It’s one of the largest single-day aircraft retirements ever, according to the airline, adding that its using the end of the busy summer travel season to take the MD-80s out of commission. The planes will live out their days at the Roswell International Air Center in Chaves County, New Mexico.

 

American’s MD-80s are an average of 23 years old, compared with about 10 years for the rest of the airline’s fleet. The remaining 61 MD-80s will fly through the summer of 2018 and possibly longer, a spokesman said.

“Certainly there will be a day when these are all gone but today is not that day,” he said.

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