A tribute to the great design of this wonderful bird is the fact that Boeing still maintains the assembly line of its latest incarnation, the 717. The silhouette of the DC9 is still the most beautiful of all modern jetliners, and many original examples are still serving proudly in the air (I flew a Northwest DC9 a couple of years ago, and it was still in great shape). In its later version (MD80 and MD90), it has been the backbone of American and Delta Airlines, with excellent reliability and safety. And it's just so much prettier than anything Airbus could ever produce!!

--Anonymous