American Airlines says goodbye to a friend and hello to a brave new world

American Airlines employees photograph the last MD-80 plane before its retirement at O’Hare Wednesday 4, 2019. | Kevin Tanaka/For the Sun Times

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80, an old-school workhorse of the skies, used to be the mainstay of American Airlines, which in the 1980s saw the modest jet as the engine for its growth. And how did that work out?

Pretty well, for the company, which by 2003 saw the model account for almost half its fleet, and for the employees who got jobs and burnished their pilot skills as the MD-80 thrust American ever higher in commercial aviation. So it was with fond memories and a few tears that several hundred American employees, retirees and aviation buffs gathered Wednesday in the weekday tumult of O’Hare Airport to say goodbye to the MD-80 era.

“This was an airplane that basically made our careers,” said Bob Dehmer, a retired pilot from Crystal Lake. He and other pilots recalled how the plane was the last of a manually operated breed, with no computers and sensors, just mechanical parts, separating the pilot from the airplane. “You could fly it without electricity,” Dehmer said.

The airline Wednesday completed the final scheduled flights for its 26 MD-80s still in service, then put them into the air for the last time for a trip to a rest home in Roswell, N.M. At O’Hare, an MD-80 completed the fleet’s final passenger run around 11:40 a.m., a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth. The 140 passengers and crew, many of them American employees who won a contest to be on the last flight, disembarked at Gate K5 to a celebration.

The MD-80 cockpit dates from a simpler time, pilots said. The plane was the last of a manually operated breed; “You could fly it without electricity,” one retired pilot said.

Adam Brock of Houston, part of a Facebook group of elite frequent fliers, took the flight to say goodbye to an old friend. “When it first came out, it was a technological marvel and it’s proven its worth for nearly 40 years,” he said. The single-aisle design, with rows of three and two seats, meant that only one in five seats was the dreaded middle one, he said.

With two tail-mounted engines, the cabin could be noisy way back in coach, but the legroom was more generous than what airlines have ordered for today’s planes. Crew members said things were cramped for them, but the aisle was wide and “the passengers liked it, and that’s what matters,” said flight attendant Rachel Krueger, of Chicago.

The MD-80 acquired the nickname “Mad Dog” and was seen as a tough operator that grew almost haphazardly out of updates from the old DC-9. Somehow, it became a miracle of utility. Pilots said it lowered the airline’s cost and with a compact design could get in and out of airports that didn’t have a long runway.

It opened up new routes for American as the airline business was going through deregulation, said Franco Tedeschi, the company’s vice president based in Chicago. American plans to replace it with models from Boeing and Airbus, including the Boeing 737 MAX, whose software flaws have been blamed for two deadly crashes. American has canceled until December 3 all 737 MAX flights and has said it is constant touch with Boeing and regulators about software changes that will improve pilot control.

Tedeschi said the flying public will appreciate the enhanced fuel efficiency and improved technology. Wifi was seldom accessible on the MD-80. He said American will have the youngest fleet of planes of the major carriers.

“As an airline, we have to think about how we can introduce new airplane types that can serve the business we’re now a part of,” he said.

The aircraft remains a part of other airlines, mostly non-U.S.-based, which will become customers for spare parts pulled from American’s retired models. Boeing absorbed McDonnell Douglas in 1997 and nobody makes the parts anymore.

United Airlines doesn’t fly the aircraft, while Delta Air Lines said it flies variants — 70 MD-88s and 30 MD-90s. A spokesman said Delta will use the MD-88s until the end of 2020 and the MD-90s until late 2022.

At American, Captains Greg Kunasek and Clint Beedle, together with more than 30,000 hours on the MD-80, handled the final passenger flight and the last trip to Roswell. “It’s been a great airplane for a great many years and I’ll be honored to put it to bed in the desert,” Kunasek said.

The jet asked pilots and mechanics to use their skills and moxie and they liked that. Is that better than putting more control into software and sensors?

“It’s an endlessly debatable question,” said retired pilot John White, of Hawthorn Woods.