FAA say''s No to DC-9 cockpit door deadline extension

[N464AT]

Airtran had asked for an exemption on the April 9th deadline to equip all aircraft with reinforced cockpit doors for it''s remaining 12 DC-9-30''s. AirTran wanted to exempt the aircraft to Oct. 25 when they were due to be retired as they wouldn''t be able to recover the substantial retrofit costs.
Will this mean an earlier than expected retirement for the DC-9 fleet?

 

[JetTroop]

I read the same thing, that they were denied and they weren't the only airlines either. The estimated costs were $300,000 to re-enforce the doors. I don't think they are going to get new aircraft fast enough to not pay for it now, so my best guess and only a guess is that they'll just pay to have them retrofited and basically just write $300,000 off later.