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Boeing 737



Other titles in the Crowood Aviation Series

Aichi D3AI/2 Val

Airco - The ircraft Manufacturing Company

Avro Lancaster

BAC One-Eleven

Bell P-39 Airacobra

Boeing747

Boeing 757 and 767

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

De Havilland Mosquito

Douglas AD kyraider

English Electric Canberra

English Electric Lightning

F<1irchild Republic A-IO Thunderbolt II

Fokker Aircraft of World War One

Hawker Hunter

Hawker Hurricane

Junkers Ju 7 tu b

Junkers Ju 88

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

Lockheed F-l 04 Starfighter

Luftwaffe- A Pictoria l History

McDonnell Dougla A-4 kyhawk

McDonnell Douglas F-I5 Eagle

Messerschmitt Bf 110

Messerschmitt Me 262

Nieuport Aircraft of World War One

ight Airwar

orth American B-25 Mitchell

orth American F- 6 abre

orth merican T-6

Panavia Tornado

ShortSunderland

V-Bombers

Vickers VC J0

Peter C. Smith

Mick Davis

Ken Delve

Malcolm L. Hill

Robert F Dor r with Jerry c. cutts

Martin W. Bowman

Thomas Becher

Martin W. Bowman

Martin W. Bowman

Martin W. Bowman

Peter C. mithBarry Jones

Martin W. Bowman

Peter C. Smith

Paul Leaman

Barry Jones

Peter Jacobs

Peter C. mith

Ron Mackay

Martin W. Bowman

Martin W. Bowman

Eric Mombeek

Brad Elward

Peter E. Davies and Tony Thornborough

Ron Mackay

David Baker

Ray Sanger

Theo Boiten

Jerry cutts

Duncan Curtis

Peter C. Smith

Andy Evans

Ken Delve

Barry Jones

Lance Cole

Boeing 737

Malcoltn L. Hill

I ~ ~ c lThe Crowood Press



FirM pubh,heJ In 2002by

The CrowooJ Press LtJ

Ram,bury, Marlborough

Wilt,hire 82HR

© Malcolm L. I Ii II 2002

All right, re,erveJ. 0 part of thi, publicalllll1 maybe

reproJuceJor trammitteJ in any form or by any

I l l e a n ~ , electronic or mechanical,including

photocopy, recording, or any infnrll1fltio!ls(oragc (-lnd

retrieval ~ y ~ t c m , without permission in writing(rom

the publi,her, .

Contents

Acknowledgements

1 TO MESSRS BOEING, A BOUNCING BABY

2 FIRST STEPS

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A cataloguerccorJ forthis book is available from the

Brit;,h Library.

ISBN I 61264046

TypefacesuseJ: GouJy (text),

Cheltenham (headngs).

Typeset anJ JesigneJ by

D & Publishing

BayJon,Marlborough,Wiltshire.

PrinteJ anJ bounJ in Grear Britain by Bookcraft,MiJsomcr Orton.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Appendix I

Appendix II

Index

NEW CUSTOMERS, NEW APPLICATIONS

I TO ERVICE

IMPROVI GTHE BREED

WORLDWIDE 1 FLUE CE

THE BABY GROWS

A EW LEA EOF LIFE

THE LAST OF THEOLD GE ERATIO

THE EXT GENERATION

THE BB] AND BEYOND

Ear ly 737s- Comparisons with their Contemporaries

The 737,100-900



CHAPTER ONE

AcknowledgelDents To Messrs Boeing, a Bouncing Ba

American Airlines ordereda large fleet ofmodern737-800sto replace older, less economic,narrow-body

aircraft on their short- and medium-haul network. American Ar nes C.R. Smith Museum

Tu-134 had followed the

phy o f t he C ar av el le , O

DC-9 by adoptingthe inc

rear engine, Ttail configu

Of course, t he l au nc h

no overn igh t whim tho

(Below) Thefirst twin-jet airliner actuallyhai

Union. TheTupolevTu-l04 was designedfor m

service,although i twas also operated on sho

services on busierroutesin the USSR and Eas

(Above) Soon casting off i ts ' late

comer' image,the Boeing 737 went on

to populate most ofthe world's

busiest airports. Tm Kincaid Colecton

The Soviet Union had la te r developed

t he Tu- l04 into a smal ler v er s ion, more

suited to short-haul networks. The result

ing Tupolev Tu-l24 had been in service

since 1962 wi th i ts much redesigned suc

cessor, the Tu-134 first flying in 1963. The

By the early 1960s it was certainly unusual

for the BoeingAirplane Companynot tobe

the trend-setter in p roducing a new com

mercial aircraft type. However, the Wash

ingtonState-based company was definitely

a latecomerwhen it came tooffering a new

product on the short -haul twin-jet airliner

marker. By the time their new model 737

was made available to the world's commer

cial operators, there were no fewer than sixalternatives either already in service or in

advanced stages ofdevelopment, on offerto

the world's airlines.

Boeing'sofficial announcement launch

ing their 737 project into productioncame

on 22 February 1965. This was only three

days before the first flight of t hei r arch

rival, Douglas Aircraft's DC-9, and only

sixweeks before the British contender, the

BAC One-Eleven, actually entered sched

uledairline service. The veryfirst twin-jet

airliner design, alsoRussia's first jet airlin

er, the Tupolev Tu-l04,al though intended

more for medium/long-haul services than

short-haul work had b ee n o n the scene

since 1956. The first twin-jet designed

specifically for short-haul routes, France's

Sud-Est Caravelle had been in worldwide

service since April 1959.

Overseas Pioneershop, Boeing Business Systems, Braathens,

Deutsche BA, Lufthansa and MilitaryAir

craft Photographs.

Whilst everyeffort hasbeen made to iden

tify the source of i l lustra tions used in this

publication, thishas not beenpossible in all

cases. All persons claiming accredita tion

should contact the author via the publisher.

Gradidge,Joe Grant, Ivar Hakonsen,Chris

Harrison, Richard Howell, Tim Kincaid ,

Jeff Luysterborghs, William F. Mellberg,Larry Pettit , Brian Pickering, Jon Proctor,

DennisRegan, Mel Roberts, Frankie Scott,

Becky and Buddy Scott-Ward, RobertWalz

and Tony Ward; and alsoto Aeroflot Russ

ian Airlines, Air France, American Air

lines C.R. Smith Museum, Aviation Hobby

Grateful thanks are extended toall the fol

lowing persons and organizations, whose

co-operation, time and invaluable funds of

informationand memories made th isbook

possible:

Thomas Becher, Steve Bun ting , Ron

Car te r, S ib yl le D ie tr ic h, Mar ty n East ,

Phillip Eastwood, ThierryGatouillat,Jenny

6 7



TO MESSRS BOEING. ABO NCING BABY TO IESSRS BOEING. ABO NCING BABY

TheBoeingB&W Modell, the company's first aircraft,being manhandled atthe

original waterside factory. Boeing

(Top) By thelate 1920s, theBoe

again busy with aircraft under

thanproducing furniture as a 's

(Abovel The Boeing Model 40B

to thecompany's airline subsid

wearing jointBoeing/Pacific A

United Airlines titles. Boeing

the B-9, had provided a great deal of use

ful d a ta a nd sol ut io ns t o problems that

were arising with the design of largerair

craft. Al though the B-9 failed to attract

an o rd er t hi new technology was chan

nelled into a new civil airliner type, the

Boeing 247

The Arrival of theModern Airliner

Th e sleeker lines of Boeing' new high

speed mili tary typ es were oon being

applied to commercial designs. Research

and development of one mili tary design,

was formed, called United Air Line, to co

ordinate theiroperation,althougheach car

rier retained its identity for the time being.

A maj or improvement in comfo r t for

passengers on Boeing's scheduled service

from Chicago toCaliforniaarrivedwith the

introduction of a new airliner design, the

Boe ingMode l 0 , and slightly larger Model

OA, in 1929. The 12 to I -pa senge r b i

planes werepOSitivelyspacious compared to

the claustrophobicModel 40A and saw the

introduction of a new c rew membe r, the

Stewardess. A numberof Americancarriers

h ad a lr eady emp loyed male s tewa rd s or

'Couriers' on larger aircraft and European

airlines had used stewardsto serve their pas

s enge rs for many yea rs , but Boe ing Air

Transport was the f ir st c ar ri r in the world

to employfemaleflight attendants.

While Boeing Air Transpor t and its

United Air Lines partners were introduc

ing modern styles of air travel to their pas

sengers, the Boeing Airplane Company

wa inc re as ing i t por t fo l io with a number

of successful militarydesigns.

New Owners, New Direction

designed DH-4 'Lib 'tty Planes' that helped

t he ompany survive the I'<mcrtlmcs.

By the mid-1920s, howcvcr, BOCIng was

gaining produ tion ordcrs(or its own ncw

des igns aga in, a s a ser ie s of fighter and

atta k a ir cra ft were suppl ied to the U

military. More civil projects were making

an appearance too, with the Boeing Model

40A, designed to a rry two pas enger s as

wellas 1,200lbs(544kg) of mail beginning

operationsover the San Francisco-Chicago

route in 1927.

Boeing had set u[1 its own airline, Boeing

Air Transport, to opera te the route, and

acquired another West Coast-based carrier,

PacificAir Transport, to expandtheir oper

ation. Boeing itselfwas purchased shortly

afterwards and became pa rt o f t he new

United Aircraft and Transport Corpora

tion that had its headquarters at Hartford,

Connecticut. As well as Boeing and itsair

line subsidiaries, Unit ed soon also con

trolled t he Chance Vought Corporation,

Pratt & Whitney, the aero engine manu

facturer, and the Hamil ton AeroManufac

turing Company that made propellers.

The airline sidealsoexpanded, with pio

neer carriers tout Airlines, National Air

Transport and Varney Air line s a ll b eing

taken into t he UATC family. The large

combined a ir line netwo rk became so un

wieldy that a n ew management company

incorporated his aviation interests into the

new PacificAero Products Company.

The even more improved Model 3 soon

appeared, with a landplane ver ion, the

Model 4, of which only two weresupplied

to the Army a p r ima ry t r aine rs . The

S Navy eventually p ia e d an order for

fifty Model 5s, as thecompanychanged its

name to the Boeing Airplane Company.

The avy order was to be the first sizable

contract to t he US military, which was to

remain Boeing's primary customer for

many years.

Postwar Slump

Throughou t t he immed ia te post-First

World War years Boeingenjoyedmixedfor

tunes. There were simply too many surplus

aircraft around for the military to be inter

ested insponsoring expensivenew projects.

The small number of non-militarysalesdid

littleto dispel the gloom as the valuablemil

itary market had vanished overnight with

the arrival o f t he armistice. The first two

B&W aircraftweresold to theNew Zealand

government for postal work, Boeing's first

international sales and asmall number of B-

Is,a flyingboat design, were alsosold for use

by airmail contractor.

At onepoint th company wasobliged to

start build ing furniture in order to keep its

skilled woodworking force together. Con

tractswerealsogainedfrom theUS military

for conversionand modification of British-

company merely to keep up with airliner

design fashion trend. Boeing had been

studying t he ir s ho rt -h au l j et airliner

options for several years and wereonly pre

pared to offer a definitive design once they

felt that they had got it r ight . i nc e the

entry into service of Boeing's first jet air

liner design, the medium/long-range Boe

ing 707 in 195 , the company had been

wor ki ng t ow ar d o ff er in g a ' fami ly ' of

de ign s. Each d if f eren t m em be r o f t he

'family' was to beable to serve the airline's

needsin different operational markets, but

with enough of adegree of commonality in

d es ign so a s to reduce production costs to

the maker and significantlydecreaseoper

ating costs to the customer.

In the Beginning

Boeing had actually not been a major sup

plier of civil airliners unti l t he adven t of

the 707 in the 1950s. Military orders had

been the backboneof Boeing's production

linesfor many years, with the fewcivilian

designs produced usually being 'spin-offs'

from US military contracts. Initially, even

the Boe ing 707 was ju st such a 'spin-off '

from a designstudy to develop an in-flight

refuelling tanker forhigh-speed jet fighters

and bombers that had emergedas the KC

135. The suitability o f t he new type for

redesign as a jet airliner was recognized

very ear ly in the design process and the

company made the historical decision that

changed it commercial direction.

The Boeing Airplane Company had

be n founded by William E. Boeing, a suc

cessful Seattle businessmaninvolvedin the

local timber industry, and a friend, CdrG .

Conrad Westervelt of the US Navy. Both

hadbeen fa cinated by the new flyingcraze

and had founded the AeroClub ofSeat t le

in 1915. The club's first aircraft,a Glenn L.

Martin Seaplane, was damaged in an acci

dent and Boeing and Westervelt elected to

build an improved ver ion of t he aircraft,

rather than simply replace it from the orig

inal source. Thus, in June 1916, William

Boeing piloted the new aircraft, t heB&W

Modell, a single-engined, twin-pontoon

b ip lan e f rom Lake Union, near eattle.

Westervelt was posted to the East Coast

and Boeing continued to d evelop the

design with an increasing team of engineers

and designers that he was able to attract.

A second design, the improved model 2 ,

the first real all-Boeingproject, took to the

a ir i n 1 91 7, by which t ime Boe ing had

8 9



TO MESSRS BOEING. A B OU CING BABY TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCI 'G BABY

Boeing's 307 Stratolinerpioneered t he useo f a pressurized cabin in passenger service

theirfleet on transcontinental scheduled flights in July 1940. Via author

vitally needed work. W

enginesand undercarriage

B-17 bomber, the Mod el

was unique i n i ts d ay fo

pI ssuri:ed fuselage. A bl

high al t i tude,above the

promised unprecedented

for itspassengers. Anothe

project also provided the

another ivil type, t he

boat that saw Boeing ret

its marine roots.

The tratolinersaw on

service, with a handful b

TWA, on domestic routes

ican on services to the

South America. The m

Howard Hughesalso acqu

er as his personal 'Flying

giant 314 flying boat saw

sengerservice with PanA

Pacific and At l an t i c schesmall number were aLo

their intenJed delivery t

to serve Great Britain's B

transport services.

Although they failed t

in \ 'ery large numhers, m

intervention of t he e c

the 307 and 314models k

forefront of airliner desig

wasover, Boeingcontinu

pied withmilitary contra

Korean conf l ic t and ong

with Communist Europe.

Bigger Boeings

truggling to remain in the airliner busi

ness after thedebacleof the 247sale:, Boe

ing looked to bigger, even more revolu

tionary designs.A serie, of militaryaircraft

had been more successful t h an t he civil

projects and provided t he company wit h

among others, invi ting tenders to produce

a trimotor, all-metal monoplane. Douglas

came upwith the 12-passenger, twin-engine

design, theDC-I.Thi wasenlarged to a 14

passengercapacityin itsproduction version,

the DC-2. A swell a h av in g a much more

spacious cal in, the DC-2 was actuallyfaster

thanthe 247, wiping out all the 247' initial

advantagesovernight. TWA placed the new

aircraft in to scheduled service in August

1934 and both and foreign carriers were

s oo n b ea ti ng a p at h to Douglas' door to

place orders for the type.

