Good afternoon from Atlanta, Georgia!
My name is Alex, and welcome back to the channel!
Today, I’m here at Delta’s home for one main reason, to fly on board their McDonnell-Douglas MD-88!
The McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 is an updated and stretched version of the venerable Douglas DC-9.
It first flew in October of 1979, and over a thousand were built by the time production
ended in 1999.
The MD-88 was the last variant built, and was first delivered to launch customer Delta
in 1987.
At the time of uploading, these were also the oldest aircraft in Delta’s fleet.
As a Canadian, there really aren’t many opportunities for me to fly on an MD-80.
By January this year, the only MD-80 route to or from Canada was between Atlanta and Toronto.
With the recent launch of flights from Calgary to Atlanta with WestJet, this was a great
opportunity for myself and some friends to fly on this piece of history.
We’ll be starting our journey from Hartsfield’s impressive International terminal today, where
Delta has multiple self-serve kiosks for check-in, as well a few rows of counters for bag drop.
Our departure gate today is E33.
From the TSA checkpoint at the International Terminal, there are quite a few escalators,
an underground train, and even more escalators involved, plus another 5 minute walk up the concourse.
Once you get there, there is plenty of seating at least, plus a good apron view, where we
could see our inbound aircraft touching down on runway 26R.
The MD-88 taking us back to Canada today is a 29-year-old example, registered as:
This aircraft was delivered brand new to Delta in December of 1990, and has flown with them
for its entire life.
Personally, I’ve always loved the look of the MD-80s, which are sometimes affectionately
referred to as the “Mad Dogs”.
From an avgeek perspective, they’re probably my favourite single-aisle aircraft out there!
I never got a chance to fly on American’s MD-80s before they were retired last year,
and with the current border restrictions in place, this’ll be my only flight on a Delta MD-80.
So, without further ado, let’s go see what it’s like!
My seat for today’s flight is 33A, an exit row seat with some truly amazing legroom!
The aft cabin on Delta’s MD-88 is by far the best place for any aviation enthusiast to be.
I’m really looking forward to hearing those engines start up!
Due to the position of the aft cabin door, 33A has no seat in front, which means plenty
of space for me!
And of course, there’s also that phenomenal engine view!
The literature pocket for this seat is on the wall, and I’ll go over the contents later.
For how old the aircraft is, Delta has kept the cabins in really nice shape.
One downside of sitting in 33A though, is that you’re facing a cabin crew member for
takeoff and landing.
That ended up being a bit of an issue, when they wouldn’t let me mount my GoPro to the
window like I’ve done on countless other flights without any problems.
...They weren’t exactly nice about it either.
I ended up making it work somehow by holding two cameras at once, so, here’s our departure
from Atlanta, with some incredible sound from those Pratt and Whitney JT8Ds, taking off
from runway 26L!
Now, I’ve flown on other McDonnell Douglas aircraft before, specifically the MD-90 and
the 717, but I can honestly say, there is nothing like sitting that close to a JT8D
at takeoff power!
In 33A, the tray table can be found in the armrest, and folds out.
In the seatback pocket, there’s a safety card,
… air sickness bag,
… an inflight menu, with none of the items being available due to the length of the flight,
… and Delta’s inflight magazine, which had this really nice look at their 757s.
Delta’s MD-88s seat 149 passengers in three classes.
Up front are 16 seats in First Class, as well as 25 in Comfort+.
Back here in Main Cabin though, which, let’s be honest, is the best part of the whole airplane,
Delta has 108 seats in a 2-3 configuration.
There are two lavatories in the very rear of the aircraft, right next to the tail stairs,
and they have a surprisingly good amount of space.
Delta offers free in-flight entertainment through the GoGo Entertainment app, and there’s
an excellent selection as usual.
Wifi is also available for purchase, but Delta also offers free in-flight messaging, for
certain apps only and with some restrictions.
You aren’t able to send photos or videos with this free system, but it’s nice to have!
Even with some drawbacks, Delta’s done a really nice job of keeping these aircraft
relatively up-to-date.
Wifi isn’t something you’d expect to see on a 29-year-old MD-80 in any other part of the world!
Now, unfortunately, due to the ongoing, well, everything, Delta’s accelerated the retirement
of both their MD-80 and MD-90 fleets, with both types flying their final flights at the
beginning of June.
A few weeks ago, they also announced plans to reduce their 717 fleet by over 50%.
Delta previously intended to keep those until 2030, so I really hope they don’t go back on that.
It won’t feel like Delta without some McDonnell-Douglas aircraft in their fleet.
All I can say is, we timed this trip really well.
We only spent about 90 minutes in the air, and the crew eventually came all the way back
with some drinks and snacks.
I had my usual can of Coke, and a pack of Biscoffs.
Sadly though, this Mad Dog flight eventually had to come to an end.
Please enjoy the Pratt and Whitney symphony as we descend into Toronto, landing on runway 06L.
All in all, this was a really nice flight with Delta!
Service-wise, it was just a 90 minute flight between the US and Canada, so only having
a snack and drink wasn’t unexpected.
But obviously, Delta’s Main Cabin product wasn’t the focus of this trip, the MD-88 was!
That view in 33A is just amazing, and that engine sound is indescribable.
Takeoff power is one thing, but even just listening to the engines spooling up and down
on the descent was awesome.
I do love how they just drown out every other sound in the cabin!
This trip was planned pretty much around flying the MD-88, so I’m really glad it all went
mostly to plan.
I don’t think Canada’s had an MD-80 operator since Jetsgo ceased operations in 2005, so
although it is a long way to go just to fly on one, I think it was absolutely worth it.
I will say, the rest of the crew on this flight were wonderful, and they ended things on a
really positive note.
A special flight like this wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the flight deck, and the
crew up front were more than happy to let me have a look around!
The captain even gave me some of these souvenir trading cards, which I didn’t even know existed!
I asked if he had any extras for some friends of mine who weren’t so lucky to be on the
flight, and he actually gave me his business card and told me to email him with my mailing address.
A couple weeks after the flight, quite a few of these arrived, along with this really nice note.
GoPros on windows aside, the fact that the other crew members went the extra mile for
me was a great way to end this flight, and I really did enjoy flying the MD-88.
In today’s aviation industry where the Boeing and Airbus duopoly is stronger than ever,
Delta’s McDonnell-Douglas fleet always stood out among aviation enthusiasts.
For now, they are keeping about half of the 717s around, but these MD-80s and the MD-90s
will be missed.
While it was scheduled to happen later this year anyway, the retirement of Delta’s MD-80s
is the end of another chapter in aviation history.
But, I’m still very fortunate I was able to be a part of it at least once.
Thank you very much for watching this trip report with Delta!
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and I'll see you next time.