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McDonnell DouglasAirlinerRetired

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 family

The MD-90 story, from first flight to lasting reputation

The re-engined final stretch of the MD narrowbody line, quieter and newer but never as numerous as the MD-80.

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 family is a retired airliner by McDonnell Douglas, first flown in 1993 and introduced in 1995. This canonical Airchive page keeps the family history, specs, variants, operators, and related archive discussion at a single permanent URL.

First flight

1993

Service entry

1995

Seating band

153 to 172

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 family is a retired airliner by McDonnell Douglas, first flown in 1993 and introduced in 1995, with typical seating for 153 to 172 and range up to 2,455 nautical miles.

The family page acts as the primary unit of record so airline deployment, cabin experience, production history, and representative variants remain legible instead of fragmenting into model-number sprawl.

Range band

2,455 nm

Notable operators

Delta · JAL · Saudi Arabian · China Northern

Source stack

  • Manufacturer heritage material
  • type certificate and planning data
  • museum and preservation references

Variants

Representative variants

Manufacturer pageForum hubCompare families

MD90

MD-90-30

MD-90-30 is the representative branch of the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 family, capturing the principal production branch and the clearest expression of the family’s higher-thrust update.

Range 2,455 nm · Entry 1995

Specifications

Current public facts

Manufacturer
McDonnell Douglas
Program history
Class
Airliner
Airchive taxonomy
First flight
1993-02-22
Program history
Service entry
1995-02-01
Operator records
Current status
Retired
Fleet reality
Typical seating
153 to 172
Operator and cabin references
Range band
Up to 2,455 nm
Program literature
Cruise speed
447 kt
Planning data

Archive moments

Human context

The MD-90 feels like an alternate-history airplane in memory: familiar Douglas proportions updated just enough to suggest a different future that never fully arrived.
Passenger memory matters here because airport routine, cabin atmosphere, and route geography are part of the aircraft story rather than side notes.

Timeline

Program milestones

  1. 1993

    First flight

    The MD-90 begins flight testing and establishes the public shape of the family.

  2. 1995

    Service entry

    The family enters passenger or executive service and begins building its operating footprint.

  3. Today

    Current role

    The family remains active in service and still shapes fleet, mission, or archive discussions.

Related news

Editorial context

All news
No editorial dispatches are attached to this family yet. The aircraft record is live, and newsroom or archive coverage can be layered onto it later without changing the URL.

Forum threads

Community memory

Family hub