Whenthe DC-2 was enlarged again into

the21-passengerD -3,in 1936,anyhopes

Boeing had for the cont inued production

of the 247 vanished. The DC- 3 wenton to

become one of the most successful airliner

designs of all time, wi th many examples fly-

ing o n i nt o t h e twenty-first century, over

sixty years after the type entered service.

Even United had t oadmit t heDouglasaircraft 's superiority . From 1936, the airline

began to replace the 247's on major routes

with thei rown fleet of DC- 3s.

All Change for the Air MailAct

As well as eHectvely havngshot itself in the foot by

forcing the non-UATC airlnes to look elsewhere for

new equipment,United Aircraft was thrown into tur

moi by the1934 AirMail Act.

Introducedto put an end to growing monopoles

within the transport industries. a Senate Special

Committee investigated both ocean steamship and

airline mai contracts, folowing questons being

raised on the subject of subsidy and the fairness of

certaincontract awards.Ths led to thedisclosureof

some dubious practces and decisions in theway a

numberof airmai contractshad been awarded by the

Postmaster General,Walter Brown.

Al airmai contractswerecanceled with eHectfrom

9February 1934. Another consequenceof theAct was

to forbid thecose te-upof aircraftmanufacturers and

airlnes. As a result. Boeng became a separate com

pany agan.William Boengactualy resgnedoverthe

issue from the company hehad founded,accus ng the

Roosevet administraton of unfairness.

Although innocent partes suHered as much as the

guity, the airlnes soonemerged from the legislativegunsmoke relatively unscathed. The airmai service

was initially handed over to the mi tary, but chaos

ensued. Folowing a number of accidents and agen

eral publc outcry, the airlnes were invited to tender

forthecontractsagain.Certain airlnesand theirman

agements were forbidden, by their pastmvolvement

in Irregular practces, from applying, and a furryof

name-changing andcorporatemanoeuvres folowed.

UATC had already combined its fourmajor airlnes

subsidiares, Boemg Air Transport, Pacifc Al Trans

port, NatonalAir Transport and Varney AirLines, mto

one unit in May 1934, now oHicialy named United Air

Lnes.Anewcompany,TWA Inc, appled forTranscon

tmental & WesternAirs od contracts, and prompty

'took over theo d companyassetsonce theco ntracts

were awarded, swiftly reinstatng the original name.

Simiary, Amercan Airways became Amercan Air

lnes, Eastern Air Transportbecame Eastern Air Lnes,

and soon.

large order, for sixty aircraft, was placed, to

be delivered to its airline divisions. It was

assumed t ha t t he exclusive use o f t h e 247

by UAT 's airlines would give t hem an

unprecedented advantage on America',

airways. Itwas na' ive in the extreme for

UATC to t h i nk t ha t t heo t herairlines were

going to takethis lying down andthe rival

carrier soon a ~ proached Boeing to place

t hei r own orders. However, t he Uni te d

contract totally monopol i:ed the produc

tion capacity for nearlya year. Rather than

have to waituntil the initial order forsixty

was delivered, the disappointed airlines

approachedother aircraft manufacturers to

produce an al ternat ive aircraft.

Transcontinental & Western Ai r con

tacted the Douglas Aircraft Company,

" .- - -

United decided, albeit reluctantly, that

they were wi II i ng t o overlook the lower

capacity , in view o f t h e n ew type's speed

advantage. At over 70mph faster than its

nearest rival, the 247 was a definite trend

setter, the first t ransport to sport a low

wing monoplane and tw in-eng ined con

figuration. The t yp e f ir st f lew i n 1 93 2,

with the first delivery to UATC's airlines

being made on 30March 1933.

The 247's Nemesis

The decision to produce the smallercapac

ity aircraft was to turn out t o be only one

mistake made by n it ed i rc raf t and

Transport in selecting its new·-airliner. A

The Douglas DC-1 was designed atthe instigation

o fTWAandsoon overtook the Boeing 247 in its

developed production version, the DC-2. Via author

(Above) The Boeing 247 finally broughtmodern lines

to airliner design in 1933. The first aircraft, X-13301,

was a production model. There was no designated

prototype and thisaircraftwas laterdelivered to

the Boeing division of United Air lines. Boeng

The ni ted Ai r Lines group had been

struggling against competition from Tram

continental & Western Airand American

Airways, both flying more modern Ford

Trimotors or Fokker models that out

classed the Boeing 80s. Although United's

airline partners were trying their bes t to

compete, they were soon looking to their

Boeing part ner t o provide a new type to

push themahead oftheir rivals.

Although United had wantedan aircraft

as large as the 18-passengerBoeing 80s, the

Boeing 247emerged with capacityfor only

ten pas engel's. Boeing's allegiance t o t he i r

nited Aircraft and Transport partners

meant t hat it wa u na bl e to consider the

Wright I l 20 engine, then under develop

ment, that would have been suitable for a

larger aircraft. Boeingwasobliged to go to

Pratt & Whitney for an engine to power

their aircraft, but theyonlyhad their well

tried, but l es s powel fu l, Wasp to hancl .

Another factor in deciding to develop the

smaller design option was the rather volu

ble opinionof United's pilots. They were of

the view that a large r a ir craf t wou ld be

unstable and difficult to control.

70 77



TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY

Agiganticaircraft fori ts day, the Boeing 314 flying boatoperated luxurious pre-wartransoceanic air services over both theAtlantic and Pacific. Via author

(Above) The De Havilland Comet1series blazed a trail for jet airline travel in theearly 1950s. Unfortunately theirdemise, due to unforeseen metal fatigue, was swift

andonly three airlines and the Royal Canadian Air Force took delivery from a once

impressive order book. Via author

(Below) Contemporary with the flawed earlyComet

Viscount was a much more successful venture. Aerearly customer,eventually operating the type forov

Jenny Gradidge

Postwar Airliner

Developments

Unti l the arrival o f t he 707, Boeing's sole

contribution to the postwar airliner market

to reach the production stagewas the model

377 Stratocruiser. This itselfhadbeen a civil

version of the C-97/KC-97 military trans

portand in-flight refueller,derived from the

B29 bomber design. Despite large numbers

of C-97s and KC-ns being ordered by the

U m il it ary, civilian versions h ad o nl y

enjoyed limited success w it h t h e airlines.

Although its luxurious, spacious cabin and

legendary lower-deck cocktai I bar were

immensely popularwith passengers, i twas a

horrendously expensive aircraft to operate

andma in tainon a commercial basis.

When jet-powered airliners first came

on to the scene i t w as a ll about reducing

flying times over long-ranging flights. Only

f ive years before put ting the world's first

j et l ine r, the De Havi l la nd Comet 1, into

revenue service, advertising for the British

Overseas Airways Corporation 'boasted' of

UK-Hong Kongjourneys taking 'only five

days'! This leisurely scheduled service was

f lown by ShortsSandringham Flying Boat,

w it h n ig ht -s to ps b ei ng m ade en route.

Al though the first commercially operated

jets were usually obIiged t o make a number

of refuelling stops, t hey were assigned to

long-distance flights, still managing to cut

pis ton engine-powered, propeller a ir l iner

schedules in half .

The Turbo-Prop Era

Th e future for shorter-ranging f l ights, in

pa rt i cu lar thos e involving any degree of

'mass travel ' , was perceived to l ie i n the

direction of turbo-prop, or prop-je t, power.

In the turbo-prop the je t engine's thrust is

dive r te d to dr iv ing a propel ler , instead of

directly powering the aircraft through the

air. This is much moreeconomical in terms

of fuel consumption, a lthough giving near

ly the same speed advantages of pure-jet

power. Th e Vickers Viscount, contempo

rary with the omet 1, introduced turbo

proptravelto a ver y enthusiastic travelling

public in the early 1950s.

Sadly, t he C ome t turned out to suffer

from chronic metal fatigue problems. A

trio of mysterious crashes, all involving the

loss of all passengers andcrew on board the

unfortunate aircraft, brought the problem

12

to light. Only an extensive investigation,

on a scale not previously seen in civil avi

ation, finally identified the metallurgical

problem that had l ai n hidden until the

accidents brought it to the industry's atten

tion. Although the turbo-props were still

successfully makingthe i rma rka round the

world, the pure-je ta ir l iner was temporarily

grounded.

Soon, larger versions of the Viscount, as

w el l a s much larger turbo-prop aircraft ,

such as the Vicke rs Vangua rd and Lock

heed Electra , were o n t he horizon and it

was surmised t h at t he turbo-prop would

rule over the shorter ranges, l e av ing the

je ts to concentrate on longer fl ights. Long

range, large-capacity turbo-props, such as

the Bristol Britannia, were also on the

drawing board to opera te economical ser

vices on far-flung flights, the plan then

be ing to leave the expensive pure-je ts to

first-class travellerswilling to paya premi

um fare. This rather cosy plan of action,

however, was soon turned on its head.

If the Comet had achieved one thing, it

was to prove the underlying market for jet

travel. The all-First-C1ass passenger load

factors on t h e early Comets briefly operated

for BOAC, as wel l a s two French airlines,

Air France and UAT, hadbeen well beyond

expectations. Tourist-Classtravel was intro

duced on a handful o f t h e busier routes in

the earl1950s and itssuccess surprised even

the most optimisticsupportersof 'masstrav

el'. As the Comet was being redesigned into

the larger, more robust, Comet 4 series and

Boeing were looking at producingan airlin

er version of the ir KC-l35je t tanker design,

France's Sud-Aviation was putting the fin

ishing touchesto their short-haulje t airlin

er design, the E-210 Caravelle. From the

start, the CaravelIe, a nd t h e jetliners that

followed it, were designed wi th both first

and tour ist-class travel lers in mind. Only

rarely would there be anyta lk of 'First-Class

Only' jet travel, at least until the arrival of

the ultra-expensive supersonic transports.

13

Short-Haul Jet Rev

Whenthe elegantlydesign

Caravelle s t ar t ed Europ

1959, it s oon h ad passeng

their feet. It did not matt

public that the turbo-prop

nom ic over short e r dista

time-savings over close



TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCINGBABY TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY

(Above) The Sud-AviationCaravelle was designedfromthe outsetfor

short-haulinter-cityservices. Itsoon outpacedthe large turbopropsoriginally seen as theanswerto economicshort-rangeservice. Va author

(Below) The originalpurposeof the KC-135 designwas as an in-flight refuellerfor

high-speed bombers like theBoeing B-52. Its potential as acommercial jettransport

was soon recognized andthe design was modifiedto producethe 707 airliner. Boeing

Pan American introducedthe 707-100 intoscheduled service in 1958. Theair l ine latertook deliveryof the

larger.more powerful -320 series. as seen here. MAP

Swissair wasoneof the few customers forthe Convair CV-990A. operating them on long-haul services to SouthAmerica and Asia. as well

as busier European routes. Va author

were minimal or even non-existent. Pro

pellers wereold-fashioned. The passengers

wanted jets and they wanted them now.

I f i th ad a p ropel ler on it, the publicdid

n ot w an t t o k now a nd soon sought ou t

the airlines with jet-powered alternatives.

Caught unawares, the British European

Airways Corporat ion, which had placed

,tll i tseggs firmly in the turbo-prop basket

by ordering large fleets of economical Vis

count s a nd Vanguards, were forced to

commissiona 'stop-gap' short-haul version

of t he Comet , t he 4B.

The BEA Comet 4Bs were ini ti a lly

assigned to the longerroutes on thei rne t

work, especially t o t he e as te rn Mediter

ranean,but were soon also pressed into ser

vice on shor t er t runk routes where rival

European operators such as Air France,

Alitalia, Finnair, Iberia, Sabena, SAS and

Swissair were flying their new Caravelles.

Although much less suitablefor theshort

er runs, the Comets were required to win

back passengers until BEA could p la ce a

more economically viable in ter-city jet

into service.

Boeing's Jetliner S

Europe's only long-range c

707, at least in its earlyyea

to the De Havilland Com

'new' Comet 4 was techn

the 707. However, the

achieved the distinction o

first commercially operat

Atlanticwhen Britain's BO

service on t he London- e

October 1958. This was o

weeks before Pan American

14 15



United'sPostwar Growth TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY

United's Boeing 727s wereamongthefirstto rolloff what wasto become along and successfulproductionrun. MAP

they would he puttingthe

production.

Winghigh-liftdevicesw

into thedesign for an even

take-offperformance. As w

ful in t he t h in mountain a

h igh- li ft dev ices would

727 operators to introduc

important East-Coast US

New York's La Guardia an

National that h ad r es

lengths.Also, from the cab

the fuselage cross-section

From Four Engines

Boeing's first offering on

jet airliner marketcame ab

direct discussions with a

wanted a smal l twin-jet .

major operat ions centre a

Rocky Mounta i ns , want

and power reserves of fo

were pushing for a yet sm

the 720B. Boeing's engine

persuade the Eastern and U

ments that a three-engine

was a workahle compromis

her 1960, t he company a

The improved take-offand

mance ofthe Boeing nO/n

jet service to a numberof ai

ously able to accommodate

and DC-8s.

and CV-990 jet airliner models specifical

ly with these markets in mind.

[nitially, Boeing had concent rat ed on

improving the long-range and load-carry

ing capabilities o f t he 707. Larger, more

powerful versions wereoffered that elimin at ed t he need for refue ll ing s tops on

many fl ights. However, encouraging early

sales figures for the medium-range Conv

airjets alerted Boeing to a threat to their

customer base, several members of which

were already in preliminary negotiations

with Convair. Not surprisingly, an inter

mediate-range version of t he 707 was also

soon on offer.

Lighter, shorter and more powerful ,

witha redesignedwing and flap layout that

improved take-off and cruising perfor

mance, the Boeing no first flew on Z3

Novemher [959. Boeing took particular

satisfaction in ohtaining early orders for

the no from Douglas DC-8 operators

Unit ed Ai r Lines and Eastern Air Lines,

that h ad h ot h b ee n seriously considering

the Convair options. Established US

based 707 cus tomers , such as American

Airlines, BraniffAirways and Continental

Airlines alsoordered the no, andthe later

turbo-fanned engined version, the nOB,

in some numbers.

Away from t he h om e market, several

foreign scheduled carriers also placed nos

and nOBs in service on longer-ranging

fl ights where passenger loadswere l ighter

and did not justify the use of larger 707s.

introduced their first imported Boeing 707

jets.

Booming worldwide sales of the 707

h ad soo n p ushe d Boeing into the fore

front of civil airliner design, overtaking

Douglas and Lockheed in a few short

years. Sales of the 707's m ai n U S rival,

the similar Douglas DC-8 , had suffered

from b ei ng l at er i nt o service t ha n t he

707, although respectable sales figures

were later achieved and developed ver

sions of t he aircraft kept t he t ype i n pro

duction for many years. Lockheed had

elected to ignore the long-haul jet airlin

er market , and concentrated on develop

ing i ts L-88 Electra turbo-prop for inter

city airline work. The rise of the

short-haul jet was to restrict the Electra

marke t cons i derab l y and Lockheed didnot attempt to return to full-scale airlin

er production for many years.

