Delta Airlines retiring some of its workhorses. The final flight for one from SRQ is Tuesday
Delta Airline’s workhouse McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft will receive a water arch salute when it makes its final departure from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The salute by the airport fire department will be in honor of the many years of service the MD-88 aircraft provided connecting SRQ passengers to destinations around the world.
The first MD-88, nicknamed “Mad Dog,” with a capacity of 150 passengers, was delivered to Delta Airlines in 1987. An updated version, the MD-90, with a capacity of 153-172 passengers, was first delivered to Delta in 1995. Delta is retiring both models.
The accelerated retirement of the MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delta has cut its overall active fleet by about half, parking more than 600 mainline and regional aircraft in the last two months in response to reduced demand, according to Delta’s website.
Over the years, these aircraft have been a familiar sight at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. Historical data shows that there have been over 50,000 departures of the MD-80 versions of aircraft at SRQ since 1990.
The retirement of the aircraft will allow Delta to fly existing routes on a mix of quieter, more fuel-efficient Airbus A320 and B737 aircraft, minimizing environmental impacts at airports and reducing overflight noise to residents.
“They have used those newer models on some flights here prior to the COVID situation. Their reduced schedule right now is using B-717s but I would expect a return to the 737 and Airbus aircraft as the system recovers,” Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, said in a email.
The COVID-19 pandemic virtually grounded air travel in the United States, including at SRQ which had been on of the nation’s fastest growing airports.
Last week, low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines announced four new nonstop routes for Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, starting this summer.
The new routes between SRQ and Cleveland, Philadelphia, Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, and Chicago are part of a gradual improvement in air traffic, accompanied by stepped up sanitation and safety measures.
