end of an era for my employer

MD-88

                                        Going through a retirement ceremony.

My employer took possession of the first MD-88 32 years ago and quickly grew to like the reliability of the airplane.  McDonald Douglass had quirks but they had engineered the airplane well. and the plane started out as the MD-82 with us and then there were upgrades and we changed it to the MD-88 standards and then we bought more of the airplanes and upgraded our MD-82 to the MD-88 standards

Nose View

I have worked a lot on the 88 and 90 series of airplanes, my employer is retiring both series of them.  Both are kinda long in the tooth as far as airplanes goes.  if they are maintained well, they are reliable, and we know "T" tails like nobody else.  We took the 717 that was "ok"  that Airtran had and when Southwest merged with Airtran and they "leased" us all 88 of them already kitted out in our livery ready to go for 100 million, we worked the maintenance program and *boom* the plane was a money maker for us because we know "T" tails. 

   The MD 88 and 90 series airplanes were moneymaker for my employer when we were in bankruptcy, we owned the engines and the airframes free and clear so everytime the planes took off and landed, the cash registers rang at the headquarters, it kept needed cash flowing during the dark times when we had only a week or 2 of cash on hand especially when USAIR tried for a hostile takeover during the bankruptcy hearings.  

Cockpit

What finally got the MD-88/90 was the Kung-Flu.  We were planning in retiring the planes in 2021, because we couldn't upgrade the avionics to handle the new FAA mandated ATC system for the airports that also incorporates superior airplane tracking and the MD 88 couldn't handle it and the engines are not fuel efficient and they are NOISY. Fuel efficiency is very important because fuel cost is huge cost factor for an airline. When I first started with the company, with low seniority, we would joke that being stuck in the back by the engines was "Non-rev hell"  My son when he was little couldn't understand why we didn't get a window that didn't have an engine in the view and I was just glad to be in the airplane.  He understood when he was got older.

I never really liked working on the planes, because I am an older rounder person and the planes are low to the ground and it is hard to get into some of the areas that are required for a mechanic to get into.  On the flipside, they are "mechanical" airplanes not fly by wire so they are not susceptible to electronic gremlins like the newer airplanes.  I will miss the planes, they will be going to Arkansas for storage and eventual recycle and harvesting.   We still have the B717 which is the MD-95 before Boeing bought McDonald Douglas and and changed the plane to the B717.
    There was a running joke, when the last A350 is parked at Victorville, the crew would be flown back in an 88.