B727 DEPARTS WITH 2 INOP XPONDERS. COORD WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED WITH ATC. DATA CTLR AT N90 AND THE APCH CTLR AT DFW WERE UNAWARE OF THE ACFT BEING WITHOUT XPONDERS.

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UPON REVIEWING RELEASE IN OPS I SAW IN REMARKS THAT ALL ATC COORDS FOR MY FLT HAD BEEN MADE. I THEN SAW THAT BOTH ATC XPONDERS WERE INOP. I THEN CALLED DISPATCH TO DISCUSS THIS SINCE I THOUGHT FLT IN CLASS B AIRSPACE; ETC; REQUIRED A XPONDER. I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS ALLOWED BY THE MEL AS LONG AS WE HAD ATC APPROVAL. I THEN WANTED TO KNOW EXACTLY WHO HAD APPROVED IT AND ALL THEY HAD WAS SOMEONE'S INITIALS. I THEN CALLED A CHIEF PLT IN THE FLT OFFICE AND TOLD HIM THAT I WASN'T REAL INTERESTED IN FLYING THE NE CORRIDOR WITHOUT THAT EQUIP AND THAT I CERTAINLY WANTED TO HAVE A NAME OF WHO APPROVED IT. I WAS CALLED BACK BY THE CHIEF AND GIVEN A NAME AND REASSURED THAT EVERYTHING WAS WELL COORDINATED AND THAT THEY WOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE AT ALL WITH IDENTING US ON RADAR; ETC. AFTER THIS I MET THE FO THAT HAD JUST BROUGHT THE ACFT IN FROM MIA ON FLT XX. I ASKED HIM HOW IT WENT WITH NO XPONDER. HE SAID FINE IF YOU DON'T MIND BEING DSNDED THROUGH ANOTHER ACFT'S ALT IN A HOLDING PATTERN. THEY WERE GIVEN A CLRNC TO DSND TO AN ALT AND ON THE WAY DOWN THEY SAW THAT THEY WERE AT THE SAME ALT AS ANOTHER ACFT IN THE SAME PATTERN. THEY INQUIRED ABOUT IT AND THE CTLR APOLOGIZED AND ADMITTED THEIR ERROR. THE LACK OF AN ALT READOUT I THINK WAS AN OBVIOUS FACTOR. IF WX HAD BEEN INVOLVED THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE CHIEF BACK AND TOLD HIM ABOUT THIS AND RELATED THAT MY COMFORT LEVEL WITH THIS OP HAD GONE DOWN QUITE A BIT. HE SAID HE UNDERSTOOD MY CONCERN AND THAT IT WAS UP TO ME. I TOLD HIM THAT SINCE IT WAS VFR CLR ALL THE WAY THAT I WOULD FLY IT. I ALSO SAID THAT CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INBOUND FLT THAT I WOULD NOT DO THIS IN THE FUTURE IF ANY WX WAS INVOLVED. AFTER BEING ASSURED OF ALL THIS...COORD TWR TOLD US TO CONTACT DEP AND WHEN WE DID HE PROMPTLY TOLD US TO RECYCLE XPONDER AND SQUAWK XXXX. WHEN WE TOLD HIM THAT WE HAD NO XPONDER HE SOUNDED PRETTY AGITATED AND TOLD US THAT HE HAD NOT BEEN INFORMED. HERE IS WHERE WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT A POSSIBLE VIOLATION. ON OUR INITIAL CALL WE SAID WE WERE CLBING TO 2500 FT WHICH WAS THE DEP PROC. WE CRUISED ALONG FOR A LITTLE WHILE BECAUSE WE FIGURED THEY WERE SCRAMBLING TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH US. JUST AS WE WERE ABOUT TO INQUIRE THE CTLR CAME ON AND ASKED US TO SAY ALT. WE REPLIED 2500 FT. HE CAME BACK AND SAID SHARPLY THAT HE THOUGHT WE HAD RPTED OUT OF 3000 FT FOR 7000 FT. WE HAD NOT RECEIVED ANY SUCH CLRNC OR MADE ANY SUCH RPT. HE THEN TURNED US TO 180 DEGS AND TOLD US TO CLB TO 7000 FT. THIS WAS A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE SIT FOR ALL CONCERNED. WE WERE ALL EYES OUTSIDE BECAUSE THERE WERE ACFT EVERYWHERE AND WE WERE NOT CONFIDENT THAT WE HAD PROPER SEPARATION AND I AM SURE THE CTLR HAD A SIMILAR SENSATION. ENRTE THINGS WERE FINE AND THEN WHEN WE CONTACTED DFW APCH AGAIN THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT OUR XPONDER WAS INOP. IN LIGHT OF THE PROBS THAT FLT XX HAD AND THE PROBS THAT WE EXPERIENCED IT APPEARS THAT ATC IS REALLY NOT ABLE TO ADJUST VERY WELL TO THIS KIND OF THING AND IT COULD HAVE HAD A VERY POOR OUTCOME FOR FLT XX HAD THEY BEEN IN IMC CONDITIONS. AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT OP WITHOUT XPONDER SHOULD BE RECONSIDERED IN THE MEL ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH DENSITY AREAS LIKE NY; ETC.