Boeing and the

Short-Haul MarketThe operationally and commercially suc

cessful use of early model 707s and DC-8s

on domestic routes within the USA had

shown a market for jet services on busy

inter-city sectors. Douglashadbeen selling

versions of t he DC-8 tailored fordomestic

US service and another aircraft manufac

turing company, General Dynamics, pro

ducing aircraft underthe Convair name in

San Diego, had offered their new CV-880

Hawaian network, although these were disposed of as uneconomiccomparedto the

DC-6s andDC-7s that replaced them.With the arrival ofthe jet era, Unitedgreatly influ

enced the design of the DC-B and theBoeng 720 and 727, as well as the737.

Un.teds acquisition of financialy ai ng Capital Airlnes in 1961, saw the creaton of

the largest airline in the Western world. Whenthe 737 programmewas announcedin

1965, Unitedwas operatng thirty-eight Douglas DC-8s, three DC-8Fs, twenty-nine Boe

ing720s, twenty-eight Boeng 727-100s, with eighty-two more 727-100s and -200s on

order and twenty Sud Caravele 6Rs in its jet feet. In addition, United still operated

twenty-three DC-7s, sx DC-7Fs. thirty DC-6s, seven DC-6As, forty DC-6Bs. seventeen

Convair CV-340sand forty-five Viscount 700s in their propeler-driven, piston and prop

jet-engined feet.Most of the survivingpropeler aircraft were planned to be phased

out andreplaced bythe remaining727s on order, as well as thenew order for737-200s.

(Below) The DC-8 had benefitedfroma greatdeal ofinputintothe designfromUnited.

Thetype was to servetheair l inefor near lythir tyyears. Via author

Once establshed as a strong, independent airlne in its own rght. United Air Lnes

enoyed a perod of unprecedented growth. When the USA entered the Second Word

War the airlne, along with mostof thenaton scommercial air carrers.mademostof its

carryng capacityavaiable formi tary use. United operatedatrans-Pacifc air servcefor

the US Navy, as well as fying numerousdomestc contracts forthe US war machne.

After the return of peace, United turned itsattention to modernizing and expanding

its domestc network. Unlke many ofits rvals, it dd not use its wartime long-range

experence to press for international service authority. Instead, United satisfied itself

with extending its coast-to-coastnetwork tothe Hawaian Islands in 1947.

The airlne remained amajor force in US airliner design, beng heaviy involved in the

development of the Dougas DC-4, DC-6, DC-7 seres and Convair CV-340 piston

engined aircraft. Asmal fleet ofBoeng Stratocruiserswas also operated briefly on the

(Above) The BoeingStratocruiserserved briefly on United's new prestigeHawaiian

schedulesin theear ly 1950s. MAP

16 17



TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCI G BABY TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY

The 1940s-50svintage, piston-powered DC-6 series still featured heavily in United's fleetin themid-1960s.

AViaton HobbyShop

Wing-mounted engines a

more of t he fuselage was av

paying passengers, wi th

involved in mounting eng

fuselage. The wing-moun

tionsalso led to less proble

a satisfactory centreofgrav

distribution scenarios.The engines could no

pylons, as o n t h e 707/720,

er rroximity of the smalle

to the ground. Instead, the

(Belowl The Boeing 72Ts impres

seen to effecton thistaxying Am

aircraft. was adapted forthe 737.

stall undercertainaerodynamicconditions,

had eventuallybeen solved. Unfortunately

this was not until after the tragic loss ofthe

prototype One-Elevenand its testcrew as a

result of justsuch a stall.

Eventually Boeing opted for the under

wing locat ion for i ts engines, two Pratt &Whitney JT -Os, with a conventional tail

layout. Apart from the deep-stallconsider

ations, the wider cross-section of the Boe

ing made the fitting of t he engines o n t he

rear fuselage an aerodynamic nightmare.

IAbovel The BAC One-Elevenhad to curea 'deep-stal l 'problemwith i tsT-tai ldesign, which l edtothe

lossof theoriginal prototype on atest fl ight. Theeventual solution benefitedall suchdesignsthat

followed. Aviaton Hobby Shop

T-Tail or Pylon?

Two groups of Boeing engineers looked

independently a t e i t her t heT-rail or under

wing engine design o pt io n . T he T ta il ,

with the engines placed o n t he rear fuse

l age, had been a popul ar des ign wit h the

earlier type, especially from t he p oi nt o f

view of reducing noise in the passenger

cabin. A potentiallydangerous 'deep-stall'

rroblem, with Ttail configured aircraft,

where the aircraftentered an unrecoverable

Boeing could rroduce a more flexible jet,carab l e of carrying economic loads over

shorter routes andin t o mailer airfields, as

well as the larger cities, t he company

would have a valuable, profitalle, new

addition to its jet 'family'.

In ovember 1964, Boeing finally gave

the go-ahead for their designers to investi

gate t he op ti ons for the new jet airliner

design. It was specifically aimed at recap

turingmarkets beinglost t o t he BA One

Eleven and DC-9, where the Boeing 727

was regarded as too large. A reliable work

horseaircraft,capable of operatingseveral

sectors a day carrying economic loads at

low cost , was required. The Boeing sales

and market ing departments envisaged a

sales potential of more t han 600 units of

the newdesign.

Wi th t he ir 'family' concept in mind,

the newly formed Boeing project team,

under t he leadership of John E. Steiner,

e le ct ed t o m ak e t h e fuselage o f t h e new

type the same width as the 707/720 and727. This g av e a defini te advantage in

terms of passenger comfort. The BAC

One-Eleven, Caravel le and DC-9 all had

narrower cabins, wi th t he economy-class

passengers in all the aircraft being seated

in a five-abreast, 2-3 configuration. The

Boeing aircraft would be able to offer an

except ional ly comfortable fi ve-abreastlayoutor, as turned o ut t o be the case in

most ai rlines' service, a more economical

3-3, six-abreast configuration.

Design Decisions

hau l j et s had begun to make inroads i nt o

the denser markets, I940s and 50s vintage,

piston-engined, DC-6s, DC-7s and Con

stellation, .hunted f rom longer, p rime

routes by the early jets, still flew thousands

of pas engers on busy inter-city services

every day.

ni tedAir Linesalso flew a sizable fleet

of Vickers Viscount turbo-rrops inherited

when t hey t ook over Carital Airlines in

1961. With t he Capi t al network, United

had also t aken on a number of multi-stop

routes linking both large and small cities.

I t was t hese rou tes that saw the greatestconcentrat ion of orerat ions for United's

remaining turbo-rrop and piston-engined

aircraft fleets. Passenger loads were not

e no ug h t o surpor t t he Boeing 727 and

many of t he airports wereunable to accept

the smallerCaravel Ie, ofwhichUnited did

operate a small f leet on East Coast and

Mid-West route'.

The first generationsof short-haul jetshad

already shown tha t theycould operate as

cheaply, i f not more so, and also attract

more rassengers with thei rmodern jet-age

image. Although initial acquisition costs

were large, the jetswere soonearningtheir

keep, carrying more passengers on more

dai ly sec to rs and beating any pis ton or

turho-prorcompet i tion intotheground. If

W it h t he 727 mak in g its development

flights, Boeing's attention turned more to

the market for smaller, more regionally

focused jetliners,preferably with even bet

ter short-field performance. That s uc h a

marketexi ted was being demonstrated by

Douglas, ud and BAC, with the increas

ing sale' oftheirTtail configuredtwin jets.That a majordomestic customer for Boeing

aircraft, American Airl ines, had ordered

no les. than thirty-one BACOne-Elevens

from Great Britain, t o surpl ement t hei r

much larger 727s on short-haul routes,

gave the design team even more incentive

to come up witha Boeing-builtcontender.

The 1960s s ti ll aw a l arge number of

routesserved by ageing prorellerfleets even

in the largest airline networks. Although

the Boeing 727, and other short/medium-

the Boeing707 seriesand the ideaoff amily

'commonality' was finally ur and running.

Both airl ine placed their firstorders,for

forty aircraft e ac h, a nd t he Boeing 727-

100 flew for the first time on 9 Fel ruary

1963. evera l other carriers, including the

first European customer for the 727, West

Germany's Lufthansa, followed nited

and Eastern's example. The worldwide

sal es f igures for the t ri -j et w er e s oon

rivalling those o f t he already successful

707 and 720 series.

Surviving Props

78 79



TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY Postwar lufthansa

Easternopted for the OC-9 as itsshort-haul jet, rather than waitfor the 737, still in its early design stages.

Via author

were of a revised 'string-tube' type, and

attached more directly to the wings. The

wings themselves were designed from the

outset wi thexcel lentairfield performance

in mind, usinglessons learnt from the 727.

The increased dihedral outboard of the

wings not only contributed to this perfor

mance , bu t also added to fuel capacity.

Features such as t he onboard auxiliary

power unit and opti ona l airstairs further

a dd ed t o the 737's attractiveness, as it

would beable to operate from many small

erairports with limited facilities .

By the time Boeingannounced the defin

itive design, as the Boeing 737, in February

1965, the aircraft hadalreadygrown from a

60-seater to a 75-103-passenger airliner.The 'family' concept had survived, with60

per cent commonality with the Boeing 727

des ign being retained. The 727 's dual

hydraulic-powered ailerons, elevator and

rudder, the leading edge slats and Krueger

flaps were adapted for the 737, as was the

707 's dual electric motor-driven variable

inc id ence tai lplan e t rim sys tem, with a

manual backup.The company was also able

to announce itsfirst orderfor the 737 on the

day the final design was revealed.

First 737 Sales

Surprisingly, this order was not from oneof

the major US domestic carriers, despite

Unit ed havi ng been a major target and

contributing a great deal of i npu t i n t o t he

design. At t he t imetha t t hedesign studies

o n t he Boe ing 737 were being initiated,

Unit ed and Eastern Air Lines had been

the only major US carriers uncommitted

in the second-generation, short-haul twin

jet market.

Al though an enthusi::tstic opera to r of

the 727 , Eas tern even t ua l ly op ted for

ordering a large nee t of DC-9s, that could

be del ivered quicker than the 737 that

was still on t he S ea t tl e drawing boards.United, however, continued to co-oper

a t e w i th Boeingon the ir p roj ect . Unit ed

was more interested in the sl ight ly larger

development of t he Boeing design, later

to emerge as the Series 200, 6ft 4in

(lAm) longer t h an t h e Series 1 00 . A s a

result, Wes t G ermany 's L uf th an sa h ad

been t he fi rst t o p l ace an order for twen

ty-two of the ini t ial 737-100 series, thus

becoming the first Boeing a i rl i ner t o be

launched by a non-US customer.

20

Lufthansa had been l ook ing for a jet

replacement f or i ts r em ai ni ng n ee ts o f

piston-powered Convair 440 Metropol i

t an s, as w el l as their turbo-prop Vickers

Viscounts, then ope ra te d on Wes t G er

man domesti c and busy short-haul Euro

pean routes. Also earmarked for replace

ment w er e a handful of piston-powered

Lockheed Super Const el l at i ons , long

since deposed from t he l ong-hau l ser

vices, but sti II used on Lufthansa'shigher

capaci ty domesti c and European sched

ules and some i nc lu si ve -t ou r charter

services.

Lufthansa wasalready operating Boeing

707s and 720Bs on long-range flights , as

wel l a s 727 s on bot h s ho rt a nd mediumlength routes. Originally approached by

both BAC and Douglas as a possible cus

tomer for thei rownshort -haul jetoptions,

Lufthansa h ad b een less impressed with

the smaller capacity and shorter range of

the designs initially on offer. Wit h t he

addi t ion of t he 737, after disposing of its

last propeller-powered airliners, Lufthansa

wou ld be able to offer Boeing jet service

standards to all its customers, throughout

its network.

The original companywas formed in 1926, when two of Germanyspioneerng air trans

portcompanies, DeutscherAero Loyd and Junkers Luftverkehr, merged on24 January,

resultng in DeutscheLuft Hansa. D.L.H. went on to develop into one of Europes largest

pre-warairlnes, both in terms of fleetszeand networkmieage.

The Second WorldWar saw D.L.H., lke most airlnes operatng within the protago

nist natons,working increasingly for the mi tary. A limitedcivi network was main

tained throughout the war years though, and contnued until theadvance of the Ales

madethe operaton impossible. At the end of hostilities, the oncemighty airline was

down to sx serviceableaircraft, aFocke-Wulf Fw200 Condor, aDC-2, aDC-3, two JU

52/3ms and aJunkers JU-88.

In the immediate postwar perod, with theod Germannatondivided into two sepa

rate countres, neither the newly formed Federa Republc of Germany,nor the Peopes

Democratc Repubc ofGermanywere initially permitted to operate their own airlnes.

An East German carrer, initially also caled Lufthansa, later named Interflug, was

establshed by the Communist authorities. However, airlnes of the occupying a les

contnued to operatedomest c flights in West Germanyand international routes were

flownsolely by visiting airlnes of foreign natons.

Eventualy, as theFedera Republc recovered economicaly, permission was granted

for the formaton of a new West German airline and a provisional stock company,

Luftag, was establshed in January 1953.

(Above) Lufthansainauguratedpostwar scheduled

services with Convair CV-340s in 1955. JennyGraddge

TheVickers Viscountwas to be operated by Lufthansa on

European and domesticroutes, Lufthansa

(Below) Lufthansaintroducedthe first 727s to Europe,

namingthem'Europajets'. Theywere operated to North

Afr icaandthe Middle East as well as on busiershort

range flights. Via author

Revvngtheo d nameof Lufthansa on 6August 1954,the airline

domestc network on 1Apri 1955. Ordershad been placed for four

vair CV-340s for regional services and Lockheed delvered an eq

range L-1049G Super Constelat ons. International European flig

1955 and the Super Constelatons inaugurated trans-Atlantic fligh

Over the following years Lufthansa steadily expanded throu

opened more long-rangeflights to South Amerca andthe FarEast

joined the Convairs, the CV-340s being supplemented with im

1958 and the Super Constelations were also augmented by

L-1649A Starlners.

The airlne's success mirrored the financial recovery of the Fe

Lufthansas first jet, the first of a fleet ofBoeng 707s,arrved in

fve years after operatons had started. Boeng 727s, dubbe

Lufthansa,beganappearng on Europeanservices in Apri 1964.

TheBoeng 737 order was placed with a view to replacing the

airlners, then consistng ofthe Convars,Viscounts and the surviv

stelations. The standardizaton on the727 and 737 onthe shor

designed to offer cost savngs byreducing the number of types in

ingthe airline the publc relatonsaccolade of an all-jet feet.



