Source: Flight International Author: Lori Ranson 06/24/2008
Subject Concerned: Aircraft Airlines
As US carriers continue to battle record fuel costs, Midwest Airlines is joining a list of carriers opting to shed less fuel efficient MD-80s.
The airline plans to ground 12 of the aircraft in the autumn. At one point the airline was operating 13 MD-80s, but a Midwest spokesman explains the carrier recently sold one aircraft.
Midwest in late summer 2008 completed cabin reconfigurations on the MD-80s to offer 12 first class seats and 132 in economy.
Both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are also shedding MD-80 aircraft. The majority of the 45 mainline aircraft American plans to retire include MD-80s, while Alaska plans to retire its nine MD-80s in August.