AirCal McDonnell Douglas MD-81 N476AC
(c/n 48028)
Business was so good that in 1981 Air
California (by then
operating as AirCal) acquired eight
MD-80s to its
fleet (this was partly to counter a move made by Pacific Southwest
which had
already added the type to its fleet). This stretched DC-9
added substantially to the capacity
already
being provided by the 737s on the airline's longer haul routes.
N476AC is seen above
at LAX in August of
1981 in this photo by Frank C. Duarte, Jr. When American
Airlines took
over AirCal in 1987
it continued to fly many repainted and refitted AirCal aircraft from a
new hub
at San
Jose International Airport. These would eventually be
transferred to Reno Air in the mid-
1990s.
Reno Air itself was taken over by American in 1999.