Boeing 737s f inallvstartedrollingdown the productionline in 1966/67. Lufthansa

a requirement for small fle

networks.

The Third Pilot Iss

The 737also had a politi

in that pilots' unions and

the United S tates were i

aircraft be opera ted e i

pilots, or two pi lo tsand a

This arrangement, aswels iv e f or the airlines,

impractical as the 737

been designed from t h e

p il ot e n vi r onmen t , w it

' jumpseat' available for a

ary personnel thar may n

from time to t ime .

The third pilot issue ha

raised shortly before the

Electra turbo-prop entere

late 1950s. Although nev

operated by just two pilo

Pilots' Association (ALP

thirdcrewmember tobe a

engineer, as had been the

vious three-cockpit-crew

wanted all jet-powered eq

the third pilot. As well as

safety and workload issue

a pilot inplaceof a flight e

as a political move in an

ously weaken the rival

[nternational Association

Two o f t he Electra's e

were targeted by the pi lo

cases during contract neg

view to persuading them

view and establish a pr

based National Airlinesm

a compromise that deferr

it was pu t to arbi t ra t ionw

had been delivered. We

management were less fl

ter strike fol lowed a fa

tions. From 21 February

Western was grounded,

refusing to budge. Finally

threatened to hire new

First Steps

Apart from the Avianca and Mexicana

o rd er s, a ll were for the larger series 200.

The Lake Central, N or da ir a nd o rt he rn

Consol i da te d o rd er s w er e f or v er sa ti Ie,

convertible, passenger-cargo aircraft.

It is interesting to note that, apart from

major US carrierWestern Air Lines, all the

above orders were for comparatively small

numbers. Many carriers were still uncon

vinced o f t he prospective economics of

short-haul jet services. Two of the 'Big Four'

US domestic airlines, Eastern and TWA

had already ordered DC-9s over the 737,

d ue t o their earlier availability. American

Airlines had long committed itself to oper

ating a mixedfleetofOne-Elevensand 727s

on their medium and short-haul network.

This left United as the only'Big Four' carri

er still in terested in the 737. The medium

sized and specialist airlines, although eager

to upgrade their serviceswith jets, only had

New Sales

The finalized design forthe Boeing 737-100 revealed a practical twin-jet

airliner with greatpotentialfor growth and development. Lufthansa

CHAPTER TWO

Despite the difficulties, by the t imethe first

aircraft was assembled and 'christened' in a

much-publicized ceremony a t Seat t le , on

17 January 1967, no less than seventeen

carriers had been wooed by Boeing'sever

effic ient sales department into placing

orders for the 73 7. As well as the launch

orders from Lufthansa a nd U ni te d, t he

o rd er book now in cluded a i rc ra f t for

Avianca (two), Braathens (three), Britan

nia Airways ( th re e) , A er Lingus-Irish

International (two), Lake Central Airlines

(three), Mexicana (two), Nordair (three),

Northern Consolidated Airlines (one),

Pacific Air Lines (six), Pacific Southwest

Airlines (six), Pacific Western Airlines

(two), Piedmont Airlines (six), South

African Airways (two), Western Air Lines

(twenty)and Wien Alaska Airlines (one).

737 was completed, in 1970, fol lowing a

major reorganization within the company

due to financial problems, all f inal assem

blyfor the aircraftwas moved south to the

nearby Boeing factory at Renton.

Located 15 miles southeast of Seattle,

the Renton faCility wasalreadyresponsible

for muchof the company's commercial air

liner product ion and the 737 production

line initiallyran alongside that of the 727.

The move o f t h e f in al a ss embly work to

Renton wasgreatlyfacilitated by the 737's

production jigs for the wings having been

made portable from the beginning. Origi

nally th is had b ee n t o e na bl e t he e nt ir e

assembly process to be moved to Wichita,

ifrequired, at a later date.

With the p lac ing of product ion orders

by Lufthansa and United, and other sales

in advanced states of negotiation, the 737

had finally been firmed up from an ever

changeable'paper' proposition to a defin

itive design. The serious task of trans

forming the paper design into a flying,

commercially viable, working airliner was

now underway.

Uni t ed e vent ua ll y

for forty Series 200s,

Pulling It All Together

TO MESSRS BOEING. A BOUNCING BABY

At first, the final assembly of the 737 was

centred on a new218,000sq ft (20,252sqm)

plant at Boeing Field, the company's main

plant, at Seattle. The wings and main body

of the aircraftwerebuilt a t the existingPlant

2. The ta il was constructed at the Boeing

facility inWichita, originallyestablished for

Boeing by the US government during the

war to build the B-29bomber. The B-47 jet

bomberwasalso laterproduced at Wichita.

Muchof the 737's other com ponents, such

as the building ofthe landing gear and much

of the airliner 's in terior work, were con

tracted out to third parties.

[n 1967,Wichita was given responsibil

ity for the construction of fuselages for all

737s, which were then transpor ted to the

assembly line by train, a practice that con

tinues to the present day. Afte r the 271st

i nt o p ro du ct io n.

placed thei r order,

on 15 April [965.

Lufthansa's Influence

Lufthansa had actually been responsible

for persuading Boeingto stretch the origi

nal 73 7 design. In particular, Lufthansa's

Chief Executive, Technical Services, Ger

hard Holtje, pressured Boeing into pro

ceeding with the design t o mat ch t he air

line's needsmore closel y. As fi rst offered by

Boeing's designers, the 737 wou ld have

been a 55-60-passenger airliner. Holtje,

however, insisted o n a n aircraft capable of

carrying up to eighty-two passengers, the

capacity of thei r Super Cons te l la t ions ,

each with 20kg(44Ib) of baggage,as well as

upto 450kg (990Ib) of cargo and mail over

a 500mi (804km) sector with fuel reserves.

[ n t he end, even the smaller 737-100 was

to exceed these performance criteria, with

the larger, higher-capacity Series 200, ini

tially with less range, offering even more

revenue-earning potential.

Lufthansa signed their order for twen

ty-two Series [OOs on [ 9 February [965,

three days before Boeing officially an

n ounc ed t h e l au nch o f t he 737 project

22 23



FIRST STEPS FI RS T S TEP S

of Lake entral 's long-ser

hegun in 1960 wit h the a

ex-United Convair 340,.increasingly unfashionabl

been in service ' ince the

ing, as Turner Airl ines, in

the Nords arrived to bring

to Lake ent ral 's l ess bus

t he o nv ai rwas too large a

ing D -3s were in de pe

more modern replacemen

with many other regional

t ime, Lake Central star

their second-hand Conva

industriali:ed region, thc airlinewas ham

pered by being obi iged to serve numerous

short inter-ci ty routes in between thesepoints. Some limited non-stop authority

had beengranted between larger citie' on

the network, but it was notenough to turn

red ink into black. Rc-cquipment wasa top

priority a nd t he 737s, as well as two 727

laOs also on order, would h av e b ee n t he

f irst s tep i n rep laci ng a f leet of Convair

580and ord 262 turbo-props, of which a

dozen of each wereoperated.

The a ir li ne had placed a l ot of faith in

the small, 27-passenger ord. Replacement

After strugglingwithequipment problems

and a precari ous f inanc ia l pos it ion for

manyyears, LakeCentral A irl ines, of Indi

anapolis, was to vanish before they could

takc delivery of their 737s, a ft er heg in

hought out by Allegheny Airlines. The

Lakc Central network stretched from east

to west from Chicago to Washington DC

a nd n or th to south from Buffalo and

Grand Rapids to Cincinnati in the south.

Although serv ing a prosperous, l arge ly

US operatorsof the DC-9 and BAC One-Eleven twin-jets were notdirectly affected by theAlPA campaign

fora third pilot on the 737. Pctures courtesyof Avaton Hobby Shop

The Loss of the Lake

Central Orders

Lost Custom

rebuttingthe ATA-AIA arguments, point

by point.

Unti l the disputewas settled, the possi

bility of having to operate the 737 undcr

these conditions was to deter a number of

pos si bl e U domes ti c cu 'tomers. Th is

espccial ly aided Douglas in sell ing both

theirstandard andstretched DC-9s to scv

eral smal lcr American regional airlincs.

The disputc rumbled on, with Boeing,

thc airlinc managemcnts, thc FAA and

ALPA, as well as several other bodics, all

making thcir vicws as well known and as

volubly as possible.

In addi t ion to the th ree -p i lo t issue dcter

ringsome potential customers, not all the

seventcen carriers representcd at thc

christening ceremony were to take dcliv

ery of their ordercdaircraft.orthernConsolidatcdand Wien Alas

ka Airlincs combined their operations in

February 1968 and the 73 7 weredel i \'ered

to the resulting newcarrier,WienConsol

idated Airlines. Mexicana later cancelled

their order, leaving Lufthansa and Avian

c a as the only init ial customers for the

Series 100. However, Malaysia-Singapore

Airline' did eventually order five Series

100s, followed later by a further order for

Series 200s.

The negotiations had failed to solve the

issue by Apri l 1967 and a mcdiation board

was appointed in an attcmpt to find a com

promise betwecn ALPA and United. How

ever, the board was recessed on 25 Julywith

no agreement reachcd. ALPA tooka strike

vote at ni tedand 92percent of their pilots

were shownto favourstrikingifthe 737was

not operated by the three-pilotcrew.

During the Summcr, ALPA proposed

to FAA's Westcrn Rcgion and the FAA

Administrator that thrce-man crews

The FAA. hy estahl"h111ga reqlllre111ent for a

three-man cre\\' for ,urlllle Jet transl'{)rt llpcra

t lUlb, coukl en"oUfe that no car rie r would h a n . ~L 'C0 !101 l l IL II1C l ' l1 t l \"L ' t opronde '\cn'icc with les.

t han the highest p"",hk degree ,,( ",(ety 111 the

puhlic l11tere,r.

opera tc on the Boeing 737and t heOne

Elevcn and DC-9. A cco rd in g t o ALPA:

Following instructions from its membership, ALPA later dropped the request for

three-pilot crews on thc One-Elevcn and

DC-9. onet he less, thc un ion s tated that

if the Boeing 737was to be legally required

to operate with three crew, ALPA would

reopen the issue on the other two types as

well. However, in eptember 1967, The

Air TransportAs ociation of America and

the Aerospace Industries Association filed

a r ep or t w it h the FAA, supporting the

two-crew posi t ion. ALPA rcsponded by

Two or Three on the 7377

A bitterdisputebetweenthe pilots'union. AlPA. and Western Air l ines'management centred around who

should occupy the lockheed Electra'sthird flight-deckseat.pilot orflight engineer. AViaton Hobby Shop

the strikers,a new contract wassigned and

once again t he t hi rd p il ot i ssuc was

deferred.

ALPA and FAA representativcs wcrcshown a mock-up of the 737 fl ight deck

design in the au tumn of 1965. Although

the FAA was unable to make any dctcrmi

nation as to l ikely certi ficat ion based on

thc mock-up, which was very basic with

no working (c,lturcs, Unitcd's pilots wcrc

qui ck t o m ak e it known that they disap

proved of the two-crew conccpt bascd on

this mock-up. Twelve months later, an

animatcd mock-up was uscd to tcst crcw

workloads on th c aircraft, Once again, thc

United pi lots' group concluded that a

three-pilot crew would be required.

O \' ember 1966 saw the meeting of

ALPA's directors adopting a rcsolutionrequiring three pilots on Bocing 737s at

a ll t imes . A month earlier, annual con

tractnegotiations had opened with Unit

ed and the question of crcwingon the 737

soon bccame a major issue. Howevcr, at

the same t ime, the FAA notified Boeing

in writing that it tentatively acceptcd

that the 737 could be operated with only

two pi lots, barring any changcs o r n cw

information that may r es ul t f rom the

flight tcst programme.

24 25



The airline pioneered a n

original passenger handlin

as integral airstairson their

an engine running on tight

employing travelling in-f

issue tickets. Although it w

system was not further exp

west. More conventional h

Pacific's Problems

Yet another o f the numero

World War localservice car

to tak e advantage of the in

in a ir t r an spor t, Pac if ic

originally known as Sout

quite neatly and the merg

step in a substantial perio

the airline. Through later

tions and a vigorouspolicy

sion, Allegheny g rew f rom

service carrier into o ne o f

line operators in the USA.

o f t h e Lake Central takeo

727 and 737formed no par

plans and the orderswere

great surprise when merger negotiations

began between the two companies. These

culminated in a vo te to mergeby both air

lines' stockholders on 14 March 1967,

with Lake Cen tr al 's a bs or pt io n i nt o

Allegheny taking effect on I July.

The Lake Central network dove-tailed

into Al legheny' s more easterly system

FIRST STEPS

done Lake Central any favours a nd t he

tragicloss of the th ree crew and all thirty

seven passengers on oneof theConva irs a

month later, caused by a propeller shaft

failure, sawmore passengers avoiding trav

elling with the airline.

A new management team took overand

began promotingthe carrier as the 'A irlinc

with a Heart' , painting large white hearts

on a bright r ed ta iI. Th is wasa Iso derived

f rom Lake Central's earlier advertis ing

claim to be 'Serving t he He ar t o f t he

a t ion' . New route extensions saw the

carrier reaching St Louis in the west and

Louisville in the south, with Convair 580

f ligh ts f rom Indianapo li s . But i t was too

late to save the airline. Many of the new

management t ea m h ad originally come

from AlleghenyAirlines and it came as no

not r et ur n t o service until February 1967

when problems with water methanol and

mineral CorroSiOl, that had caused the tur

hine failures, had been sorted out. At this

time, negotiations began with Boeing to

acquire a small 737fleet, intended forser

\'ice hetween the larger cities o n t h e net

work. However, the bad publicity had not

H4040S

Pacific Air l ines' choiceof DC-3 replacement was a mixedf leetof Martin 202s and 404s. N40408 previously

served with TWA. Va author

turbine power, with Allison 501 prop-jets

replacing their original pi ston engines .

Unfortunately, serious engine problems

led to g ro undi ng o f t he Nord f le et i n

August 1966. Ithough not leading to the

loss of any of the aircraft, o n n o less than

four occasions turbine wheels had failed in

the French-built aircraft's Turbomeca Bas

tan engines. In one i nc id en t, o n 7 July

1966, a n e ng in e actually exploded in

fl ight. The crewm anaged to regain control

and land safely, but passengers had been

badly injured when parts from the disinte

grating engine had punc tured the cabin .

Following another engine f ai lu re a

month later, the Nords were groundedand

the old DC-3s taken ou to f storage, where

they had been awaiting sale, and swiftly

placed back into service. The Nords did

lake CentralAir l ines hadrel ied on their

faithful DC-3s (above) formanyyears

before introducing largerConvair CV

340s (left) thatwere laterre-engined as

CV-580s with turbo-prop power plants.

