First DL MD88 in Shuttle colors in service

[LGA777]

Ship 9008 N908DE appears to have entered service on the DL Shuttle yesterday Nov 20 with Shuttle titles,

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5633695

Does anyone know how many of the MD88's have the new Y134 Shuttle configuration ?

Thanks LGA777

 

[DalMD88]

Right now 9008 is the only one. No other aircraft are set up for mod in the next 14 days. There are some MD88s getting the regular CCP mod but no other shuttle. I bet they will use 9008 as a protype for about a month before they set up the rest of the fleet.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I believe DL had to put the MD80s into service faster than they had planned since they were able to quickly reject the leases on the 737-300s.

 

[SegmentKing]

I believe DL had to put the MD80s into service faster than they had planned since they were able to quickly reject the leases on the 737-300s.

Is it me or has Delta operated almost every narrowbody on the Shuttle? 727-200s, then 737-800s, then 737-300s, now MD-88s.... with the occasional 757 sub I've heard about.

 

[732guy]

Is it me or has Delta operated almost every narrowbody on the Shuttle? 727-200s, then 737-800s, then 737-300s, now MD-88s.... with the occasional 757 sub I've heard about.

DL sure knows better than another airline how to spend ENDLESS amounts of money on products, paint schemes, marketing, etc. Pick something and stick with it! Geez!

 

[B.O.B.]

Is it me or has Delta operated almost every narrowbody on the Shuttle? 727-200s, then 737-800s, then 737-300s, now MD-88s.... with the occasional 757 sub I've heard about.

And don't forget the 737-200. The only reason they stopped flying this a/c was the pax complained about it.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

Boy, the Delta Shuttle 737NG that I flew in was very comfortable, with a surprisingly generous pitch.

 

[WorldTraveler]

DL sure knows better than another airline how to spend ENDLESS amounts of money on products, paint schemes, marketing, etc. Pick something and stick with it! Geez!

Let's see now... the 757 has never been a dedicated Shuttle aircraft. The 727 was retired as are the 737-300 subfleet that operates the Shuttle along w/ the 737-200s. The 738s were pulled after 9/11 when it became apparent that the volume on the Shuttles dropped dramatically; and using an airplane as versatile as the 738 on a 250 mile flight is darn near criminal. Perhaps you fail to realize that DL has operated the Shuttle for 14 + years now. If DL operated the same aircraft on any route for 14+ years, they would undoubtedly be mismanaging their network. Perhaps you would like to cite a route - any route - that has been operated by the same aircraft type on all flights by any carrier for 14+ years.

And I would also remind you that US doesn't even have a dedicated Shuttle fleet any longer - and thus passengers get nothing different seatwise on the US Shuttle than they would get on any other US flight. The DL Shuttle does offer greater pitch and unique in-flight service and thus obviously still justifies a dedicated fleet.

 

[DLFlyer31]

The 738s were pulled after 9/11 when it became apparent that the volume on the Shuttles dropped dramatically; and using an airplane as versatile as the 738 on a 250 mile flight is darn near criminal.

But why did DL put the 733's in place of the 738's when DL knew the 733's would be retiring shortly? DL spent money reconfiguring a plane which they knew they were going to be dumping. It was a waste of money that DL didn't have.

DL has wasted so much money over the past few years painting planes and changing seat configurations (Shuttle, Song, DLExpress), it's no wonder the company is in BK.

 

[WorldTraveler]

maybe it's because there were no plans to get rid of the 733s. Remember, they are leaving the fleet now because DL is able to reject the leases in bankruptcy. Shoots the heck out of the theory that DL has planned a bankruptcy all along (which some here have asserted).

I will grant you that the whole airline within an airline plan has been very mismanaged at Delta. Even though they face a very different competitive environment than DL, it is on the subject of airlines within airlines that I give credit to AA for assertively saying that creating an airline within an airline that fixes only part of the parent airline's problems makes no sense.

The only valid reason DL had for creating Song was in order to create a higher value product to compete with certain carriers - but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to do when the discount carrier ends up with a better product in lower yielding markets than traditional more business oriented markets. I can wish Grinstein would have gone with his gut instinct earlier and never let Song get off the ground - and I bet he does too.

 

[DalMD88]

The 737-300G that have been on the shuttle routes were not intended to be retired as WT has stated. They were put on those routes partly to give them dedicated routes. They were received from Germania Airlines in the late 90's when we were looking for anything we could get our hands on due to the retirement of the 727. They have a different cockpit which requires differences training for crew and a dedicated spares stash. The lease rates are also very high which made them even better canidates for early lease termination.

The reconfiguration of the MD-88s really isn't a big job. The only real change from the fleet wide cabin upgrade is the first class seats are replaced with coach and the class divider isn't reinstalled. All the seats come out for both mods to get refurbed and the pitch is just different on the shuttle mod.

 

[WorldTraveler]

MD88,
I didn't say they were put there because DL planned to retire them. I said that DL took the opportunity in bankruptcy to reject the leases on those planes and thus they left the fleet. I specifically said they wouldn't have been put on the Shuttle as one poster said if DL had intended to retire them.