Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) will retire its fleet of twelve ex-Northwest Airlines (Minneapolis St. Paul International) DC-9-50s on January 6, 2014 following the conclusion of the type's last scheduled flight, Minneapolis St. Paul International to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson. The DC-9 retirement comes just months after Delta began taking delivery of 88 ex-Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) B717-200 aircraft which began entering service in October. Delta was the launch customer for the original 65-seat version of the DC-9 in 1965 as the airline replaced propeller aircraft on high-frequency, short-haul domestic routes. To acknowledge the DC-9’s retirement, the last flight has been tagged DL2014 noting the final year of service, while the preceding flight operating from Detroit Metropolitan to Minneapolis/St. Paul will be flight DL1965, the aircraft’s initial year of service.