Everyone, from us avgeeks to passengers to American’s employees, knew this was a special day in the history of the airline if not in the history of the MD-80 program. Here’s a ramper getting a shot of the ship number of N984TW, “4YU” before its departure. I’ve always been fascinated with ship numbers, I suppose it’s a bit of a hold over in nautical traditions that crossed over into aviation, particularly in the days of the flying boats in the 1930s- just look at Pan American, they had a very nautical theme in their history, right down to their radio call sign “Clipper”. For airlines, ship numbers are an easier way to keep track of aircraft internally than using the tail number. Some airlines have systems where certain ship number groups can delineate certain aircraft subtypes or cabin configurations. For example, United Airlines years ago on its A320s, ship numbers in the 47xx block were overwater equipped, versus A320s in the 46xx block were not. Not sure if they still follow that system now, though. MD-80s at American Airlines with alphanumeric ship numbers 4xx, like this one being “4YU”, are ex-TWA. Legacy American MD-80s have a three digit ship number derived from the tail number (for the most part), like N501AA would be Ship 501. #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #dfwavgeek #airport #planespotting #airlines #McDonnellDougas #MD80 #American #AmericanAirlines #N984TW #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek #MD80Sunset (at Dallas/Fort Worth Intl Airport (DFW)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2AzSmhhxcJ/?igshid=8ojx3l5v2qgd