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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 2141.PDF
s&*& j.r.—i i • ww, , ^u^ .m —•—• : TM^Mii ^1 •) III ^^ T • m K©-. fflS 11 &L?V-' .$&£ '*v j*aiii*»' /ffi^-w1^'.-'V ^-Jiipi» 737-300: Big-seller gets bigger B° oeing's 737-200 is said to have the lowest trip-cost of any jet airliner. It also has the widest customer base of any Boeing aircraft—114 airlines to date—plus more than 1,000 sales to its credit, mostly to shorthaul and inclusive tour (IT) operators. Such a commanding market slot is well worth preserving, and this is what Boeing aims to do with its latest derivative, the 737-300. As airliners go, the 737-200 is relatively small, typically seating 110 passengers in a two-class layout, or 120 passengers in the more common, all-economy arrangement. Average sector length currently flown is 500 n.m., or about an hour's flying time, but the spread encompasses legs as short as 70 n.m. and marathons of up to 2,200 n.m. A few years ago 60 per cent of 737 oper ators had five aircraft or fewer, and only 13 per cent had fleets of more than 20. There has since been an ownership shift, and several airlines are now in the process of acquiring large fleets. Mark Gregoire, director of marketing management at Boeing's Renton Division, explains that airlines are tending to "roll over" large fleets of older aircraft, such as DC-9-30s, into 737s. Southwest and Piedmont are good examples, having bought 35 and 70 'FLIGHT International, 26 November 1983 Boeing's 737-300 derivative is closer to being a 150-seater than any other aircraft, and will enter service in late 1984. David Velupillai reports on today's challenger. Boeing 737-200s, respectively. Often the new 737 customer is the "thorn in the side of large airlines". Major airlines figure too, and last month Delta accepted the first of 33 737-200s. Another "roll over" customer is Ansett Airlines of Australia, which rolled over its entire DC-9-30 fleet. What, then, does Boeing's latest offspring, the 737-300, have to offer? Better fuel efficiency, quietness, and better economics on a per-seat basis, answers Gregoire. Turbofan engines, in the shape of CFM56-3s, are largely responsible for the first two benefits, while a 104in fuselage "stretch" confers extra seating capacity. In effect, the aircraft is some 15 per cent larger than its twin, offering 140 seats in a one-class layout or 128 seats with two cabins. In terms of "fuel per seat", Gregoire says that the 737-300 is equivalent to Boeing's all-new 767, and that it is only about 5 per cent short of what the 757 can do. Since the -300 is smaller and older than the new twins, it has to be pretty efficient. A more direct way to assess the fuel saving is to compare the -300 with the -200. In terms of fuel burn per seat over a 500 n.m. sector, the -300 is claimed to be 21 per cent better than its predecessor. Roughly 18 per cent of this benefit is attributed to the new engines; the rest follows from airframe improvements. New engines are such a large factor in the equation because of their high bypass- ratio—the JT8D-15s which now power 737-200s are little more than turbojets, having a bypass-ratio of just 1-1:1 (CFM56-3 has a bypass ratio of 5:1). Put another way, the debut of high-bypass turbofans on widebodies in the early Seventies is at last being "repeated" on the small narrowbodies of the mid-Eighties. McDonnell Douglas and Pratt & Whit ney were arguably the first to go down this road, when they equipped the DC-9 with Boeing's first 737-300 takes shape at Renton, Washington. Roll out is planned for January 17 1425
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