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There are two kinds of jets with their engines on the tail: regular jets and regional jets. Regional jets such as the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) and Embraer Regional Jet (ERJ) can only seat 50 or 70 passengers and get their name because their short distance range only allows them to operate within a certain region of the country. The regular size jets are the Douglas DC-9, McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 and MD-90, and Boeing 717 which are all extremely similar and based on the same design. Place your mouse over the red links below to see the illustration highlighted.
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Q The
DC-9 was one
of the most popular aircraft built. Douglas built 976 of them
between 1965 and 1980 when the DC9-81 model came out. In the United States only Northwest flies DC9s today with well over 100 of them. |
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Q The
MD-80 is actually a generic name for the DC-9-81
and future models MD-82, MD-83, MD-87, and MD-88. The MD-80 model continued where the DC-9 had left off and remained in production until the last order was delivered to American Airlines on December 28, 1999. Delta and American Airlines are the two largest operators of MD-80 in the United States. |
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Q The
MD-90 was built from 1994 until 1999, about 134 in
all. Only Delta operates these today, with most based out of their western hub in Salt Lake City. |
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Q Boeing's
717 program began development as the "MD-95"
and entered service in 1999. Production ended in 2006 with the last new ones going to AirTran and Midwest. |
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Q Bombardier of Canada began producing the
Canadair
Regional Jet in 1992 and it is in production today. Over 1,300 have been produced so far. Most of the regional airlines in America use the CRJ, including Northwest Airlink, Comair, Skywest, and Air Wisconsin. |
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Q The
Embraer Regional Jet began production in 1996 with
the -145 series and continues with the -135 series today. Continental Express and American Eagle are the two largest operators in this country. |
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There are 5 different versions of the DC-9 and
all differ in length. What sets the DC-9 apart from some MD-80s
and all
MD-90 and 717 models is the pointed shape of the
tailcone. The DC9 has 2 baggage compartment doors on the lower right side of the fuselage. |
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The MD-80 series can be recognized by the wedge shape of its tailcone. However, since the early MD-80s were basically DC-9-80s they had the pointed tailcone but many have since been converted. This design provides a slight increase in fuel economy. Also, all MD-80 & MD-90 aircraft have small horizontal fins on either side of the fuselage under the cockpit (not shown in the illustration) which are called "strakes". This helps provide aerodynamic stability. |
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The main difference in the MD-90 is its engines - larger and more tapered appearance than the earlier models. DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney while these MD-90 engines are the IAE V2500, the most powerful engine to be mounted to the tail of an aircraft. All MD80 & MD90 aircraft have 3 baggage compartment doors on the lower right of the fuselage. The MD-90 is the longest of all these jets. |
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The Boeing 717's
engines are longer than an MD-90
and much larger than an MD-80/DC-9. The engines are made by
BMW/Rolls-Royce. On most 717s, there will be a title "Boeing 717" either on the front near the door or on the engine cover so it is pretty obvious which is the 717. |
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The CRJ & ERJ are much smaller than any of the jets above and can be found at almost any airport in America today. The most obvious difference is that all CRJs have wingtip extensions called "winglets" while only one ERJ model has them - the 145XR version, flown by Continental Express. |
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The ERJ has a few features that set it apart from a CRJ. The nose is longer and more pointed; the tailcone is pointed (that's actually the Auxiliary Power Unit exhaust); and the engines are longer. |
Embraer Regional Jet (ERJ)
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DC-9/MD-80/MD-90/717
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The cabins of the DC-9/MD-80/MD-90 and 717 aircraft are
similar but there are a couple of major differences. The DC-9 is 3 across seating while the MD-80/MD-90/717 is 2 on the left, 3 on the right. (MD-88 shown in the illustration) The DC-9 and 717 have one galley in the front and two lavatories at the rear. The MD-80/MD-90 have two galleys, front and rear as shown in the seat map to the left. The rear galley is 3 rows up from the back and there is a door, which you can see in the illustration above. EXCEPTION: the MD-87 only is configured like a DC9 except that the row over the wing where the exit is only has one seat on the left and two on the right. In all of these aircraft, the last three rows will not have a window view because it is blocked by the jet engine. |
CRJ & ERJ
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Seating maps are shown for the Canadair & Embraer
Regional Jets to the left. CRJ (top) has two across seating, while the ERJ (bottom) has one left, two right seating but both planes seat 50 passengers. Both have one galley (G) and lavatory (L) as shown. |
Follow the links below to see photos of these aircraft. All photos © Bruce Leibowitz
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McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-32 Registration: N750NW Northwest Airlines Nashville Int'l Airport (BNA) January 17, 2003 |
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McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 Registration: N72830 Continental Airlines Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) December 17, 2002 |
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McDonnell-Douglas MD-88 Registration: N909DL Delta Air Lines Huntsville International Airport (HSV) August 11, 2002 |
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Boeing 717-2BD Registration: N955AT AirTran Airways Hartsfield-Atlanta Int'l Airport (ATL) November 8, 2002 |
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Embraer Regional Jet ERJ-135 Registration: N814AE American Eagle Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) December 17, 2002 |
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Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200LR Registration: C-GKEM Air Canada Jazz Hartsfield-Atlanta Int'l Airport (ATL) December 20, 2002 |
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