Quote Originally Posted by Catty1
Apropos of nothing - I got the impression that this was a commuter-size plane.

Since when do they have cargo holds? I thought stuff went in the cabin in a secured area.

If the aircraft is a dash 7 or 8, anyway.
The "larger" commuter jet flies DFW to Philly ... it's a
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Super 80 (or DC-9-80), sometimes called the MD-80;
combining the new engines with a further stretched fuselage, increased span wing and other improvements. Launched in October 1977, the Super 80 first flew on October 18 1979. Seats approx 142 passengers. Flight Crew of 2 = Pilot + First Oficer.

From another discussion board:
"... American employees figured out a way to rig up a second smaller hose that funnels some of the cool air from the plane into the cargo hold...
American's working to install the belly coolers at more and more gates ...

So far they have the belly coolers at all of the gates that handle Super 80 airplanes.
The plane with the most cramped cargo hold
and also the most common plane in American's fleet. (Dated August, 2007)
Seems like the Super 80 does have one or more "belly holds".

Again, the issue isn't the temperature aboard the operating aircraft - it's the
possible temperatures during loading / unloading and travel to / from the terminal.

/s Phred