American says goodbye to MD-80 jet after 36 years of love, hate

Julio Gomez has flown the MD-80 for his entire 20-year career at American Airlines. But he can’t bring himself to make that final trip into the New Mexico desert. “I just cannot take that airplane to its grave,” Gomez, 52, said of the iconic jets’ retirement flights on Wednesday. “It’s just too heartbreaking.” Instead, the veteran pilot made his closing flight late Tuesday. The retirements mark the end of an era at American for the workhorse known as the Super 80, whose old-school design and noisy rear engines spawned love-hate relationships over the four decades it flew. The plane once provided the backbone of American, powering the carrier’s expansion through the end of last century on bread-and-butter routes such as Chicago to New York or Dallas to St. Louis. The jet “basically was American Airlines,” Gomez said. At its 2002 peak, 362 of the MD-80 aircraft made up 44% of the carrier’s fleet. “If American kept the Super 80 until I’m 65, I’d be flying it,” Gomez said. The single-aisle jet could be challenging to fly, but it sharpened pilots’ skills and earned the loyalty of aviators like Gomez, who relished having more control over every aspect of the plane. Airlines now have moved on to models with better fuel efficiency, additional seats and the latest technology, including a more computerized cockpit. The routes dominated by the MD-80s have been taken over by newer versions of jet families. So on Wednesday, after 36 years, American operated the last commercial trip of the MD-80, flying from Dallas to Chicago. <br/>