So last week, I was requested by my boss to take a trip to Michigan to do some field work for my job.  I was rather excited since it had been a while since I've flown and any chance to fly and I'll jump on it.  Unfortunately he boss wanted to go on the cheap and got me tickets from KIAD to KGRR via KATL.  I'm not a fan of layovers but it was a small sacrifice to get out of town for a couple of days and get paid for it.

 

Anywho, I flew out of KIAD via Delta and my first leg was on a B717-200, which wasn't a bad flight considering that the flight was full up due to a previous flight being grounded due to an aircraft issue (coincidentally it was a MD-88 that got grounded).  It was beautiful weather from KIAD to KATL, at FL330 and I rather enjoyed seeing my house from the air.  After landing at KATL, ahead of schedule, I had about an hour and a half before my flight out of KATL.  Once I made my way across the sea of people (first timer at KATL, btw), I caught my flight to KGRR, which again was a full flight but this time it was on the Mad Dog.  Good God, she's an old plane!  As I sat in my seat I looked around me and saw just how worn out it was.  The panels above were loose, especially around the connection between the upper and sides...you could clearly see up into the fuselage where the oxygen was!

 

Anywho, long story short, I got to KGRR in one piece, although on approach, there was some serious wind and the plane buffeted pretty hard.  I kinda felt like I was flying in the Millennium Falcon!

 

My flight back home though was rewarded with TWO flights on Mad Dogs, both 88s and both being equally worn out.  I know airlines like to run on the cheap for domestic commuter flights, but seriously, Delta needs to retire these planes.  I mean sure, they still run, but they can be a little scary!

 

Off topic, the 717-200 I flew in had an all glass cockpit.  Is that an upgrade or is that standard?

 

Hopefully, it'll be a while before I have to fly in a sardine carrier again. :(

Off topic, the 717-200 I flew in had an all glass cockpit.  Is that an upgrade or is that standard?

 

 

 

The Glass is standard, the 717-200 is basically a MD-95 with a glass cockpit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_717

Thanks for sharing that experience. Yes, I will agree with you Atlanta is certainly a sea of people going hither and dither.

 

Hope it will not be long before you are flying again.

I've been in planes way worse with technical problems than only visually worn cabins such as the MD-88. If the plane is functioning properly and passed all maintenance checks there is absolutely nothing to fear about as age has nothing to do with an aircrafts performance as the most important key is maintenance.

 

Even if your seat suddenly falls back (did it once for me), you've got nothing to worry about as the cabin condition is the least of importance unless passenger satisfaction is important.

The interior could certainly be retrofitted to look brand new but I guess they are holding off knowing the aircraft will be retired once their new aircraft arrive.  We are in a sad phase of aviation when quite frankly its getting boring.   We are moving to a world of all glass cockpit, 2 engine aircraft.  All the variety and cool vintage aircraft will be retired shortly.  I was watching a Just Planes video from 1990 on YouTube and was really amazed at the variety of aircraft.  L1011's, DC8's and 9s, DC10's, 747's of 200 and 400 variety.  Awesome for the aviation fan. Now its just 737, A320, 777....yawn.  Thankfully we can fly all this good stuff in Flight Sim for years to come.

Delta is retrofitting the MD-88's and MD-90's with new avionics.  I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon.

 

http://presscenter.innovative-ss.com/press-release/innovative-solutions-support-inc-receives-delta-air-lines-inc-award-nextgen-flat-panel

At least the OP was in a US-maintained aircraft unlike the Syrian Air A320 I travelled on to Damascus. State and condition of the upholstery, carpets, seat pockets, armrests, etc made me query my sanity in travelling on such a poorly-presented aircraft. Little wonder there were hardly more than a few dozen passengers on that flight from Manchester. Not seen them there for a while now.

It's interesting that the example images there are from a simulator, and not actual photos...

I thought the topic title was about oustingTom from Avsim

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.809579622405992.1073741828.105566459473982&type=1

virtual replacement for the md88=all glass vc 717 ^_^

The MD-88 is still a great plane, however Delta will need to invest some serious time and money into overhauling the MD-88 to more modern standards. Many of those 88's have more flight hours on them than some pilots have been living on this planet; however this is not inherently a bad thing, it just means that they most likely will require a total tear-down and rebuild than just a standard upgrade here or there. As for the B717-200, it is effectively an MD-95, sadly the 717-200 never really got popular like the 737's or even the 757/767's even though they were newer and came standard with glass cockpits, personally I think Boeing might want to look into expanding the 717 line and give it some of the new upgrades, this should be a big hit with Southwest as they are now operating AirTran's fleet of 717's (ironically many of them are ex-delta's).

