Aircraft Profile: Boeing 737

Since the first flight of the Boeing 737-100 in April 1967 more than 6,000 examples of this hugely successful short-medium-range aircraft have been ordered, making it easily the best selling commercial airliner in history.

Today, the 737 represents more than 25% of the worldwide fleet of large commercial jet airliners.

Three main versions have been produced, the 737-100/-200, powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines, the 737-300/-400/-500, introducing high bypass ratio CFM56 turbofans and more advanced avionics, and the Next Generation 737-600/-700/-800, delivered to the first customer in December 1997.

History

Faced with fast-growing competition in the short-haul jet market in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Boeing began design of the 737 in November 1964.

The 737 was finally launched in 1965 with an order for 22 aircraft from Lufthansa, but the programme was then almost cancelled and sold off to Japan for lack of funds.

The first major development of the 737 came in November 1981 with launch of the re-engined 737-300 with orders from Southwest Airlines and USAir. The 126-seat Next Generation 737-700 was launched in November 1993 and was followed by the 737-800 in 1994, the 737–600 in 1995 and the 737–900 in 1999.

Interesting Facts

The Boeing 737 has been sold to more than 540 airlines and on average there are 1,250 in the air at any one time.