Disappearing into the Desert: American Sends 8 Super 80s to Roswell

AA's retired fleet of Super 80's at Roswell will help keep Delta's fleet of Mad Dog's flying for a few years yet. I visited the facility at Roswell last year and there were a load of boxes awaiting shipping to Atlanta. Delta know that AA's fleet of Super 80's are well maintained, so Roswell is their 'go to' place for quality, documented, pre-owned spare parts.

Not all are fans of the MD-80, but have you ever ridden up front in one? The ride is awesome and quiet with those pushers sitting all the way back at the tail section. While not the most efficient of birds, the ride was always nice... for those in the first 10 rows at least.

I'm glad I got to fly on them. Good planes.

As a frequent business traveler, typically flying out of SJC on AA, I can't count the number of times I was aboard an MD80. A lot of other travelers at my company really disliked those airplanes - I didn't. I rather enjoyed flying on them. I'm also a Private Pilot, with a ton of hours, and my only reservation about the MD80's was in the air and on the ground the CG looked all wrong. I still haven't taken the time to figure out why they appeared so damn nose heavy, but maybe I'll do that today... after about 25 years of flying on them. They were comfortable, had a nice ride and were small enough to get you on and off the aircraft quickly. The AA routes I flew generally had a plane change at DFW, an airport I loathe. Oh well, another good bird going into the history books, but they'll be flying for many years to come.

Pretty impressive service record for such a mundane aircraft.I flew on them a bunch of time from Dallas to Pittsburgh and were smooth riding.

Weren't airlines scouring the planet for MD-80s only about a year ago? I would have thought that buyers are lining up for these aircraft unless they are about due for a C check.

Loved by all who flew them - sporty :) fast and quiet up front!

Allegiant looking..lol

borate bombers of the future.....

Won't the aliens get them?

Ride in the front is awesome on those. Ride in the back row is the worst on any commercial aircraft.

I remember 'upgrading' to an MD80 from AA's older F100's.

the f-100s were purchased cause ord let airlines swap 100 seat jets for commuter slots so aa purchased 76 with options for 75 more ntu. pulled seats out for the 56 seat dallas love field operation v/s legend airlines with 56 seat dc-9s... aa had to cut the number of a/c types and parked the f-100 paying the leases for a few years.

My wife and I flew an AA MD80 to/from DFW-MSY August 8th & 13th. Our return MD80 had the old green background in the cockpit. Wonder if one or both of those planes were recently to Roswell? If so I'm glad we got one last ride on them. On return flight to DFW I sat next to an AA 737 pilot who said, "these planes are old and the pilots are always busy".

Everts Air Cargo. is still flying the MD-82SF. Probably some third/fourth tier airline still flying the model. UM Men’s basketball had a near death experience 2-3 years ago when their charter ran off the end of the Willow Run runway in high winds.

FYI, the cockpit section of one of a to-be-scrapped AA MD80s has made it into the newly refurbished CR Smith Museum in Fort Worth, TX. I'll give it a look next time in town but ten years on the aircraft type was enough, come to think of it...

The MD-80 is a smoother ride than the 737's that AA is now using on those routes.

I can't count the number of miles that I have flown on AA's MD-80's beginning when they were brand new! American has made the most of this iconic airliner. I will miss seeing the T-tails with the old AA livery. I will particularly miss the 2-3 seating--unfortunately a thing of the past except on RJ's!

**WOW: I can still remember when working for TWA in reservations, when in the early-mid 90's, when the employees bought the MD83 from "BE-WEE", (BWIA), and we repainted it in 'reverse' colors. AA took possession of that plane and few other MD83's. SAD to see it go by the wayside, but also TWA went by the wayside as well. The MD80's, (83) were the replacement 'workhorse' for the 727's.