MD-80, the workhorse of the skies, being put out to pasture
As summer draws to a close, American Airlines is hastening the pace at which it sends aged McDonnell Douglas MD-80s to the aircraft boneyard. Five years into a revamp of its fleet, the world’s largest carrier on Tuesday will retire 20 MD-80-family aircraft, “one of the largest single-day aircraft retirements in airline history,” according to American.
“Summer is the busiest time of the year for airlines, and with summer flying winding down, we can go ahead and park these aircraft,” the company said in a statement. The planes being sent Tuesday to the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico are, on average, 28 years old, about five years older than the carrier’s overall MD-80 fleet.
American plans to retire 45 MD-80s this year, most of them in the third quarter, and be rid of all of them by the end of 2017 as part of a fleet renewal project. Economically, the MD-80 is no match for the newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family of aircraft that have replaced it. American, which ordered 460 new Airbus Group SE and Boeing Co. jets in 2011, says the 737-800 and A321 jets replacing the MD-80 are 35 percent more fuel efficient on a per-seat basis.
Two other U.S. MD-80 operators, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Allegiant Travel Co., both plan to quit the jet in the next few years.
Read more: http://www.heraldnet.com/business/md-80-the-workhorse-of-the-skies-being-put-out-to-pasture/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thanks a lot! 
How many did you have to before you could retire? 
But then again, you could say the same for me.
but bus drivers are subject to mental fatigue and crack addiction in their most important structural components which means they are thinking of the children. 
ETA: So are pilots though. I was in rehab with an American Airlines pilot.
at the risk of making a double entendre, it is nice to know that things are nicely lubricated for you. 
American Airlines, not the 12 step program, that is.
Anyhow, that was 27 years ago, when most of them were brand new. Very easy aircraft to service. Still remember the swing/tuck to get into the cargo bellies. 
