boeing247 wrote on Apr 2^nd, 2011 at 1:20am:

Are there any big commercial airlines still using them, or are they mostly private owners and such?

I think the private ownership is a rare thing there, but in passenger service, I can only imagine some South American companies for example.
Major US or European carriers don't use it because of the cost effect that Lou mentioned.
The cargo roles, as mentioned by the other guys, is a bigger one at Fedex and e. g. Heavylift. You will often find the cargo carriers to "suck up" all the older passenger jets, even the not so successful ones like the MD-11 or the DC-10 (which was ok in success, not overwhelming though).
The carriers often retrofit new, less noisy, engine stuff and some FMC-like equipment.
I think that the DC-10 for example "lost" its Flight Engineer when being modified to MD-11 standards (called MD-10 then), so they really invest some money there.

Seems like their cargo market isn't that sensible to "ticket prices" like the passenger thing where those three engine aircraft really limit your margin while you can't take advantage of the triple engine setup.
The MD-11 and the 727 (with the newer engines) should be nice on climbing out of shorter fields (compared to their size) with some heavy loads. Not a big pro for operating with passengers, they get heavier too, but are limited somehow.  ;D
As said, older planes transporting passengers are rare, but the cargo role lives very long. Might well be that some cargo 707 is still around. Passenger service was with Avianca for example, well after 2000.
But economic dependencies will also catch up on the major cargo carriers and, as far as I know, most of them already have orders on e. g. the 777F or the 747-8F. Airbus also tends to aim at this market with their A330-200F, replacing the A300F. So the modern planes also arrive there, at the companies being able to take the costs of buying them.


Quote:

I would have liked to have been around to fly the 787, but it's gonna have to be a sim only plane for me!

Don't worry, Lou, you have all the real classics on your list while the newer guys are just able to speak about different software versions on their planes.  :D
Now's the time to drive this thing.
http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2140

I'm really waiting for the 787 to arrive. A nice plane, innovative, new cockpit setup, tons of sissy equipment.  :D
Don't know if it is able to speak to the pilots though. At least, they've got some widescreen entertainment suite there, that's for sure.
The high amount of carbon fiber structures also is a new item to be exited about. The were able to raise the differential pressure on the fuselage, offering a lower cabin alt when cruising, also more humid.
Bleedless engines are another innovative item. That's how they set up their new passenger money maker.