In the next couple of weeks, the Continental Airlines name will retire into the history books, so I’m devoting this week’s Vintage Airline Seat Map to one of the carrier’s DC-9-10s seen flying the skies in the 1980s.
Delta Air Lines took delivery of the first -10 variant in 1965 and it was designed to serve smaller airports on short- to medium-haul routes. Continental’s version appearing below seated a mere 83 passengers across two classes of service. The airline operated a total of 36 DC-9-10s during its tenure and sadly, experienced a fatal accident with one on November 15, 1987. Continental flight 1713 crashed after takeoff from Denver’s Stapleton Airport due to a combination of pilot error and improper deicing.
Continental’s row numbering in coach on this version is intriguing with a break from 16 to 21. Other DC-9s from the carrier at that time didn’t have a similar disparity. In First Class, you’d find me in 3A or 3F and in coach, I’d be keen on sitting forward of the wing on the two-seater side, probably away from the bulkhead in 6A or 7A.
Where would you sit?
What the hell happened to rows 17 to 20!
@george: Exactly! They noted it on the seat map, but the -10 was the only DC-9 in Continental’s fleet at the time to do that. I’m hoping a CO employee who remembers can chime in.