McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 "Trans World Airlines"

The MD-80 was one of several extreme stretches of the venerable DC-9. Of course, by the time the MD-80 was being conceived in the mid 1970s, Douglas had been bought out by McDonnell and so the MD nameplate instead of DC. The MD-80 was really more of a second generation jet in comparison to the earlier DC-9s, regardless of the external similarities. Improvements in engines, avionics and instrumentation made this a much improved aircraft over the earlier versions.

The launch customer for the MD-80 series, in this case an MD-83, was Trans World Airways (TWA). By coincidence, St. Louis is the home of both McDonnell-Douglas and TWA, so that made things much more memorable. The MD-80 was a huge commercial success both here in the US and in overseas markets, working the short to medium range routes. TWA also put in the last order for MD-80s in 1998, rather fitting, don't you think? By the time production of the MD-80 had stopped in favor of the Boeing 717 (yet another DC-9 derivative and yet another takeover, so yet another name change), over 1,150 aircraft had rolled off the assembly lines.

Eén uitvoering mogelijk;