BeechBum

I'm beginning to think that NorthWest should retire some of their elderlyfallingapartmakeingitspassengersthinktheymi ghtdieinmidairbecauseofthisoldplane.

See, Those DC-10s and DC-9s are scaring me! I have been a Delta flyer for the longest time and recently flew NorthWest about a year ago and will again in 2 weeks, and well I flew on a DC-9 and DC-10.

The DC9s aren't too bad bad, other than the fact that I was stranded in Memphis for an hour on the tarmat (or whatever its called) for a "power problem". I think most of them were 25 years or so old?

The DC-10s are the things I worry about! I flew one of those and wow, what an old thing. I heard they were 30 or so years old? I got im my seat to find: GUM under the armrest, crushed CHIPS on the floor, fabric coming loose from the seats, DUCK TAPE ON THE WING!

No offence to NW though, I loved their flight crew, the FA's were great, in fact I sat next to a former FA that was fired after 9-11! (and still had the nerve to fly with them)

WOW, well that turned into a trip report!

Anywho back on topic...
Its just time to retire those things, before one drops out of the air.
Not to mention their will be less maintenance, better fuel efficiency, and noise.

Anyone else with me here?

Vulcan

And.....you would replace the 16 FC seats in the DC9s with....RJs or CRJs. No thanks, I'll take the risk and be comfortable, with full meal service.

Most importantly, NW OWNS all the DC9s outright. In the current enviroment, I can't see them justifying buying or leasing new planes. I believe the D10s will be out of the fleet pretty much within a year.

doglover

A common thread topic here in the NW forum.

The last of the 727's were retired in the last 2 years having been replaced with A320s and A319s.
The really old DC10s were retired last year having been replaced with stretch 757-300's.
The newer DC10s are being replaced by brand new A330's.
The 747-200's are slowly being phased out of passenger service and moved over to the cargo division.
The 747-400's are being refitted with a brand new business class.

The DC9's just went thru a thorough refurbishment and are good for many more years. One of the reason commercial airplanes are so expensive is that they are built to last. There are DC3's still flying!

Now if we could get NW to do something with all those darn CRJs!

jiburi

Hold it, Not so fast.

Granted, some of the DC10's and most of DC9's are old, but there are still some newer DC10's no more than 16 years old.

For example there are 8 DC10's manufactured in 1980's.
N240NW, Mar 88
N244NW, Feb 88
N243NW, Jan 88
N239NW, Oct 87
N238NW, Sep 87
N242NW, Mar 81
N241NW, Feb 81
N237NW, July 80
and the rest manufactured in the 70's.

If you said its ok to the retrofitted DC9's, which are older than the DC10's, would it be acceptable if NW did a complete retrofit to the DC10's? I think DC10 has still some life left. (granted, flight miles are more important in evaluating aircrafts)

Jiburi '04

bk42

Personally it seems like DC10s are breaking down more and more these days. I think it's time that the DC-10s and 742s were retired. The DC-9s seem to be holding up just fine for my flights.

Maybe if NW really wants to retire the 742s, they'll pick up a few 744s to get rid of the 742s ASAP. That way the 330s can start replacing the DC10s instead of the 742s.

tcook052

Well, I'll go out on a limb here and remind the thread starter dude that NW has never seemed the kind of company to make rash decisions and order hundreds of new planes to replace a large chunk of its fleet. It's more cautious and deliberate and, as has been mentioned, in this industry environment slow & steady will win the race. I'm not afraid to fly on any of NW's quality aircraft.

BeechBum

Wow, some good points have been brought up.

I guess the DC-10's are going down (finally)

But I guess the DC-9's have some more chug left in them, and are great for connection flights.

@:-)

geoffco

I have noticed lately that the planes (new Airbii and 757's included) need some serious attention in regards to cleaning, however i doubt that there was "duck" tape on the wings or "ships" on the floor (unless someone was playing battleship on the previous flight) . Is there a space bar on your keyboard?

The average age of the NW DC9 fleet is almost 35 years old and there are currently 8 in the fleet that went into service in 1966. The newest one is from 1981 I believe. I will take any of them over the newest CRJ. The DC9's will be around indefinetly (most likely through 2012) and the DC10's are slowly being phased out over the next few years, but many, as stated, are quite new to commercial aircraft standards. Newer than many of Delta's MD80's, 737-200's, and 767-200's.

slippahs

I've always heard that the -10s would be around on Hawai`i service for a bit longer...

Given the WBC seats on those -10s, I wouldn't mind flying around with them for a bit longer, but I also wouldn't mind trying a WBC seat on an A332, provided it has the same spawl space as the -10s.

Anyone have any insider updates on when, if ever, the A332s will enter the Hawai`i market?

aloha

BeechBum

Don't drink & type! Sorry for my lack of grammar, I was educated in Florida. (blame it on the schools)

Anywho, I misspelled "chips". And their WAS some kind of tape on the wing, allowed by the FAA as a temporary fix, but must be repaired ASAP. (which im sure is what it was)

Mr.Airport

Blending your comments about the DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft, in STL we get an opportunity to fly on the DC-9-10 on a regular basis. They make several trips a day into STL - now, that's an old airframe.

The one aircraft I always wanted to fly on, but never got the chance, was the DC-8. Think there's a chance NW can pick up a couple on the used plane market?

kb1992

DC-9 is OK.

I admit that DC-10 worries me. Every time on -10, I always had strange feeling that something would break down. I am quite scared flying DC-10!!!

Although I try to avoid DC-10 when making travel plans, this would be my last flight on DC-10:

Nov.25, 2004 NW 97 MSP-HNL

I hope that I don't have to see DC-10 again.

jiburi

DC10's are nice for flights between Honolulu and West Coast. I hope the flight service returns, despite the recent transition to a 753.

Jiburi '04

rashby

If I were to write a letter. . . . . .

Dear Mr. Anderson: Please keep the DC9 planes. I hate the CRJ and will switch my business to an airline which doesn't use as many CRJs! The CRJs don't scare me, but those damn seats are smaller than my baby's car seat.

If you do decide to fly more CRJs, please take out a couple of rows so I can put my kness in front of me instead of in the isle.

Thank you - a Loyal NW Customer.

socrates

Personally I think DL's cabin's look more dated than NW's...but I'm with the rest of you...keep the 9's instead of adding RJ's (unless they are AVRO's...which unfortunately they don't make any longer)