 

I will leave you with this.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R0CViDUBFs

I'm hoping there is a job waiting for me MD88-NYC. 

So last week, I was requested by my boss to take a trip to Michigan to do some field work for my job.  I was rather excited since it had been a while since I've flown and any chance to fly and I'll jump on it.  Unfortunately he boss wanted to go on the cheap and got me tickets from KIAD to KGRR via KATL.  I'm not a fan of layovers but it was a small sacrifice to get out of town for a couple of days and get paid for it.

 

Anywho, I flew out of KIAD via Delta and my first leg was on a B717-200, which wasn't a bad flight considering that the flight was full up due to a previous flight being grounded due to an aircraft issue (coincidentally it was a MD-88 that got grounded).  It was beautiful weather from KIAD to KATL, at FL330 and I rather enjoyed seeing my house from the air.  After landing at KATL, ahead of schedule, I had about an hour and a half before my flight out of KATL.  Once I made my way across the sea of people (first timer at KATL, btw), I caught my flight to KGRR, which again was a full flight but this time it was on the Mad Dog.  Good God, she's an old plane!  As I sat in my seat I looked around me and saw just how worn out it was.  The panels above were loose, especially around the connection between the upper and sides...you could clearly see up into the fuselage where the oxygen was!

 

My flight back home though was rewarded with TWO flights on Mad Dogs, both 88s and both being equally worn out.  I know airlines like to run on the cheap for domestic commuter flights, but seriously, Delta needs to retire these planes.  I mean sure, they still run, but they can be a little scary!

 

Hopefully, it'll be a while before I have to fly in a sardine carrier again. :(

 

 

This is interesting as NWA's old DC9's were in far better condition for their age that what your describing here.  I used to fly them allot before the merge and the interior was well kept up.  Comparing age of aircraft to today seeing as the MD80 came out in the 80's and the DC9 came out in the 60's there's no excuse here...  Delta's policies leave allot to be desired.  I remember talk about Delta shutting down formal pilot training in Level-D simulators after the merge for home options when I used to go to the NWA simulators in Eagan MN.  They indeed shut down the Minneapolis facilities in more areas than one.  I jokingly asked if Flight Simulator was the home option but no one knew, it sounded more like book study.  On another note, flying into KATL was an adventure in how not to operated an airline as it was utter kiaos compared to KMSP when NWA was around.  Gates were constantly asking people to be good Samaritans by giving up their seats for a later flight because of over capacity.  Why not just have the proper aircraft for the volume needed for these routes.  You don't pay for a ticket and give it up because the airline can't manage it's customer volume.  Low and behold they took over NWA, an inferior operating airline.  I've never been on a plane in the condition you've described above not matter what the age.  You should never be able to see the hull of the aircraft once inside.  What's scary is Delta is not ranked as the worst airline in the US, 'Spirit' is.  

The MD-88 is still a great plane, however Delta will need to invest some serious time and money into overhauling the MD-88 to more modern standards. Many of those 88's have more flight hours on them than some pilots have been living on this planet; however this is not inherently a bad thing, it just means that they most likely will require a total tear-down and rebuild than just a standard upgrade here or there. As for the B717-200, it is effectively an MD-95, sadly the 717-200 never really got popular like the 737's or even the 757/767's even though they were newer and came standard with glass cockpits, personally I think Boeing might want to look into expanding the 717 line and give it some of the new upgrades, this should be a big hit with Southwest as they are now operating AirTran's fleet of 717's (ironically many of them are ex-delta's).

 

I will leave you with this.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R0CViDUBFs

 

I think you have that backwards. Delta is getting all of AirTran's 717's because Southwest doesn't want them. Southwest only wants to operate 737's to keep their operating costs down.  Boeing inherited the MD-95 program when they bought McDonnell Douglas. Since the design was pretty much finished they decided to continue and produce the airplane and designated it the 717 since they skipped over it in the past. They dropped the program because it was too similar to the 737-600 and didn't want to undermine their own product.

State of the cabin is no way to judge the airworthiness of a bird. Hell they fly A-10Cs into combat with the cabin held together by what looks like Bondo and some bungie cords. I don't think I'd bet on an aircraft being any more likely to bring me home than that one.

 

I'd post links to some good examples but apparently most of the good ones come from a verboten url.