Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas DC-9

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The Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell Aircraft to become McDonnell Douglas. In 1959, Douglas was interested in producing an aircraft suited to smaller routes. Approval for the DC-9, a smaller all-new jetliner, came on April 8, 1963. The DC-9-10 first flew on February 25, 1965, and gained its type certificate on November 23, 1965.

The DC-9 is powered by two rear-mounted Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan engines under a T-tail. It has a two-person flight deck and built-in airstairs to function better at smaller airports. The Series 10 aircraft typically have up to 90 coach seats.

The DC-9 family is one of the longest-lasting aircraft in production and operation. Beginning in 1965, the DC-9 was first produced on the final assembly line in Long Beach, California and then later was on a common line with the second generation of the DC-9 family, the MD-80. Following the delivery of 976 DC-9s and 108 MD-80s, McDonnell Douglas stopped production of the DC-9 in December 1982. The last member of the DC-9 family, the Boeing 717, was manufactured until 2006 and a total 2441 aircraft were produced.

Delta Air Lines is one of the top four largest airlines in the United States with an extensive international route network as well. Delta commenced operations in 1929 at Monroe, Louisiana and grew with a southern route structure building hubs at Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) as well as using Chicago-O’Hare and Miami as major focal points. Delta is now based in Atlanta and began service to Albuquerque on February 15, 1983 with three daily flights to DFW using Boeing 727-200 aircraft.

Delta Air Lines began service to the Albuquerque Sunport with the DC-9 in late 1983.

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