Aircraft Asset Assessment: DC10-30

Market Presence. The surprise is that there are still DC10-30s in service. There have been more than 260 retirements. Gone are such flag carrier names as British Airways, SAS, Sabena, Swissair, Lufthansa, MAS, Northwest, Thai. The operator base of the –30, a prime consideration when assessing current and future values, has declined between year-end 1990 and 2011 from 32 to four. The DC10-30 now possesses the capital cost and market attraction of a detached house in the greater Washington area. The maintenance status of the more elderly –30s can therefore represent 100 percent of the total value compared to less than 10-15 percent for a similar capacity but younger widebody twin.