Pictures va author

(Below) The French-built Nord262 was

a greatdisappointment to lake Central,

althoughthe modifiedaircraft went on

to serve Alleghenyand itsassociates for

manyyears afterthemerger. MAP

FI RST STEPS

26 27



were utilized when larger aircraft, in the

shape of Martin 202s and 404s, replaced the

DC-3s. Ironically, it was left to one o f t h e

larger major US carriers to refine South

west's novel ticketing methods in to the

highlysuccessful Eastern Air Lines 'Shuttle'

between East Coast cities.

Expansion had led to t he company

name being changed to Pacific Air Lines

in March 1958. Despite operating a mod

ern fleet of Boeing 727 jets and Fairchild

F-27 jet-props t ha t had replaced the Mar

tin 202s and 404s, by the mid-1960s,

Pacific Air Lines was beginning to suffer

from severe local competition from both

low-cost and mainline carriers in i ts Cali

fornia-based network. A Ithough it operat

ed between several important WestCoast

cities and boasted an ex tensi ve ne twork

that stretched from southern California to

Oregon and across the evada borde r to

Las Vegas, PacificAir Lineswas held back

by unprofitable local service routes. Most

of these were left over from Southwest's

original network, designed to feed traffic

from suburban Cali forn ian poin t s i n t o

San Francisco and Los Angeles area air

ports. Legallyobliged by its route licences

to serve the uneconomic smaller commu

nities that i t wou ld dea r ly have liked to

have dropped f rom i ts network, Pacific

relied heavily on revenue from service

between the larger c it i es such as Los

Angeles, Sacramento and its home base at

San Francisco.

FIRST STEPS

The 100-passenger Boeing 727-100shad

entered Pacific service on 20 July 1966. A

giant leap from the 48-passengerFairchilds,

the new jet s were neces sa ry to compete

against the major operators in the region

such as United and Western . As well as

alreadyoperating727s of their own, United

werealsoutilizingtheirlargerfour-jet, medi

um-range Douglas DC-8s and Boeing 720s

in the area. Western also flew later model

Boeing 720Bs throughout the region.

Pacific's attempts to compete by plac

ing the 727s into service on non-stop

flights between the few major cities on

their network were hampered further by

increasingcompetition from local lowfare

rival, Pacific Southwest Airlines. Effec

tively suffering competition from both

mainline and low-fare sectors of industry,

costing i t large amounts of revenue, Pacif

ic wa s finding its situation increasingly

untenable A f le et of 737-sized airliners

was seen as being necessary to compete

more economically.

onetheless, events overtook Pacific

Air Lines' fleet pl ann i ng and, in April

1968, the airl ine was to merge with simi

larly disadvantaged West Coast Airl ines

and Bonanza Airlines to form Air West.

The hope was t ha t t he combined opera

tion, with a new network extending fur

t her i n t o t he Pacific northwestand east as

far as Arizona and Utah, would form the

basis of a commercially much stronger

carrier.

Air West favoured the DC-9 as their

preferred smaller, short-haul, jet. Both

Bonanza and Wes t Coa st had operating

the type since 1966, and Pacific Air Lines'

737 orders were cancelled. Pacific's 727s

continued in AirWest servicefor a while ,

and larger 727-200s were later operated

before the company lost its identity in y et

another merger, in June 1979.

Airborne!

After the January roll-oLit and christening

ceremonies, the development Boeing air

craft, registeredN 73700, was preparedforits

first flight and the ensuingflighttestand cer

tification programme. Taxi tests took place

on 8 April 1967, a yearafter the orderbook

for the aircraft reached the 100mark. In the

year, sales had increased to 141 aircraft.

The next day, at 13.15, local time,

N 73 700took to air for the firs ttime. It was

commanded by B ri en Wyg le , Boe in g' s

assistant director of fl ight operations,with

S.L . 'Lew ' Wallick Jm, t he company's

senior experimental testp ilo t, as co-pilot.

The first flight lasted two and a halfhours.

Although it departed from Boeing field,

N73700 was t o m ake i ts firs t landing at

Paine Field, Everett, a lso in Washington

State.This airport had been designated as

the base for the first ten flying hours, for

preliminary assessment of the 737's han

dling characteristics and aircraft systems.

FIRST STEPS

TheBoeing 737 prototype, N73700.tookto the air for the first t ime. fromBoeingField on 17 April 1967.

Boeing

Pacific's Boeing 727s were taken over i n the Air Westmerger, but were laterdisposed of infavour ofmore

DC-9s. Aviaton Hobby Shop

28

On finally landing at Paine Field, Wygle

reported: ' I hate to quit. The airplane is a

delight to fly.'

Clocking up the Hours

With the programme already well behind

schedule, the company nee de d t o g et the

test and certification work underway assoon as possib le. In i ts f ir st month,

73700managed to achieve a total flying

time of 47 hours, 37 minutes. This was 30

per cent more t han t he 727 prototype had

put in overthe same period, andover three

times t ha t o f t he Dash80, prototype of t he

707, Boeing's firs t jet transport, over t en

years earlieI.

The first of Uni ted's Series 200s flew

on 8 August 1967 and was one o f t h e five

early production aircraft that j o ined t he

test and cert i ficat ion programme as soon

as t he y c ou ld be r el ea sed f rom the

production line. Together with 73700,

t hey accompl ished more than 1,300

hours of flight testing that included,

for the first time in a certification pro

gramme, approaches under CAT II bad

weather conditions. Ship number3 sacri

ficed most for the project. Never intend

ed to fly, the aircraft was subjected tovibration tests, st retched and overloaded

todest ruct ion to prove t he s t reng th of t he

design, andshow that Boeing's engineers

had got t he i r sums right.

The FAA Two-Crew Decision

During the 1967 Thanksgiving holiday

week, t he FAA under to ok a s er ie s of

fl ights wi t h t he 7 37 i n the busy Boston-

29

Washington cor r idor , u si

crew. One pilot was from

other from Boeing.

Two round-trips were m

six days that week. Forty

time were amassed, incl

night flights. Both IFR an

conditions, below minimu

di t ions and diversions to

ports , were examined. Inlated instrument failur

incapacitation were inclu

Primarily as a result of

ing week flying, the FAA

ment in December 1967

two-crew issue.

The far-reaching evaluation o

wasstarred in Septcmber 196

ationof thecockpit mock-up.

uat ionsover the p a ~ l two year:



FIRST STEPS FIRST STEPS

months later the resultin

modifications were introd

duction aircraft, and upg

made available for adding

aircraft already in service.

As the first production

delivered, the prototype,

its attention to developin

to allow the 737 to operat

runways. Changes include

replace conventional doors

landing gear, were tested o

and soon discarded.

A moreserious problem t

to light by the flight testpro

inc re ased d rag, p ar t icular

cruise, over the predicted a

drag was over 5 pe r cent

in los s in speed of 30kt. Fo

lift than predicted a nd t he

more powerful, flat-rated ]

allowed an increase in ope

This permitted the basicmis

t o h e met . For the long ter

wind-tunnel t e st ing p rogr

barked upon t o c ur e the

were made as a direct result o f t he d at a

gathered. In particular, the 737 was orig i

nally fitted with 'c lam-shell' -s ty le thrust

reversers, as previously used o n t he 727.

These proved to be ineffective o n t he 737

configuration and a n ew d ef le ct or was

designed and tested on the 73 7 prototype.

It was retrofitted on early production air

craft and later becamestandard equipment.

Also, inflatableseals,originallydesigned to

Certification Awarded

In December1967, boththe series 100and

2 00 Boe in g 7 37 r ec ei ve d simultaneous

certification for airline operations. The

early production aircraft that had partic i

p ated in the test programme were finally

handed over to their new owners for the

first a irline crews to be t ra i ned and con

verted to the aircraft. Once the first crews,

and other opera ti ona l and main t enance

personnel, were t rained, they returned to

t rain their own colleagues and preparefor

full-scale commercial operations.

The value o f t he test programme was

apparent by t he number of changes t hat

operations of [he aircraft in " high-densityair

traffic e nv ir onm e n t t o d e te r min e workload ,

cOl11plexi[y, and safety of ope rmions in a fa il

:-,afe concept. T h . c ~ e n i g h l ~ were pa rt o f ( vcry

extensive f l i g h t ~ t c s [ i n g programme accom

plished by [he FAA and Boeing personnel. The

[echnical Findings cOl11ing oU[ of [hese evalua

[ions are [ hm [ he aircraft can be safely flown

with (l minimum of two pilots.

N73700 visitedremote roughairfieldsto demonstrate itsversati l ity and rugged nature. Va author

Western found themselves obliged by their

agreements w it h ALPA to operate the

aircraft with three crew members on the

flight deck. However, they were the only

carriers to be so encumbered, o th er U S

operators and foreigncarriers were under no

obl iga t ion to con sid er add ing t he e xt ra

crewmember. Most of the operated the air

c ra ft w ith a two-pi lot c rew, as originally

designed from the beginning.

Even once the issue had been settled as far

as the federal regulators were concerned, a

number of American Pilots' organizations

insisted on three flight-deck crew for the

73 7a s par t of bargainingnegotiations with

the airline employers. Both Unit ed and

EA-

(Abovel Lufthansa's first 737-100, D-ABEA,participated in the new type's certification

programmebefore beinghandedover to the airline for initial crew training. Lufthansa

(Top) The firstof theslightlylarger 737-200s joinedthe flight test

programme on 8August 1967, wearingfull Unitedcolours. Boeing

30 31



The 737's New Home FIRST STEPS

as services to Mexico anJ

mercially important Ca

orthwest regional flights

However, citiesserved b

minal points were usually

hour'sflyingtime, oreven lroutes were earmarked fo

Western's new 737s. A larg

heeJ Elecrra turho-props a

surv iv ing p iston-eng incd

operated on these US Wes

regional and multi-stop Ca

wcst-Minncsota-Canada

number of piston-powereJ

stellations and ear ly m

engined, Boeing 71 jets

Alaskan network, werealso

DC-9. Initia l models of b

finally been dismisseJ as

only larger version of the D

able, the series 30, was also

bebig enough and the five

gerseating was seen as infe

six-abreast layout.

Western, that claimed to

States' oldest surviving ca

operating a network that,

ing much of t he western h

mostly comprised short int

A fleet of Boeing nOB jets

ed on longer non-stop rou

more distant parts of W

such as Los Angeles-Minn

Western's Short-Haul Plans

Although from oneof Boeing'smorearche

typal 737 cus tomers , the Western Air

Lines' order had been an important boost

for Boeing' corporate ego, and not only as

i t was f or a s i: ea bl e number of aircraft.

Western had seriously considered the 737's

main rivals, the SAC One-Eleven and the

Canada, served by only basic airport facili

ties and unpaved runways. Th e Boeing 737's

abi li ty to p rovide jet a ir l in er service to

remoteareas withdispersedpopulations was

setto becomeoneof itsmajorsellingpoints.

Just as Western was poised to takedelivery ofthe then ultra-modern 737, it became

the proud owner of afleet of vintage ex-Pacific Northern Airlines piston-powered

Lockheed Constellations, following its purchase ofthe latter airline. MAP

33

The first 737-200 was also used for numerous test programmes. Seen here on water ingestion tests,

examining the characteristicsofthe 737s then unique engine installation. Via author

devices and braking improvements and

low-pressure tyres, as well as new deflec

tors fi t teJ toprotect the lower fuselage and

engine intakes from scuffed-up stones and

debris on rough runways. FAA certifica

tion for g rave l runway operations was

forthcoming i n Feb ru ar y 1 96 9. I n Apr il

and may, 73700 demonstrated its new

rough-field capabilities to airline and gov

ernment agencyrepresentatives.

Particularly interested in thesemodifica

tionswere operator such as Wien Consoli

Jated, ordair and Pacific Western. These

carriers were already planning to fly their

737s into smaller, isolated communities on

t he ir n etwo rk s i n A la sk a and northern

(Below) The Boeing Model 367-BO, the precursor ofthe

KC135 and Boeing 707 models, firstflew from Renton in

1954, Boeing

Renton producton lnes instead. However,Boeingceased producton at the end of hos

tilities and only u t zed a smal partof theonce busy facility for storage.The immediate postwar perod saw little activity at Renton, although theWar Assets

Administration t urned t he deeds over t o t he Cit yo f Renton and it became Renton

Municipal Airport. However, in 1949 Boeinveopened thefactory to buid theC-97A

Stratofreighter, the military tanker/transport version ofthe StratocrUiser airlner.

The 875 Stratofreighters built at Renton were folowed, in 1954, by thesingle Model

367-80, forever afterwards known as the'Dash 80'. TheDash80 was a totally private

venture project by Boeing to develop a tanker aircraft to refuel the B-47and B-52 jet

bombers in flight. As well as beingordered in largenumbersby the US mi tary, as the

KC-135A.the designwas further adapted as theBoeing707, Amercan's firstjet airlin

er. The phenomenal successof the707 led to a greatdeal of expansionat Renton and

producton of the 727 tri-jet began on the site in 1963.

(Above) The Boeing facility at

Renton, known locally as 'Jet

City'.Boeing

32

Boengs decIson tomove 737 fma assembly to its Renton facility came

at a tme of increasing hardship forthe company. Commerca aircraft

saes had dpped severey, resultng in massve lay-offs in 1969. Pro

ducton deays and the three-piot controversy had sloweddown saes

ofthe 737 sncethe initial spurtofinterest The707 wasnearng theend

of its producton lfe, with the 747 wide-bodied airlner project barely

underway and sufferng its own teething and delayed producton prob

lems, partcularly affected by late engnedelveres. The 727 producton

fguresthat had experencedsteadygrowth, dpped sharply in response

to wordWidef nancialproblemsand overcapacitywithin the airlnes. As

par t o f i ts cost-cuttng measures, Boeng decded to consoldate the

707n27 and737 producton lnesat Renton,the first Renton-assembed

737, a Senes 200 forIndian Airlnes, beng fown in December 1970.

Thecompanys associaton With thesitedated back to IS earlestdays,

with aBoeng B-1 fying boat havmgbeen basedat amakeshift seapane

facility on the shoreof Lake Washington in 1922. The fYng boatwas

operated by EdwardHubbard(who aso flewpart-tme as atest-pilot for

Boeingl,asamai servce to Victora, overtheCanadanborderin Brtsh

Coumba. Anew,unpaved, landing stnpwas buit onthe same site,at

Bryn Mawr, later that year. Hubbard sod hs mai flight operaton in

1928, onhs becoming avice-president of Boeng Air Transport.

In October 1928, the airfield was renamed Renton Airport. Over the next few years,although overshadowed by the developmentofSeatte's Boeng Fe d as the northwests

man aeralgatewayforcommercalairlne operatons, Bryn Mawr remained in use as a

busygenera aviaton feld,servngthecityof Renton.

Word war was responsiblefor Rentons sudden transformation from backwater air

field tomajor aircraft assembly plant July 1941 sawthe US Navy and Boeing announc

ingthe immediate erecton of a new aircraftconstructon planton theshores of Lake

Washington, on aplotof land totheeast of Renton Airport Orginaly, it was intended

that Boeng would buid large fying boatpatrol bombers on the1.6million sq ft site.

