MD88s and MD 90's to remain with Delta

 I don't work on MD88's MD 90's and Boeing 717's.  They basically are the same series of aircraft.  When Delta placed that order for 100 737's some media speculated that Delta will finally get rid of their MD fleet.  I saw this on one of the aircraft blogs that I check out and figure I would post it since I like airplanes.

---

August 26, 2011

Despite media speculation about the future of Delta’s MD-88 and MD-90 fleet, the airline has no plans to retire the domestic aircraft.
“MD-88s and MD-90s are the workhorses of our domestic fleet,” said Nat Pieper, v.p.-Fleet Strategy. “They are flexible, cost-efficient aircraft, and we will be flying them for many years to come.”
On Thursday, Delta announced plans to purchase 100 new Boeing 737-900ER aircraft between 2013 and 2018, to replace domestic Boeing 757s, 767s and Airbus A320s that retire during the seven-year delivery period.
A story published by Dow Jones Newswire suggested that the new aircraft could also replace MD-88s and MD-90s. But Nat stressed that there are no plans to phase out those aircraft, which have been upgraded with new roomier interiors, extended overhead bins, in-flight Wi-Fi, additional first class seats, and other customer amenities.
Delta has 117 MD-88s in service, as well as 28 MD-90s. Delta has an additional 30 used MD-90s in the process of being upgraded or under contract, all of which are projected to join the fleet by 2013.