CHICAGO -- United Airlines said Tuesday it will retire the last DC-8 in its passenger fleet this week, ending the DC-8 model's three- decade reign as the workhorse of the industry.
United's fleet included only DC-8-71s -- given the new designation when they were given new engines during the 1980s -- and the last of those will make its last flight on Halloween.
The final revenue flight by a United DC-71 will be Flight 40 departing Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii Thursday at 12:35 p.m., local time, for San Francisco. The flight is due to arrive at San Francisco at 8:21 p.m., local time.
Following the flight, the DC-8-71 will be replaced by a DC-10 on the route, though most of the old DC-8 line planes have been replaced with Boeing 757-200s.
The twin-engine Boeing 757 offers comparable seating -- 194 seats compared with 200 in the DC-8-71 -- but is much cheaper to operate than the four-engine DC-8-71
On a transcontinental flight, a Boeing 757-200 burns an average of 655 fewer gallons of jet fuel per flight hour than a DC-8-71.
The DC-8 has been a classic aircraft over the decades -- flown by tens of millions of United passengers since the early version was introduced in 1959. With its distinctive long, narrow fuselage and four wing- mounted engines, the DC-8 joined the Boeing 707 -- introduced around the same time -- to usher in the jet era and popularize air travel.