Opened in Apri 1942, the plant had an immediate effect on the localeconomy, with

Rentons populaton rsingfrom4,000to 16,000durngthewar years. Although few fly

ing boats were finallybuilt at Renton, 1,119Boeing B-29 heavybombers roled off four



FIRST STEPS Ship One

N73700 was initially placed in storage atthe end o f i ts 737 developmentwork, before beingrescued by NASA. Boeing

ANew life

Re-registered N515NA, the aircraft was delvered to Langley on1

considerablework was completed for NASA by Boeing. The most s

was the additon of a second cockpit in the forward cabin. Ths

equipped with experimental layouts and could be used to control th

conventonal cockpit still manned and capable of taking overat any

For over twenty years, N515NA participated in the development

technologies. The 'glass cockpit flight display, microwave landing

formance evaluaton, windshear sensor and wake-turbulence testin

of over twenty aerial researchprojectsassignedto the aircraft ove

Folowing its replacementat Langley by aBoeing 757, retremen

September 1997, withal dueceremony. That evening it was flow

place at BoeingField, to its newowners at theMuseum of Flgh

Moses Lake, Washington and still with amodest3,000hours fyin

will eventualy join aBoeng 247, 727, the prototype 747and aDe H

in the museum's newairliner extension at BoeingFe d.

confgured aircraft, theTerminal ConfguredVehicle Program even

redundant N73700 asan ideal airborne test-bed.

Once the initial certification and test flights were completed,the first 737,development

aircraft N73700, was effectively redundant. Apart f rom the rough-feld operatons

research that contnued into eary 1969, work assignments for the pioneerng aircraft

wererapidlydeclning. Later producton-model aircraft tended to undertakeany devel

opmentresearch, any modifications beingable to be made durng thatparticularair

crafts manufacture. As such, several 737s took on N73700sBoeingl very,with simiar

generictest registrations. However, the actual prototypewas parked up, engineless,at

Renton,havng completed 978hours of testf ying.

Havngbeen much modifed durngthe test programme,conversionfor resale andcer

tification forcommercial operaton ofN73700was out of thequeston. It would have

required an expensiverebuid, even assuming acustomer fora single Seres 100 could

be found.

After fouryearsin storage,N73700 finally found asaviour intheshape ofthe Naton

a Aeronautcs and Space Administration. NASA had originally been formed topromote

and organize the US space programme, in responseto Russan success in the 'Space

Race. As space-ore nted workdeclned, NASAbecame more involved in research into

fixed-wing aircraft operatons and technology. Much of this involved work on civian

projects andan aircraft was needed foranew projectat NASAs Langley Research Cen

ter in Virginia. Establshed to investigate advanced technology for conventonaly

Both Wien and Northern Consolidated madegood

use o f the DC-3 on their Alaskan services for many

years. Via aUhor

conditions on routes into operationally

d iff icu l t a i rpor ts, many a t h igh a l t itude

with basic facilities and rest r ic tcd run

ways. The Avianca aircraft were intended

for the busier dome t icand regional route

network, b a e d on the Columbian capi

t al , Bogota. Even Bogota' s own airport

was a t 8 ,355ft (2 ,547m) above ea-Ievcl,

with notoriously difficult, mountainous

approaches.

By the mid-1960s Avianca was operat

ing it longer-ranging services to the U A,

the Caribbean and Europe using Boeing

720B. ew Boeing 727jetsalso flew major

regional and domestic fl ights, alongside

Lockheed Constellations, dcposed from

international routes by the 720Bs. A large

fleet of piston-engined,DouglasD -3s and

D -4s operatedon the domestic nctwork.

Many of th ese were f it te d with uprated

engines, and even rockets, to assist takc

offsfrom hort runways a t h igh elevations.

The addition of the 737 t o t he Avianca

fleet would allow the retirement of more of

thc agcing piston aircraft and see the intro

ductionofjet ervice to moreregional cities.

Thc type' promisedhigh pel{ormance from

smallcr airfields was especially attractive to

Avianca, and others, operating routes into

airports locatcd among difficult tcrrain.

Any disappointment within Boeing over

the initiallyslow d ome t i cs a le o f t he 737

wereoffsetbygrowing interest from export

customers. Avianca's choiceof the h igher

pcrformance Series I 0 was dictated by

Foreign Interest

the geographically challenging Alaskan

terrain. Wien also flew a handful of larger

aircraft, such as DC-3s , -46 s, a Fai r ch ild

P ac ke t, as w el l as i ng le examples o f t h e

much larger DC-4and a Lockheed L-749

Constellation on busier service. Both air

lines had also been carly operators of the

Fairchild F-27B turbo-prop. Their F-27Bs

had large forward cargo doors and were

convertible to a varie ty of passenger/cargo

configurations. This flexibility wasimpor

tant for the rugged, cver-changing, Alas

kan commercial air transport scene.

The merger of the two car r ie r s was

approved by the Civil Aeronautics Board

in Feb ru ary 1968. This crcated a much

stronger carrier, better a bl e t o compete

with an increasingly strong A laska ir

lines a nd t he powerful new entrant into

Alaska, Western Air Lines, following the

latter's take-overof Pacific Northern. The

Wien Consolidated Airlines' 737s, espe

cially those f it t ed wi th cargo doo rs and

convertible cabins, were to provide new

jct service to morc rcmotc arctic points,as

well as l ink ing the major laskan cities.

Northern Frontier Customers

AIthough the one-plane orders ofNorth

ern onsolidatcd and Wi en laska Air

lines were destined to become a 'f leet ' fol

lowing the merger o f t he two carriers , it

was still asmall order by Boeing standards.

However, for the airlines concerned i t was

a majo r le ap fo rward in equipment policy.

Fairbanks-based Wien wa the sen ior

airline of the two, tracing i tsorig ins back

to pioneer'bush' carriers in Alaskaoperat

ingas early as 1924. Northern Consolidat

ed Airlineshad begun operations in 1945,

from Anchorage. Both had benefited from

a postwar boom in the Alaskan economy,

as well as a redistribution of a numberof

local trunk routes previously operatcd by

A la sk a i rl in es and Pan American'

Alaskan subsidiary.

Routeswere served by a varie ty of small

typcs, such as Cessna and Pilatus single

and twin-engined a ir craf t , wel l sui t cd to

whenWcstcrn tookover Pacific Northern

Airline in 1967.

The much publicized 'commonality'

with other Boeingtype also worked heav

i ly in favour of Western ordcringthe 737,

with ome part, suchas tyres, being inter

changeable with the Boeing 720B fleer.

LargerBoeing727-200swere al 0 ordered

by Western to supp lement the 737s and,

eventually, rcplace thc 72 Bs.

34 35



f rom S r eg io na l c ar ri er s

matic of t he interest in the

ing sector of t he U airlin

viding prof i ta b le jet ser

routes. Two other regional

resented a t t he ' chr i st eni n

take delivery o f t he ir or

Pacific outhwest Airlines

Airlines,op erated very diff

s( 'rv ing very different c

onetheless, both were a

advantage ofthe 737's promon thei r regional routes.

CHAPTER THREE

Despite the Lake entral and Pacific Air

Linesorders being cancelled after the carriers vanished in mergers, other order

US Regional Interest

for which it had originally been conceived.

A lthough a number of suchcustomerswere

placing orders, the 73 7 was increasingly

b ei ng s ee n as a candidate for charter ser

vice, regional international routes and even

some longer-range operations.

New CustoDlers, New Application

NewMarkets

The neat, two-pilot, flight-deck ofthe initial Boeing

737-100. Lufthansa

When the ordersfrom various pontificating

carriers did start to come in for the 737, it

was not alwaysfrom operators interested in

utilizing the aircraft in the purely short

haul, in ter-city , scheduled airline climate

arrangement for the single Comet had been

terminated when five second-hand omet

4s were purchased from BOAC, the first

having been del ive red in late 1965. Th e

new fleet enabled jet services to be extend

ed to Manila , Taipei, Perth and Phnom

Penh. Longer-ranging ambitions s aw a pai r

of Boeing 707s beingordered for new routes

to Europe, and the 737 s were o rd ered to

eventually replace the Comet on the

regional jet flights.

(Belowl The first 737-100s displayedlufthansa·sthencurrent tail livery,soon

replacedby a new design before delivery. Boeing

FI RST STEPS

supplementeda fleet of DC-3s, a DCA, Vis-count 700 sand a new f le et of Fokker F-27

Friendships. The omet flew regional trunk

cheduled services from Singapore to Hong

Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok.

A change of name to Malaysian Airways

followed the 1963 formation of the Federa

tion of Malaysia. T he n ex t change, to

Malaysia- ingapore Airlines in 1967, oc

curred afterSingapore had secededfrom the

Federation in 1965. By t he n t he leasing

Eastern Market Entry

(Above) Ex-BOAC De Havilland Comet 4s were thefirst jet equipmentfor the

Singapore-based carrier. Aviaton HobbyShop

The choice of the 737 by Malaysia- inga

pore i rl in es , the type'sfirst Far Eastem cu

tomer,had less t odowith operations into dif

ficult airports, although the high take-off

pelformance would certa in ly prove useful

under s om e t ro pi ca l c on di ti on s. M A,

whichbeganoperations as Malayan Airways

in 1947, opened je t services in December

1962, with a leased BOACComet 4. This

36 37



Southern Regional Pioneer

PiedmontAirlines hadfollowed a tradition

al evolution in US local airservice. Formed

in 1940 as a charter and general aviation

company in orth Carolina , Piedmont

moved into scheduled services in 1948. As

the newcarrier expanded during the 1950s,

a large fleet of DC-3s was built up linking

numerous southern towns with larger citie ,

roughly borde red be tween Washington,

Charleston, Atlanta and Louisville.

404

NEW CUSTOMERS. EW APPLICATIONS

Th e airline had been a pioneer among

the l oc al s er vi ce c ar ri er s i n operating

turbo-props, Fairchild F-27s, a version of

the Dutch-designed Fokker E27 Friendship

built under l icence in the SA, from 14

November 1958. However, Piedmont was

not to totally abandon piston-engined

operations, placing the fi rst of a large fleet

of second-hand Martin 404 s in se rvice in

1962. Large r Fai rchi ld FH-ZZ7s began

replacing the earlier F-27s from early 1967.

A surpriseorder,for ten japanese-produced

ihon Y -II A, 60-passenger, turbo-prop

airliners was placedlater that year.

Turbo-Prop to Jet

Expansion of Piedmont's network, w it h a

numbe r o f n on -s to p route authorities

being granted, l ed t o the airline actively

looking for jet equipment. The acquisition

of jets by regional carriers was initially

resisted by the Civil Aeronautics Board,

which was re pon ib le for allocating mail

subsidy payments, a vita l lifeline for most

ofthe local servicecarriers. However, their

awarding of routes encroaching on the

major trunk airlinesleft t he CAB with lit

tle choice but to approve the upgrading of

equipment in order for the smaller carriers

tob e able to compete with the 'majors' on

their new routes.

Intervention by the CA B had led to the

cancellation of a number of earlyordersfor

the British BACOne-Eleven from U c ar

riers. However, such action was resisted by

Mohawk Airlines, who per i st ed in their

wish to acquire a jet fleet for their local

routes. Mohawk eventually convinced the

CABtha t they would not require anyextra

subsidy to operate the jets. Within four

years, everyone of t he local service carri

ers, as designated by theCAB, hadordered

jets. For the mostpart, their orders werefor

the Douglas twin-jet, the DC-9, but t he

larger 73 7wasalso at tract ing ome interest.

Piedmont's Jet Debut

Piedmont actually began je toperations on

15 March 1967, when a Boe ing 727-100

was leased from the manufacturer. As well

a s p rovid ing a competitive edge on new

direct flight to New York and Washington,

the use of thisaircraft wa to provide Pied

mont with valuable je t experience before

taking delivery ofthe 73 7s. A second leased

727-10 arrived inApril. However, tragedy

struck on 19 julywhen the original aircraft

NEW C STOMERS, NEW APPLICATIONS

was involved in a mid-air collision.Climb

ing out o f Asheville/Hendersonville,dur

ing an Atlanta-Asheville/Hendersonville

Roanoke- ew York/La Guardia service,

the aircraftcollidedwith a Cessna 310 light

twinaircraft that was approaching the same

airport. The seventy-nine occupants of the

727, and the three in the essna, all per

ished in theen uingcrashes. Piedmont Air

line 's in itial 737 order was for s ix ser ie s

200s, earmarked for longer routes between

largercities on t h e network.

California's Jet Commuter

Like Piedmont A irl ines, Pacific Southwest

Airlines had a lr ea dy be n a jet operator

before ordering the 737. Their Boeing727

fleet had entered s ervic e in 1965 and a

fleet o f t h e larger 727-200 were also on

order to replace their i ni ti al e ri e 100 s.

The 737s were on order as more economic

supplements to the 727s on services with

lower average loads, in addition to replac

ing the last of a fleet of Lockheed Electra

turbo-props.

PSA was seen by the trunk carriers asa

'maverick' carrier and its continued sur

vival was a major headache for United and

Western ir Lines, encroaching as it d id

on their traditional West Coast operations.

Initially operating asa flying school at an

Diego, in southern California, founded by

Kenneth Friedkin in 1945, P A inaugurat

ed a scheduled service from an Diego to

San Francisco on 6 May 1949.

A single DC-3 was oper

Southwe t'searly passenger

in through the lobby o f

school, using a set of bath

weigh baggage. Despite the

of t he early operations, 15

were carried on t he route i

o doubt th is was mostly

P A f are of 10, instead of

charged by ni ted and We

able to undercu t t he o t he

cheduled services werewh

within the borders of t he s

nia, and therefore the feder

jurisdiction over the c omp

PSA satisfied the Californ

ties Commission as to its fi

it could set its own fares w

influence other than mark

CCA's Failure

Although concerned at th

traffic, the incumbent carri

ed PS A to be a passing

nother low-farecarrier, Ca

Airlines, was alsooperatin

nia PUCauthor i ty a t t he t

began operations with DC

1949,with scheduledflights

cisco (Oakland) to Los Ang

Larger DC-4s, Martin 202

Lockheed Constellation w

cope with t he demand fo

9.99, one way. However,

tral hael made the mistake o

(Above) The piston-powered Martin 404 was introduced into Piedmont Airlines'

serviceafterthecarr ier had alreadyacquiredturbo-prop F-27s. A viaton HobbyS hop

(Be/owl The Japanese-designed NAMC YS-llA turbo-prop also

served on Piedmont'sregional andlocal services. Va author

38

CaliforniaCentral 'scolourful fleetof Martin 202s fai ledto make money.despite attractinghigh passenger

loads on theirlow-fare services. MAP

39



N E W C U S TOM E RS . N E W A P P L I CA T I ON S N E W C U S TOM E R S. N E W A P P L I CA T I ON S

(Above) The use ofnew lockheed l-188 Electras made PSA's major airline

rivals start to takethe San Diego-based airline seriously. Aviaton HobbyShop

Braathens' Shippin

Beginning with a handful

operators in the l at e 1

1950s, the inclusive-tou

mushroomed, until by th

started to rival scheduled

carriage of the majority

within Europe. The road h

easy one, wi th many early

ning foul of regulatory aut

cumbing to commercial pr

A subsidiaryof a long-esta

concern, Braathens had b

a s a long -haul scheduled

services from Norway to t

South America. Norway

in the formation o f SAS

Airlines System), the join

the Danish Airline DOL, t

rier ABA and orway's D

the orwegian authorities

renewBraathen'sauthority

al scheduled services when

renewal in 1954. The agr

the th ree Scand inavian c

that SAS was to begiven t

such routes.

