, their service, and their hub locations, now Delta which has always been a very good airline is actually better. American has new management which for some reason is trying to change everything good about the airline but instead is only succeeding in making things worse. In the last year or two I've had a better chance of getting a MD-80 for a domestic flight on Delta while American has started switching some routes over to the noisy and uncomfortable 737. I've also been on the American Airbus twice and it was even worse than the 737. I realize as others have said that the MD-80 burn more fuel making them more expensive to operate but even as a short 5'6" woman I would pay a few extra dollars for my ticket just to avoid traveling squished in like a sardine on a 737 or Airbus. I really feel sorry for the taller male passengers onboard those planes that must be so incredibly uncomfortable for a couple hours at a time. I really like the 2 seat side of the MD-80 and much of the time I actually get it. I've only rarely been stuck with a middle seat over on the right hand side of the aisle. I appreciate the generous amount of leg room in coach, the great seats with real cushions, and the under seat storage space available for my small carry on tote bag which I can then easily access during the flight. If the person in front of me reclines their seat on a MD-80 I might not even notice. If the passenger in front of me tries that on a 737 or Airbus I immediately want to KILL THEM!!! (just kidding of course :) I can easily get out of my seat to use the bathroom without disrupting the entire airplane instead of getting trapped and having to just "hold it" when in the many wrong seats on a 737 or Airbus. The MD-80 is so amazingly quiet and smooth that I don't even wear my noise cancelling headphones except for the last couple of rows in the very back by the engine. It's in a class by itself and no other airplane I've ridden on even comes close. The 737 and Airbus fishtail, rattle, and vibrate from the wing area all the way to the back of the cabin and I always have to wear my headphones to reduce the noise level. Why pay for first class when you can be just as comfortable in the coach cabin of a MD-80??? When American flew the MD-80s on the premium LGA to ORD flights I loved flying the route but now with the 737 I avoid American at all costs. I really don't like the little tiny regional jets either as I feel much safer on a big plane but I think the regional jets in some cases are actually more comfortable than the 737 or Airbus. If true that American is really foolish enough to get rid of their most comfortable domestic airplane then I predict that Delta will be getting many former American airlines passengers soon. I really question if the person that wrote this article actually has any domestic flying experience at all! Upset about the lack of a cheap seatback entertainment system for a short 1 to 3 hour flight? You really can't be serious!

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Bruce Guest

July 15, 2016, 8:24 am

I don't mind the lack of IFE...I bring my own. (How EVER did they get by in years past without glowing screens built into every seat back?) ;) Rear engined, no cutesy slim-line Euro seating, 5 across configuration? Works for me! And as others have said, AA is to blame for lack of maintenance on these.

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