Trip Report: American Airlines (MD-83) Main Cabin MKE-DFW

The Details

Flight: AA2762
Aircraft: MD-83
Class: Main Cabin
Seat: 29F
Route: Milwaukee Mitchell International (MKE)-Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)
Distance: 854 miles
Duration: 2hrs 6min
Departure: 10:04AM
Arrival: 12:09PM

The Preflight

I decided that it was finally time for me to take a flight on the “Mad Dog” MD80s and booked this trip to originate in Milwaukee instead of Chicago O’Hare. Luckily, American Airlines was running a daily MKE-DFW flight with their MD83.

There is no Admirals Club or other lounge that I could have accessed at MKE Airport (only lounge is a Delta SkyClub) so I arrived just an hour before departure. Check-in was quick and thanks to PreCheck I was airside within 10 minutes of being dropped off.

Our MD-83 today, registration N9621A, had a very illustrious career in the aviation world. She was initially delivered to Trans World Airlines brand new in June 1998. After the TWA and AA merger, she was transferred to American in December 2001 and has been flying for AA since.

Boarding began promptly at 9:31AM via Door 1L.

The Flight

American Airlines offers 16 first, 35 Main Cabin Extra, and 89 Main Cabin seats onboard their MD-83s. They still have the vintage American Airlines seats from the early 2000s instead of the newer slimline seats. While there was no seatback entertainment screen, this aircraft was equipped with WiFi and the AA inflight entertainment could be streamed on a personal device.

The economy cabin was set in a 2-3 configuration with the left side not having a middle seat.

I actually declined to select a Main Cabin Extra seat (due to my AAdvantage status) and instead chose to sit in row 29F just so I could get a view of the JT8D engines. We pushed back at 10:04AM and had a very quick taxi to runway 1L.

Enjoy the roar of the JT8D engines!

It was a beautiful day in Milwaukee and there were excellent views of downtown.

Service began once we reached cruising altitude. The beverage cart came down the aisle and each passenger was also given a Biscoff cookie. I had a cup of hot black coffee.

I spent the entire flight completely infatuated with the aircraft and gazing out the window.

As we neared Dallas-Ft. Worth we made a close pass above the airport.

Here’s the landing!

As I disembarked, I snapped a picture of the plaque in the boarding door.

Thanks for the ride!

With about two hours until my connecting flight to San Diego, I decided to take the Skylink train a few times around the airport to plane spot. I managed to capture quiet of few of the remaining AA MD-83s.