Braathens survived as asc

tic carrier within Norway a

A n ew mar ke t that was to become very

important to Boeingin the following years

was the rapidly growing number ofcharter

airlines,especially in Europe. The indepen

dent Norweg ian a ir line , Braathens , h ad

ordered the 737 for its scheduled domestic

network, but alsooperatedan extensive programme ofcharter flights. The bold place

mentof an order by all-charteroperator Bri

tannia Airways, based at Lut on i n the

United Kingdom, for brandnew 737s sent a

message to their commercialrivals to mod

ernize as well or soon risk losing business.

The postwar explosive growth of com

mercial charter flights , especially in the

European inclusive-tour holiday market,

had been an extraordinary phenomenon.

Charter Airline's Choice

competed. When, in 1965, it opened ser

vices from San Jose to Los Angeles, it

practically wiped o ut t he long-standing

operator on the route, Pacific Air Lines,

overnight. PSA was a bl e t o charge $12,

while CAB-controlled Pacific was legally

obliged to charge $24. Th e adverse eco

nomic effect of PSA on Pacific's opera

tion was one o f the main factors in Pacif

ic Air Lines' eventual dire need to merge

in toAir West.

The Douglas DC-6Bs served Braathens on worldwide charters as we l l as seeingservice on the busier

routes on its Norwegiandomestic network. MApl

ANew Fleet

PSAmadea verybo ld move in 1957, with

the announcementof anorderfor three new

Lockheed Electra turbo-props. Friedkin had

actually announced his intention to order

two FrenchSud AviationCaravelIe jetsfor

PSA earlier that year, butthe deal was never

finalized. Instead, the 98-passengerElecn'as

were acquired, entering service in Decem

ber 1959 and quickly replacing the DC-4s.

Wi th t he arrival of the Electras, United

and Weste rn f in al ly b egan to tak e PSA

much more seriously and introduced low

fare jet services to compete. However, by

nowPSA was firmlyestablished as a popu

lar alternative to t he t ru nk carriers and

managed to f ight o ff the big guns. Three

add it ion al Ele ct ra s b egan a rr iving f rom

1961 as frequencies and l oa ds b ui lt up

throughout PSA's exclusively Californian

network. Even with the arrival of the first

727s in 1965, the Electrascontinuedto pro

vide valuable, economical service to PSA.

As well as the trunk carriers , PSA's

operations also had a major effect on

local service carriers on whose routes it

establishments up anddown theCalifornia

c oa st . A s a r es ul t, PSA soon gained the

nickname of 'Poor Sailor's Airline'.

Los Angeles-San Francisco (Oakland)

f ligh t in 1955. The 31-seat DC-3s were

rep lac ed by 70-sea t DC-4s , purcha sed in

ovember 1955. The frequent, low-fare,

services were popularwith passengersfrom

many different walks of Californian life.

They wereespecially popularwith person

nel on leave from the many US Navy

(Below) Pacific A i r l i n e ' s F-27 turbo-prop servicesfrom San Josewerebadly

hit bythearrivalof PSA jets on localroutes from thearea. Va author

United and Western sat and waited for

PSA to follow CCA's fate, only introduc

ing nominal fare reductions and schedule

changes to combat PSA's in trusion into

their ' te rritory ' . However, they wer e t o

be disappointed. Four DC-3s were in ser

v ic e wi th PSA by 1952 and new routes

were only steadily introduced, including a

P S / ~

too quickly and was struggling to cover the

costs of day-to-day operations, let a lone

expensive re-equipment costs. CCA record

ed a def ici t of over $1,000,000 in 1953,

notwithstanding the impressive total of

137 ,000 pas senger s c ar r ied. In Feb ru ary

1954, Cal i fo rnia Centra l Airl ines went

into voluntary bankruptcy.

40 41



NEW CUSTOMERS. NEW APPLICATIONS NEW CUSTOMERS. EW APPLICATIONS

The suddendemiseof once-busy Overseas Aviation lefttravel companies like UST with angry and

inconvenienced clients throughout Europe. Va author

43

Euravia's Constellation,G-AHEN, hadoriginallybeen deliveredto BOAC. It had laterbeen California

Central'ssole Constel lation, wearing California Hawaiian titles. before being sold on to los Angeles Air

Service and EI AI. finally joiningEuravia at luton. Jenny Gradidge

The arrival ofsecond-handBristol Britanniaturbo-props promptedEuravia to change itsname to Britannia

Airways. Jenny Gradidge

BritanniaAirways. Although theConstel

lations continued i n us e u nt il l at e \965,

they did not t ak e o n t he new name.

A well as offeringa more modern, com

fortable, quieter ride t ha n t he onstella

t io n , the Britannia also enabled Britanniairways to offer one o f t h e first hot-meal

cateringservices by a Britishall-chartercar

rier. Their reliability becamelegendary in a

ectorofthe K's airline operations far too

used tooperating ageingairlinerswith dubi

ous maintenanceschedule. As Britannia,

and the other IT operators, switched over

to more modern types, the industry finally

began to gain a reputationfora much high

erquality of product andattract even more

of the mass travel market.

The Expanding IT Market

Euravia eventually chose to re-equip with

a fleetofex-BOAC Bristol Britannia 102s,

then in s torage a t Cambridge A irpor t .

Configured for 117 passengers, the Britan

nias entered service witha Luton-Tenerife

charter in December 1964. Their arrival

a ls o s aw a c ha ng e o f c ompany n ame, t o

much of i t was snapped upby other inclu

sive-tour companies and Euravia's reputa

t ion w ith in the industry grewapace.

The e igh t onste lla tions inu se in 1963

were oon averaging 1,300 h ou r o f rev

enue flyinga month. However, the trusty

Lockheed were rapidly reaching t he e nd

of thei r useful life and Euravia began to

look a t t he ir o pt io ns for a replacement.

42

hangerage at Luton Airport, nor thof Lon

d on , in ear ly \ 96 1. Three second-hand

LockheedConstellationswereacquiredand

the first UST clientswerecarriedfrom Man

chester to Palma in May \962.

W it h t he financial security of Tbehind them, Euravia's management were

able to offer a standardof professional sel

vice rarelyseen in the independent sector

before. A ft er o nl y o ne s umme r season,

Euravia bought out anotherConstellation

operator, Skyways Ltd and, with the addi

tion ofthe Skywaysfleet and more second

handConstellations, the airline had a 1 60

per cent increase in passenger capacityon

offer for 1963. As well as using the ex tra

capac i ty to increase UST's operations,

EuraviaTakes to th e Skies

Euravia (London) Ltd, as the new airline

was initially named, established offices and

a number of abrup t bankruptc ies among

Britains' independent airlines, including

several contracted to U T.The most significant of the e wa s the

ce sation of operations by Overseas Avia

t io n, w hi ch ope ra te d a l ar ge f le et of

Canadair Four and Vicker Vikings from

Gatwick. U T was just one o f t h e ir cus

tomers lef t w i th c l ien t s t randed all over

Europe. The tour company wa deter

mined never to be l ef t in that position

again a nd t o takemore direct control over

the air t ranspor t sect ion of the hoIidays

they sold.

Britain's Holiday Specialists

andjet speeds ofthe 73 7s on orderwasto be

welcomed by Braathens in both markets.

I t was the order from Britannia Airways

that drew other non- cheduled operators'

attention to the potential o f t h e Boeing

7 37 a s a charter a ir cr af t. t il l a compara

t ively young airline, Britannia Airways

had started operations in \962, formed as

a subsidiary of Universal ky Tours, one of

the UK' leading inclusive-tour operators.

UST had previously chartered from sever

al d i ff e rent companies to carry their

clients. However, the summer of \96\ saw

fly internationally on cha rt er services

throughout the world. Defiantly continuing

to operate as Braathens outh American

and Far Eas t i rt r an spor t AI , which was

conven ien tly contrac ted to 'Braathens

.A.F.E.' in the aircraft livery, the airline

enthusiasticallyentered the IT market as it

grew in Europe.

o rweg ians enjoy a cheap halid::lY as

much as any other Europeans and soon

Braa th en s was f ly ing c l ient s for several

Scandinavian tour operators. The charter

network rapidly expand d to reach as far as

southern Europe and Africa. On a dai ly

basis, Braathens' fleet of Fokker F.27 turbo

props and piston-enginedDC-6Bs were just

as l ik ely to be car ry ing sun seeker s to a

M diterranean island resort, as carrying

Oslo bu inessmento appointments incities

near the Arctic Circle. The extra capacity



NEWCUSTOMERS. NEW APPLICATIONS One Rule for One?

BEA used much of their fleets spare capacity on 'nighttourist schedules, improving utilization for their

Comet 4Bs and other types. Alarge proportion of the available seats were sold to travel companies for use

on IT holidays. Via author

The upgrade to jets wasseenas a serious threat by the independen

establishedservices. BOAC also protestedthat the Bermudan subsidia

than a 'paper airline, with the bulk of its operations now undertaken

parent company thatwas notlicensed for the scheduledservices und

However, the whole argumentsuddenly became immaterial only a

whenthe shipping lineowners ofCunardEaglesold the trans-Atlant

with the707s, to BOAC, in June 1962. All the CunardEagleCaribbean

work had been absorbed into BOAC by September. The European n

Eagle, bought back by the airlines disgruntled founder, Harold Ba

rebranded as BritishEagle International Airlinesand expanded its UK

CunardEagle Airways registered itsBoeing 707 with its subsidiary, CunardEagle (Bermuda), lor sc

trans-Atlanticservices. Aviation Hobby Shop

BOAC imported a large fleet 01 Boeing 707s, claiming that the UK-built alternativeswere less suita

operations. Via author

(Below) Followingthe acquisition of Cunard Eagles Atlanticnetwork,a number 01 BOAC aircraftca

Cunard'titles. Aviation Hobby Shop

PastLoophoes

One independent carrier, Cunard Eagle Airways, had found itself with an alternative

option in the early 1960s. Eager to replace its fleet of Bristol Britannia turbo-props with

jets, Cunard Eagle ordered a pair of Boeing 707s. Despite being powered by British

built Rolls Royce Conway engines, just like BOAC's early

707s, Cunard Eagle was faced withan import tax bill.Orig

inally intended for a London-New York service,the licence

forwhich was revoked following BOAC's protests before

operations could begin, the Cunard Eagle707s were quick

ly reassigned to Caribbean routes.

Cunard Eagle, when still known as Eagle Airways, had

establishedsubsidiaries based in the Bahamas and Bermu

da in the late 1950s. Operating Viscount-scheduled ser

vices to mainland USA, and later across theAtlantic to the

UK with London-based Britannias, the subsidiaries were,

effectively, local airlinesoutside the control of UK authori

ties. Thus, the first Cunard Eagle 707 was re-assigned to

the Bermudan company,with a Bermudan registration and

opened scheduled trans-Atlantic services from London to

Bermudaand the Bahamas, in May 1962

BOAC was unlikely to let Cunard Eagles actions go

unchallenged and a legal appealwas expected.The original

licence for the route hadbeen granted on thebasis of low

fare, low-frequency, 'coach class' services being offered.

British government permission to import such expensive

items as airliners depended on there being no alternative

item available on the home market. Otherwise,expensive

customs duties would become due on their importation.

State-owned BOAC hadmanaged to avoid payinginflated

duties on their largely American-builtfleets overthe postwar

years by consistently 'proving thatthe UK-produced alter

natives were 'inferior. Even where BOAC had, reluctantly,

accepted aUK-built fleet,such as with theVickers VC-l0ver

susthe Boeing707, BOAC would demand some sort of sub

sidy to cover alleged extra costs ofoperating theBritishtype.

Also state-owned,British European Airways had notbeen

able to persuade the governmentto allow it to import aircraft

from abroad. BEA operated its services with a fleet ofBritishbuilt Tridents, Comets, Vanguards, Viscounts, Dart Heralds

and Herons.The last foreign-builtBEA fixed-wing aircraft in

service had been DC-3s that had beenwiththe airlinesinceits formation in 1946and that

were disposed of in 1962. Asmall fleet ofAmerican-built Sikorsky helicopterswere oper

ated on scheduled and charter flights, in the absence of any viable European, let alone

British-built, alternatives. Perhaps in an attempt to placate the UK industry over BOAC's

apparent pro-US tendencies, BEA was repeatedly told to 'BuyBritish.

neer of eighr Britannia's wirh identical seating

capaciry. Brimnnia Airways will he the firsr

operator of rhe 200 Series in Europe, follOlved

closely be Aer Lingus. The invesrment, includ

ing spares is abour £4,250,000.

Of course BrimnniaAirwayswould have pre

ferred ro buy Brirish jers. However,our srudies

led inexorahly to the conclusion thar Brirish

jers offered r ous could only he operated, in our

particularset of circumstances, at a loss.

Ar rhe requesr of rhe rhen MinisrerofAvia

tion we rried again last December wirh a lead

ingBritish manufacturer tofind some way outof

our dilemma. This efforr too failed. The Min

isrry of Aviarion have never quesrioned our

basic G-1SC presented (0 them months ago in an

a i d c ~ t l l c m o i r e .Under rhe rerms "f rhe Import Dury Act o f

1958,a Brirish airlinerequiringaircrafrof foreign

manufacture in order to compete with foreign

airlines on international routes may be a l lowed

waiver of importduty. Thiswa iver hasnot heen

allowed on rhe grounds tharsimilar aircraft arc

procurable in rhe UK. Britannia Airways refutesthis vicw and are asking fora rcvcrsal of this deci

sion. To describe an aircrafr which can only he

operated againststrong competition fromforcign

airlines at a loss (similar' t o o n c whi c h c a n suh

smntially assisr rhe development ofrhe Bririshair

transporr indusrry is clearly preposrerous.

Unlike the government owned airlines, our

traffic rights arc norprotecred,nor is rhe chaner

rare we charge conrrolled in any way. If foreign

airlinescan offer bettcr rares than wc can there

is nothing to stopthemtaking away our business.

