There was little fanfare as Delta Airlines Flight DL2014 successfully touched down Monday night at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, where nearly 1,000 planes arrive and depart each day.
But as the direct flight from St. Paul-Minneapolis taxied down the runway, it marked the end of an era in commercial aviation. The legendary DC-9 had transported its final group of passengers to their destinations.
Delta, the last major U.S. airline to use the half-century-old aircraft in its fleet, has finally pulled the plug on the DC-9, which was introduced in 1965 and has become a favorite among pilots and frequent flyers alike.
"The DC-9 has been a workhorse in our domestic fleet while providing a reliable customer experience," said Delta's vice president Nat Pieper.
Crude by today's standards, the DC-9's scaled-down instrumentation and JT8D rear-engine design made it a popular toy among aviators, who preferred the hands-on manueverability to the automated controls of more modern aircraft.
"It's a pilot's airplane," Scott Woolfrey, who had the honor of piloting tail number N773NC for the DC-9's farewell flight, told the Associated Press.
But customers also enjoyed the DC-9's comfortable cabin layout and its ability to access smaller airports than its larger counterparts. Regular flyers often sought out flights featuring DC-9s, including some of the 310 members of the "DC-9 Fan Club" on Facebook.
"N773NC DL2014 just flew over me in Dubuque, IA and I couldn't see it but I heard it!" wrote member Sean Kane. "Last time I will ever hear a Delta DC-9's powerful (engines)."
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