Frontier Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-80 Super 80

Additional Information:

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.

The original DC-9 series was followed in 1980 by the introduction of the second generation of the DC-9 family, the MD-80 series. This was originally called the DC-9-80 (short Series 80 and later stylized Super 80). It was a lengthened DC-9-50 with a higher maximum takeoff weight, a larger wing, new main landing gear, and higher fuel capacity.

Frontier Airlines was created on June 1, 1950 as a merger of three carriers; Monarch Air Lines of Denver, Arizona Airways of Phoenix, and Challenger Airlines of Salt Lake City. Frontier was based in Denver at the former offices of Monarch Air Lines and initial routes through New Mexico included an Albuquerque to Salt Lake City route with stops at Gallup and Farmington, NM, Durango, Cortez and Grand Junction, CO, and Price and Provo, UT. Frontier began using the Boeing 737’s in 1969 and that aircraft became the predominant jet for the carrier.

Frontier Airlines supplemented their 737 fleet with this Douglas DC-9 Super 80, N9801F, which is a larger capacity stretched version of the DC-9 in 1982.

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