Delta retired its remaining Douglas DC-9 aircraft following Flight 2014, which departed Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) for Atlanta at 4:20 p.m. on Monday, January 6. This was the last scheduled commercial flight of the DC-9 by a major U.S. airline.
Delta was the launch customer for the original 65-seat version of the DC-9 in 1965 as the airline replaced propeller aircraft on high-frequency, short-haul domestic routes. The twin-engine plane was removed from the Delta fleet in 1993, but larger variants re-entered service following the merger; those aircraft joined Northwest after it acquired Republic Airlines in 1986. Northwest’s total of DC-9s hit 180 in 1997 before it began retiring some of its oldest DC-9s. Since then, Delta has been paring down the DC-9 fleet, which stood at 16 as of Sept. 30, 2013. Delta has flown a total of 305 DC-9s since 1965.
To acknowledge the DC-9's retirement, the last flight was tagged DL2014 noting the final year of service, while the preceding flight operating from Detroit to MSP was flight DL1965, the aircraft's initial year of service.
"The DC-9 has been a workhorse in our domestic fleet while providing a reliable customer experience," said Nat Pieper, Delta's vice president – Fleet Strategy. “The aircraft's retirement paves the way for newer, more efficient aircraft.”
Visit the MSP Airport Facebook page to see photos of the retirement ceremony held at MSP.
