The DC-10 is an American three-engine wide-body jet airliner that was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 had a long career as a workhorse for airlines and air cargo operators around the world. However, with the retirement of many aging DC-10s in the early 2000s, questions emerged about whether any DC-10 aircraft remain in service today.
Brief History of the DC-10
The DC-10 was designed in the late 1960s to fulfill a joint request from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines for a new wide-body airliner to succeed the older Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s in their fleets. The DC-10 made its first flight in 1970 and entered airline service in 1971.
Three main variants of the DC-10 were produced: the DC-10-10, DC-10-30, and DC-10-40. The DC-10-10 was the original passenger model, the -30 had a stretched fuselage for more capacity, and the -40 was designed for long range operations. DC-10s featured three engines – two mounted on underwing pylons and a third in the vertical stabilizer at the rear of the fuselage.
Over its production life from 1971 to 1988, McDonnell Douglas built 446 DC-10s. The plane became a staple for many global airlines on long-haul routes and grew into a popular freighter aircraft as well. Notable operators of the DC-10 have included American, United, Northwest, Continental, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, and Korean Air.
The Decline of the DC-10 Fleet
The DC-10 began to be gradually phased out from airline passenger fleets in the late 1990s and 2000s. Newer wide-bodies like the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 entered service and offered better fuel efficiency, lower noise levels, and reduced maintenance costs. Airlines slowly began retiring older DC-10s in favor of these next generation aircraft.
The DC-10 also suffered from a poor reputation for safety in its early years. High profile accidents like the 1974 crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981 and the 1979 crash of American Airlines Flight 191 harmed public confidence in the aircraft. design improvements greatly improved its safety record in later decades.
By the mid-2000s, the DC-10 had largely disappeared from major airlines in North America and Europe. But it continued flying with second tier carriers and freight operators that appreciated its heavy lifting capabilities and large cargo holds.
DC-10s Still in Service Today
As of 2023, after many years of declining numbers, there are still believed to be around 60 DC-10s remaining in commercial service worldwide:
- FedEx Express – Operates over 30 DC-10F and DC-10-30F freighter aircraft, mostly former airliners converted for cargo use. The workhorse of FedEx’s air cargo fleet.
- Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter – This Canadian charter airline operates 6 DC-10-30 and DC-10-40 passenger aircraft.
- Air Transport International – An American cargo airline with a fleet of over 20 DC-10 freighters.
- National Airlines – Operates a handful of ex-FedEx DC-10Fs.
- A few other carriers with 1-2 DC-10s still in operation.
So while no major airlines operate DC-10 passenger services anymore, the durable trijet continues to fly in the colors of cargo operators who find it an economical freighter thanks to its massive cargo capacity.
DC-10 Retirement Plans
However, the last remaining DC-10s are quickly approaching the end of their viable service lives. The youngest DC-10s in service are already over 35 years old. Ongoing maintenance and parts availability for these outdated planes continues to become more challenging.
Most operators have announced plans to finally retire their DC-10s from service before 2030:
- FedEx intends to retire its last DC-10s by 2024 and replace them with new Boeing 767 freighters.
- ATI and National will likely follow FedEx’s lead and phase out their DC-10s soon thereafter.
- Kelowna Flightcraft uses its DC-10s for ad-hoc charters but will likely retire them before 2030.
So it’s likely that over the next 5-7 years, most of the remaining DC-10s around the world will finally be withdrawn from service and sent to long overdue retirement in storage facilities and aviation museums.
Why So Few DC-10s Remain
There are a few key reasons why the DC-10 has almost completely disappeared from the world’s skies after previously being such a ubiquitous aircraft:
- Age – The DC-10 is an old design dating back to the 1970s. No new examples have been built since the late 1980s. The surviving planes are all between 35-50 years old.
- High Costs – Older DC-10s are maintenance intensive and expensive to operate compared to more modern planes. Parts and mechanics for these rare jets are harder to come by.
- Fuel Inefficiency – With its 1970s era engines, the DC-10 burns much more fuel than new generation wide-bodies like the 787 and A350.
- Noise – The DC-10 is extremely loud by modern standards, limiting its operations into noise-restricted airports.
Cargo carriers can still make decent use of the DC-10’s large capacity and range. But most major airlines determined decades ago that the DC-10 was no longer an economical option for passenger service compared to new wide-body aircraft.
Future as Museum Display Aircraft
While the operational career of the DC-10 is quickly fading, its legacy will live on in aviation museums. Numerous retired DC-10s have already been acquired for preservation:
- The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum has a Northwest Airlines DC-10-40 on display at its Udvar-Hazy facility.
- Other DC-10 retirees can be seen at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona, the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, and the Airline History Museum in Kansas City among others.
As airlines like FedEx retire their last DC-10s over the next several years, more are likely to join museum collections. The DC-10 will remain an icon of early wide-body jet travel for decades to come.
Conclusion
While it is now a rare sight, the iconic McDonnell Douglas DC-10 trijet amazingly still soldiers on in cargo and charter service with a handful of operators over 45 years since its debut. But with the phase out of the last DC-10 freighters by FedEx and others in the late 2020s, the commercial career of this classic workhorse of the skies will at last come to an end. The DC-10 will be remembered fondly by aviation enthusiasts and passengers of a certain generation for its groundbreaking design and years of reliable service connecting the world.