NWA DC9's

[HowlinMadMurdoc]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050220/old_planes_2.html

When the last A380 is flown to the desert, the crew will fly home on a NWA DC9!

HMM

 

[2000flyer]

At least when they refurbished them the could have gotten rid of the ugly turquois flightdeck!

Just curious, are the -9's still crewed with mainly Republic (old) crews?

2000Flyer

 

[General Lee]

Are there still fences for the ex-Republic guys? Can they not upgrade to the 744 or A330?


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

My father gave me a tour of the NWA maintenance hangers two summers ago. In a DC-9, I looked at the registration date and it said 1967.... ON the other hand, keeping these suckers running has saved them alot of cash. Didn't look all that bad to me. I wonder what the average age on the DC-9 is.

Mr. I.

 

[Nick5600]

Nwa Paint Jobs

I think NWA confuses them selves about being North East! IF you ever look at the new paint jobs on the right side of the aircraft the arrow painted on the compass rose points north east! I really just wonder how many planes they painted before the realized the screw up. Further I hope all NWA pilots know the difference between north east and north west! They might have trouble navigating otherwise!

 

[NuGuy]

At least when they refurbished them the could have gotten rid of the ugly turquois flightdeck!

Just curious, are the -9's still crewed with mainly Republic (old) crews?

2000Flyer

Any old Republic guys (called "green book") on the -9 are there by choice. Some do that because of QOL. Everyone else on the -9 (CAs and FOs) is post merger (aka "blue book").

In answer to the General's question, there are fences to the widebodies. The number of NWA ("red book") vs REP is via a ratio, but once there, the individual is accorded DOH seniority, so while a red guy can get on the equipment sooner, a senior green guy who is awarded a position exercises his full seniority.

This arragement drops dead next year, then its straight DOH. Until then, green guys have to be quite senior (relative to the red guys) to hold the widebodies, but they do have the opportunity.

Nu

 

[ShadowFlight]

Frequently see DC9-30's in MKE with "NC" registration numbers. Talk about the same airplanes flying into the same airport for 30 years! Names may change but the planes keep on flying.

Good ol' North Central...them were the good old days...

Peace

SF

 

[NuGuy]

My father gave me a tour of the NWA maintenance hangers two summers ago. In a DC-9, I looked at the registration date and it said 1967.... ON the other hand, keeping these suckers running has saved them alot of cash. Didn't look all that bad to me. I wonder what the average age on the DC-9 is.

Mr. I.

The average DOB on the DC-9-10s was around 1963. They have since been retired. Most of the rest are between 1967 and 1974. Most of the -50s were built in 1978-79.

They are the absolute tops. Best reliability and dispatch record of any aircraft at the majors. I haven't seen a MX CX in many, many months and most MELs, if any, are very minor. I think I've seen only one deferred APU in 3 years.

There really is nothing much to break. No resetting CBs to get the brains back into sync or to reset the IRU. No complicated GPS or RNAV, as they all come equipped with "vector capable" comm radios.

Most of the engines are leased from UAL for pennies on the dollar.

Still, they aren't quite the same as the DC-9s of old. In the overhaul, the interiors were all gutted and have large overhead bins and a 3rd lav up front. Lots of fixes to perennial DC-9 problems, such as gear indicators and fuel gauges, have been upgraded to solid state (proximity switches replaced microswitches, and the fuel gauges are now all digital). The presurization system is all digital now, and is set and forget. Digital altimeters allow for RSVM and new radar displays have the EGPWS. They even have dual nav/com heads (aka primary and standby freqs) and are wired for headsets.

The AC still is weak in the summer...they went old tech for a solution to that one...sun screens. They work unbelievably well.

Nu

 

[Donsa320]

Nuguy

Wow, you are stirring up memories, thanks for the update.


General Lee, we (Rep) guys started getting widebody awards way back about 1990. I got a 744 award then.

-DC

 

[Paul R. Smith]

Any old Republic guys (called "green book") on the -9 are there by choice. Some do that because of QOL. Everyone else on the -9 (CAs and FOs) is post merger (aka "blue book").

In answer to the General's question, there are fences to the widebodies. The number of NWA ("red book") vs REP is via a ratio, but once there, the individual is accorded DOH seniority, so while a red guy can get on the equipment sooner, a senior green guy who is awarded a position exercises his full seniority.

This arragement drops dead next year, then its straight DOH. Until then, green guys have to be quite senior (relative to the red guys) to hold the widebodies, but they do have the opportunity.

Nu

thanks for explaining that.