How Old Is This Plane?

On a recent flight from Detroit I noticed something that made me cringe- an ashtray on the wall outside the plane’s bathroom. I started wondering how old a plane had to be for it to have an ashtray build right in. If you don’t remember ever being able to smoke on a plane, it might be because most airlines adopted anti-smoking policies well before it was legally mandated by the federal government. The debate over smoking on planes actually began in the early 1980’s, with Muse Air being the first airline to ban smoking in 1982 and the “Airliner Cabin Environment: Air Quality and Safety” study showing the increased effects of second-hand smoke in enclosed spaces being published by the National Academy of sciences in 1986. In-flight smoking wasn’t officially banned on all flights to and from the U.S. until 2000. Theoretically then, a plane with an ashtray would have to have been produced before Clinton’s 2000 smoking ban, and would therefore only have to be 7 years old. In dog years 7 may be boarding on rickety, but not for planes. While the average age of United Airlines’ B737-300 aircrafts is 18 years, the average age of each plane in their 640 craft fleet is only 12 years. The average of each plane in Delta’s fleet is 13 years. Air Tran currently has one of the youngest fleets in the air, averaging out at a mere 3.7 years. If you want to see for yourself which airlines have the freshest fleets, check out http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/fleetage.htm. ... [Original Post on MyItThings.com]