Carrier Says It Is One Of The Largest One-Day Retirements Ever Recorded

As airliners get more efficient, older airplanes get put out to pasture. Except the pasture is usually an arid desert where they can mostly survive the ravages of the weather ... just in case.

Such was the fate of 20 American Airlines MD-80 airliners on Tuesday, according to a report appearing on qz.com. The airplanes make their final flight to the boneyard at the Roswell International Air Center in Chaves County, NM. It was one of the largest such retirements ever, according to the airline.

The airplanes flew through the busy summer travel season. American still has 61 MD-80s in its fleet that a spokesman said would continue to operate until at least the summer of 2018. The airplanes average about 23 years old, compared to about 10 years for the other airliners in its fleet.

In 2011, American placed orders for as many as 460 single-aisle airliners split between Boeing's 737 and Airbus' A320, calling it at the time the largest aircraft order in history.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.aa.com