Hello and welcome to the last report in this series.
This is the sixth, and final, leg in an old series from the fall of 2016 that I'd never gotten around to finishing. As a result, these reports have inadvertently become part of a retro-report series–though two years wasn't that long ago, the last two reports in this series, which includes this one, will definitely feel retro.
For some background on this trip, I had found some decent oneworld Business class fares to Peru over the Thanksgiving Holiday, which presented a perfect opportunity to go to Machu Picchu and check off one of those long-time bucket-list trips. The flights between Washington, DC and Lima were bought as one ticket and these domestic flights on LATAM were bought on a separate ticket.
This report will cover the 2.5 hour flight from DFW to IAD on a very retro MD-80. Once the workhorse of the AA fleet, the MD-80 is now being phased out and replaced with new B737 MAX and A321s.
As we'd made up some of the delay, there was less of a rush to get to the next flight so I went outside for some fresh air after the long-haul.
We then took the train to Terminal A, from which our flight to DC would be departing.
We even had time to head to the Admirals Club for a bit before boarding. It was pleasantly quiet that morning.
At the time, the Terminal A Admirals Club had recently been renovated.
We only had enough time to grab a coffee and a quick snack and headed to the gate for boarding.
Boarding
Luckily the gate was just downstairs from the Admirals Club. We arrived just a boarding began.
It had been ages since I'd taken an MD-80 and this would probably be one of my last opportunities since AA has been retiring so many lately.
Another MD-80 parked at the next gate.
The cabin is definitely old-school, but the seats are actually very comfortable and well padded.
There's a good a good amount of legroom.
With a 40" seat pitch, the legroom is above the average of 38" for domestic First
View out the window of the MD-80 at the next gate
So the good news is that there is power at every seat, the bad news is it's not exactly modern…
We're far from USB ports here…vintage!
Speaking of vintage…
For pre-departure drinks, there was a choice of water and orange juice.
Yep, we're definitely on a Super 80
The flight
Being that it was one of the busiest travel days of the year, with many passengers returning home from Thanksgiving break, the flight was 100% full. Nevertheless, boarding was efficient and we pushed back a few minutes early. I often find boarding to be faster on aircraft with 2-3 configurations like the MD-80, MD-90, and 717 due to the one less seat per row.
Taxi to the departure runway was pretty quick and the scenery was predictable, mostly AA…
We just had one MD-80 in front of us for departure
Ok, we're next
And we're off for the 2.5 hour flight to DC
Flying over downtown Dallas on a cloudy day
Shortly after takeoff the cabin crew began the pre-meal drink service.
I had a mimosa (orange juice and sparkling wine)–it was Sunday Brunch time, after all. Drinks were served with warm nuts.
It was then time to take out the tray tables and….a nasty surprise…
I looked at the FA as she was about to serve the tray and said, "wow, that's really dirty" She just shrugged her shoulders and laid the meal tray down.
Clearly, she couldn't care less…
Anyway, here's what was on the menu that day.
I'd selected the Enchiladas ahead of time on AA.com
The salad was the most boring salad I'd ever seen
It wasn't pretty, but it was decent. Probably not the healthiest option, though.
Some nice fall scenery during lunch
For dessert, warm chocolate chip cookies were served.
With no IFE, not even overhead TVs, there wasn't much to do. Luckily, the skies had cleared and there was some nice scenery over the Appalachians.
Nice fall colours
Northern Virginia Suburbia on descent into Dulles
Dulles airport in view as we line up for landing
We landed on time this nice fall day.
The taxi time to Terminal B was short
Taxiing past the beautiful Saarinen main terminal.
We arrived at the gate a few minutes early
Glad I got caught up on posting this old series of flights. Thanks for reading!
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Verdict
American Airlines
6.3/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering7.0
American Airlines Admirals Club - A
6.3/10
Comfort7.5
Meal/catering4.5
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Services5.5
Dallas/Fort Worth - DFW
8.0/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5
Washington - IAD
7.9/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.0
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.5
Conclusion
These old seats are well padded, spacious, and generally comfortable, but I'm taking away a few points from the cabin rating for the poor cabin cleanliness. Same thing for cabin crew for the apathetic attitude regarding the dirty tray table.
Other than that, it was a pleasant short flight.
12 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Unfortunate with the sorry state of the plane, the crew's attitude towards it and the sub-par meal. But brushing all those aside any flight on a Mad Dog plane is a bonus, especially two years since this review! My only AA MD-82 flight resulted in the plane being sent to Victorville just 4 days after. Quick retirement!
Yeah, it was definitely cool to ride a Mad Dog for the geeky aspects, but AA suck at maintaining aircraft interiors. DL have older planes too and manage to keep the cabin interiors looking good. I didn't catch my plane's tail number at the time, but with all the retirements, I bet it's in the desert. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Kevin, I am not sure this qualify as "salad", rather two left over vegetables that randomly foudn their way to your plate!! But what a chance to have flown the Mad Dog! Another plane for the history books that we won't see anymore! I only flew it once with Insel Air and I felt like I was brought back to the sexy 80s lol.
Haha, yeah it's more like "tiny chunk of lettuce 2 sad grape tomatoes"
I am glad I got to fly the Mad Dog one more time before it was retired, but man it was ready to go. AA were making no effort to keep up the interiors, which were just worn and old. And of course MD-80s weren't the most fuel-efficient aircraft, so it was definitely time for the to go. Though I will miss that beautiful silhouette.
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6 Comments
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm just doing some research on the MD-80 for my next report.
Cheers! :D
I am not sure this qualify as "salad", rather two left over vegetables that randomly foudn their way to your plate!!
But what a chance to have flown the Mad Dog! Another plane for the history books that we won't see anymore! I only flew it once with Insel Air and I felt like I was brought back to the sexy 80s lol.
Haha, yeah it's more like "tiny chunk of lettuce 2 sad grape tomatoes"
I am glad I got to fly the Mad Dog one more time before it was retired, but man it was ready to go. AA were making no effort to keep up the interiors, which were just worn and old. And of course MD-80s weren't the most fuel-efficient aircraft, so it was definitely time for the to go. Though I will miss that beautiful silhouette.
Thanks for stopping by!
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