2. Douglas DC-9-30

After signing on with Douglas to help develop its Douglas DC-9 aircraft in 1962, MidAmerican submitted requirements for two variants; one that could carry 90 passengers over 1,500 miles, and a larger version that could carry 120 passengers over a similar distance. The requirements for the larger version manifested itself in the form of the Douglas DC-9-30, an aircraft able to seat 115 passengers comfortably over approximately 1,700 miles. MidAmerican was the launch customer for the DC-9-30, and took delivery of its first aircraft in January 1967, entering service a month afterwards.

The Douglas DC-9-30 thrived in MidAmerican's fleet, becoming the main workhorse on its regional networks. At one point, MidAmerican operated over 150 Douglas DC-9s at the same time, with about 100 of these being the -30 variant. The DC-9 fleet began to be slowly retired in the 1990s, making way to newer generation aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Classics that were acquired from the merger with NAS Alaskan Airways, and the Airbus A320s that began to make up much of the short-haul fleet in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The final DC-9-30 was retired in 2006, ending a nearly 40-year career with the airline.