Boeing 737

Boeing 737

Brief History of the Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range twinjet narrow-body airliner with a capacity of 215 passengers. The aircraft is Boeing’s only narrow-body airliner in production, with the -900, -700, and -800ER variants currently being developed and constructed. An improved version, the 737 MAX is set to debut in 2017.

First envisioned in 1964, the Boeing’s first 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and accepted flights in February 1968 at Lufthansa. Secondly, the bigger plane 737-200 entered service in April 1968. Boeing released the -500, -300, -400 models in the 1980’s.

The aircraft has been larger than the original capacity and has improved wings and engines. In the 1990’s, Boeing came out with the idea of bringing out the 737 Next Generation with so many changes including a redesigned, upgraded and improved wing, glasses, and interior. The 737 Next Generation contained the four -900, -800, -700 and -600 models, which ranged from approximately 102ft (31.09) to 138ft (42.06) in length. The aircraft has been continuously built by Boeing since 1967, the total number delivered is 8,807, and the order that isn’t deliveredyet is 4,231 as of November 2015.

The 737 models have three generations, including the nine major variants and the three generations are the “Original”, “Classic” and the “Next Generation”. First is the “Original” and its variants are the 737-100, 737-200/-200 Advanced. The next is the “Classic” models, and its variants are the 737-300, 737-400 and 737-500. Lastly is the “Next Generation” models and it consists of 737-600, 737-700/-700ER, 737-800, and 737-900/-900ER. The Boeing released the fourth generation type – the 737 MAX. It is currently being developed and will encompass the 737-MAX-7, 737-MAX-8, and 737-MAX-9,which will replace the aircraft -700, -800 and -900/-900ER versions of the NG family, respectively.

The aircraft is operated by more than 500 airlinesand flies to 1,200 destinations. The total number ordered by airlines is about 10,000 aircraft, and over 7,000 have been delivered, and over 4,500 aircraft are still on service. Since the aircraft entered the service in 1968, the 737 served and carried about 12 billion passengers over 120 billion km (65 billion nm), and has been recorded with more than 296 billion hours traveling in the air. Many countries use the aircraft for government and military purposes.

The total number of accidents of Boeing 737 Next Generation is 14 and ten hijacking incidents; this is according to the Aviation Safety Network. The following records are the engine failure, pilot error, security and bad weather.

The Boeing 737 operates in over 100 countries, catering commercial flights including chartered flights. In 1965, the Boeing name was similar to its big multiengine jet airplanes; the 737 quickly announced the nickname, “Baby Boeing”. The 737’s first flight was on April 9, 1967, and its model was 737-100/-200 with a capacity of 107 passengers.