Britannia's Case

Although still Iiable for a 14 per cent

import duty, Britannia Airways went ahead

withtheir 737 plans and finally announced

t hei r orde r for three Series 200s i n J un e1966. Reacting to sensational newspaper

headlines of the 'Britannia Orders Ameri

can I' variety, the airline's then managing

director, J.E.D. Williams, wasswift to justi

fy the irchoice of the foreign option:

Rr ir annia Airways has nbwined government

permission to import rhree Boeing 737-200 air

craft for delivery in spring 1968. The new twin

engined jer wil l he operared on package holi

days wirh 117 scats in addirion to rhe exisring

44

Eleven, butsoon dismissed i tas a viableBri

tannia replacement. The early One-Eleven

models lacked the Britannia's capacity and

a l though the stretched Series 500, st il l on

the drawing board a t the time, would match

it, Britannia wanted to increase their pas

senger-carrying capacity. Th e onl y o t he r

home-produced passenger jet of suitable

size, the three-engined Hawker Siddeley

Trident, was deemed too expensive opera

tionally on char t er services. Th e airline's

preference soonsettledon thetwin-engined

Boeing 737, in particular the larger Series

200. However, the major obstacle of import

duty h ad t o be resolved before Britannia

Airways could take delivery of any aircraft.

The Competition's

Jet Services

Th e use of jets on UK IT services was very

limited in the early 1960s. The Comet 4B

fleet o f t h e state-owned British European

Airways operated a number of night-time

ITcharters and cheaper,scheduled, night

ra te touris t flights when not flying their

European schedules in the daylight hours .

The imminent arrival of BEA's fleet ofTri

dent je tswould see the Corporation mak

ing even more use of spare capacity for IT

charters and tourist-class flights.

Th e independent British air lines did

not offer jet services on any appreciable

scale until t h e i nt ro du ct io n o f British

United Airway's BAC One-Eleven and

VC-IO f le et s i n 1964/65. British Eagle

International Airlines followed with their

One-Elevens i n 1 96 6. Both BUA and

British Eagle sold much of the i r je t capac

ity t o IT operators from the beginning of

their One-Eleven operations, supplementing their use on scheduled services. More

One-Elevens were on order for operators

such as Channel Airways and Laker Air

ways, which were alreadymajor players in

the I T m ar ke t. Dan-Air Se rv ice s took

delivery of the first of what was to become

a sizeablef leet ofsecond-handComet jets,

with ex-BOAC Comet 4s entering IT

charter service from Gatwick i n 1966 .

Eager to remain competitive , Britannia

Ai rways a lso looked at t he B AC One-\



NE W CUS TOM E RS. NE W A P P LI CA T I ONS NE W CUS TOM ERS. NEW APPLICATIO S

Caledonian's Dilemma

London/Gatwick-based Caledonian Airways faced a similarduty problem to Cunard

Eage, a few years later, when it attempted to order some707s to replace its Britan

nias on trans-Atlantic charter services, Faced with a cripplng tax bill imposed for

importing the Boeings, Caledonian was forced to lease outits first 707 to an Ameri

can charter carrer, FlyngTiger Lne, for ayear before the dispute was finally settled

'amicably' with the UK Customs authorities. The airline still had topay a sizable

import duty.

Caledonianwas verykeenon orderng the737-200for use in its European IT services.

The Boeng 'commonalty' with Caledonians 707swas amajor factor in the airlne's

choice, as was thehgh performance promised and its increased capacityavai able over

rval types. Caledonian came close to signingthe 737 contract. but found thecustoms

issue getting in the way again.

Face with another longdebate with the authorities, the airlne was aso warned that

it may be expected topay increased duty on itsalreadydelvered 707s if the737 order

went ahead. Underincreasing pressure from tour companies to replace its remaining

Britannias with jets as soon as possible, Caledonian was forced to withdraw from

negotiations with Boeng. Instead, a fleetof British-built BAC One-Eeven Seres 500s

was ordered and placed into service in 1969.

Refusal to waive duty in sueh circumstances

would weaken the British air transport industry

without prorec t ing the manufactur ing industry

to thesl ightestdegree .

Britannia Airways advised the government

six months ago that under no c ircumstances

could the irope ra t ion be viable with a Br it ish

manufac tured je t and suppor ted this a sse r t ion

w i th t e chn ic al a nd e c onomi c d a ta . We s t a t ed

that, regardless of the government ' s decis ion,

we could not buyBritish.

Ifour assertionsare acceptedthere is no ques

tion of p r ot e ct i ng t h e home indu st r y a nd no

casefor the refusal of waiver.If ourassertionsare

not accepted we should be told why. We have

repeatedly offered to give the government any

informationthey maydesire. othing has been

requested sinceour original aide-memoire.

Very detailedstudies of the capabilities of jet

aircraft currently offered by British and Ameri

can manufacturers, in Ollr particular c i r c u m ~stances, led us to theseconclusions:-

I. A commerciallyacceptablereturn on invest

ment could not be obtained in our particular

business on any British jet.

2. Ifwe hought a British jet we could besW8mped

loy any of several foreignairlines iftheybought

Boeing737-200s or DC-9-30s.

3. The procurement of a l30eing 737-200 fleet

would en8hlc us to offer che8per than ever

t r8nsport be tweenthe UK and the Medite r

r anean,giving the opportuni ty of a holiday

in the s un t o a n e ve n larger s e ct or o f t h e

population.

l3efore commencing negotimions with Boeing,

weplaced our studies and ourconclusions before

the leading British aircraft manufacturers and

begged them to knock holesin our arguments. We

offered them access to most confidential data

regarding our businessso tha t theycouldcheck

for themselves. They did no tm a ke t h e slightest

dent in the inexorable logic of the case.

We gave I3ritish Aircraft Corporation from

July 1965 until February I , 1966, 1'0 c ome up

with a proposa l tha t could m8ke sense. They

were not able to do so.

The Foreign Threat

Britannia's worries about foreign carriers

being able to obtain 737s on more

favourable terms, and therefore be able to

undercu t t hem in contract negot iat ions

with tour operators, were more than mere

'make-weights' in thei r argument against

import duty. Whe n t he inclusive-tour

industry first took off, the carriers used

were almost exclusively from the passen

gers' originating countries. However, both

nationally and independently owned car

riers o f t he resort countries soon latched

on to the lucrative financial possibilities of

the growing IT industry.

Spain's Iberia was partic

t h is market , v ia i ts sub si

Iberia leased o r c ha rt er e

members of its mainline fl

ment Aviaco's own chart

Iberia's Super Constel latio

especially busy operating A

once they had been displac

uled services by jets. The

arrangement allowed Iberi

IT work at lower charter

would havebeen allowed to

name by stringent lATA ru

Ali tal ia had also set u p

lATA' subsidiary, Societa A

ranea Spa (SAM), opera

various marks, deposed fr

scheduled services by Jets.

heavily involved with the U

IT marke t that a busy sea

eventually established at G

ing several Italian resortare

As well as t he t h rea t to t

from these subsidiaries, Brit

other i ndependen t UK ch

were facing competition fro

ing number of foreign inde

better financed, but still vu

ers such as Bri tannia and i

l eagues f rom several ot

nations were starting t o l

shoulders a t t hei r sout hern

Spantax,TAE, and TransEu

(Top) Deliveryof Caledonian Airways' first Boeing 707 was delayed by the question ofimport duty, Via author

The expanding operationsof 'non-lATA subsidiaries, like Alitalia'sassociate, SAM,soonstartedto provide

a commercial threatto UK charter carriers, MAP

G - A W W XALEDONIAN

(Above) Eventually, Caledonian was forcedto abandon plans to acquireBoeing 737s tocomplementits 707s. Instead, three'stretched' BAC One-Eeven Series 500s were placedin

service on European IT charters. Via author

46 47



NEW CUSTOMERS. NEW APPLICATIONS

UK charter carr iers accelerated their jet acquisitionplans oncecontinental charteroperatorssuch as Air

Spain began modernizingwith modernturbo-props, such as theBristol Britannia. MAP

as l ikel y t o be carryi ng Bri ti sh hol iday

makers. Lower operating cost were often

the key t o t hei r ga in ing cont rac t s frolllnorthern European tour companie .

everal o f t he Med it er ra ne an -b a ed

independent charter carriers had already

expre sed an interest in acquiring some of

the handful of fir t-generation j et t ha twere

start ing to c ome o n to th e second-hand

market.The 'non-lATA' subsidiariesalready

had accessto jetfleets, through theirsched

uled parents. The newjets were more than

a fashionable whim, they were becoming

increasingly vital for commercial survival.

Pacific Western

Another airline represented a t t he 'christening', Pacific Western Airlines, would

use their 737s for a mixture ofcharterandscheduled flying. Init ial ly operating as

Central British Columbia Airway, in

1945, t he name Pacific Western Airlines

was adopted in 1953 as t he ne twork

expanded, mostly by the merging or purcha ing of smaller operators. By 1965 the

NEW CUSTOMERS. NEW APPLICATIO S

company was r anked as Canada's third

large t ai rl ine, operating forty-seven air

craft on a scheduled network throughout

Bri ti h Columbia, Alberta, askatchewan

and t he o rt hw es t T< rritories.

A pai r of DC-7 operated internat ional

charters, including trans-Atlantic services,

while the schedule were operated by a fleet

as d iv er e a DC -6 s and DC-6B , DC-4s

and DC-3s, C-46s and several smaller types

such as Beech I s, DHC Beavers, Otters

and even two Grumman Goose amphib

ians. Turbo-prop CV-640s entered sched

u le d s er vi ce in F eb ru ar y 1967. A giant

Lockheed Hercules turbo-prop cargo air

craft was also on order to operate interna

tional and domestic all-cargo flights. The

Pacific Western 737s were intended for

both regional scheduled and longer-rang

ing charter flights, especially t o t he south

e rn SA, t he C ar ib be an and Mexico.

Aer Lingus Second Choice

The Irish national carrier, Aer Lingus, had

beenoperatingjets ince late1960. It t rans-

Atlantic division, Aerlinte

introduced Boeing 720s o

hannon- ew York route,

Lockheed Super Con tell

December that year. On sho

the K and Europe, Aer Li

fleet of OC-3s, Viscounts an

A small fleet of Aviation Tr

conver ted DC-4s , opera ted

cargo services. The propel

had init ially encountered o

competitionon someEurop

rival carrier such as Air F

gium'sSabena-operated ar

Nonetheless, Aer Lingu

t o updat e t he i r image and

fleet by operating jets on t

um-haul network. Initial

their own Caravelles wer

the Iri h government's ref

the purchase. Eventual ly,airline was a bl e t o refut

men t' o bj e t io n to a shor

and a quart e t o f BACOne

introduced into service in

Even before they entere

Lingus recogni:ed t hat t he

Pacific Western'svaried operationsincludedscheduled localfl ights by DC-3s, supplemented by Convairs,

DC-6s and DC-7son busier routes. The largerDouglasesalsooperateda substantial international charter

programme. Va author

48

later versionsof the Vickers Viscountcontinued to form thebackboneof Aerl ingus's European services

throughthe 1950s and 60s. Aer Lingus

49



NEW CUSTOMERS. NEW APPLICATIONS

AerLingushad been an earlycustomerfor the BAC One-Eleven, buying four Series 200s. Theair l ine soon

realizedthat theaircraft was toos m all and ar guedfor a l arger v ers ionto be produced. Va author

Elevens were too small for the projected

markets. When Boeing 707s replaced the

720s on trans-Atlantic routes, the medium

range Boeings were transferred to some of

the higher-density European and UK ser

vices, especially the Dublin-London route.

The 115-passenger720s had the capacityfor

the busy roUte, but operating a four-engined

jet airliner on s uc h a short s ec tor was an

uneconomic proposal. When the last two

720s were leased out by Aer Lingus, to US

carrier Braniff International, Aer Lingus's

even larger Boeing 707s supplemented the

One-Elevens on the LondonService.

Bigger is Better?

Aer Lingu s was very keen for the One

Eleven's manufacturer, the British Aircraft

Corporation, to bui ld a large r v er sion of

their twin-jet. Several othersamong BAC's

early One-Eleven cus tomers were jus t a s

interested and Brita in 's BEA had actually

refused to place an order fora long-awaited

'Viscount Replacement' until a bigger ver-

sion was available. Unfortunately , BAC

procrastinated over their decision and by

the time the larger Series500 One-Eleven

wasfinally launched, manyofthe potential

customers had lostinterest and/or patience

and had o rde red r iv al Douglas DC-9s or

Boeing737s instead.

Aer Lingus' own patience had run out in

1966. On 9 Mar ch , a 6 m il li on o rd er was

placed for two I17-passenger Boeing 737

200s. It had been announced that the 737s

were intended for use principally o n t he

Dublin-London rou te whe re t ra ff ic h ad

continued to increase. In 1965over 285,000

passengers and 4,700 tons of cargo wereflown between the tIVO capitals. However,

extraorderswereeventuallyplaced for more

737s and i t became clear tha t Aer Lingus

had plans to operatetheir new jet on more

far-reaching routes aroundEurope.

Poised for Launch

Far from restricting their customer base to

the short-haul scheduled carriersoriginally

50

envisaged, Boeing's sales team had found

themselves talking t o a ver y d is pa ra te

cross-section of the airline industry . It was

c lea r tha t the 737was poised to make an

impact on more t ha n one market, with

some carriers even makinga stand against

their governments for the right to operate

the aircraft.

Orders were soonadded f roma number

of other operators scattered around the

world. Canadian Pacific Airlines and

N ew Z ea la nd a ti on al Airways, among

others, had p laced new orders and some

earlier c us tome rs h ad o rd er ed f ur th er

737s. II ippon Airways, of japan, wasnegotiating not onlywith Boeingto place

an order, but also with the ir own govern

ment for permission to import the aircraft

for their extensive domestic network.

Even before carrying a single fare-pay

ing passenger, the 737 was promising a lot

to the operators. Would they prove to be

promises it could live up to?

Lufthansa Leads the Way

In keepingwith theirpioneeringorder for

the 737, Lufthansa was ableto takedelivery

of thei r first production Series 100 on 27

December 1967. Remainingin Seattle for a

little over a month, the aircraft immediate

ly began to be u sed to convert the first of

Lufthansa's crews to operate the type. This

was less than two weeks after the 737 had

received i ts FAA type cer t if i ca t ion and

only a l i tt le over e igh t months since the

prototype 's first flight in May of that year.

After receiving its West German regis

tration D-ABED, the first Lufthansa 737

made the trans-Atlantic ferry flight from

Sea t tl e t o t he airline's maintenance base

at Hamburg, in Northern Germany, arriv

ing on 4 February 1968. Greeted bya large

crowd of Lufthansa employees, media and

well-wishers, D-ABED was soon whisked

away, a fter due c er emo ny a nd m uc h

speechmaking. Work then began on fit

tingout the passenger cabin in preparation

for scheduled service.

Within the week, after further busydays

of training and route-proving flights, D-

ABED joined Lufthansa's operating fleet

as the first '737 City jet' as the carrier had

chosen to promote the aircraft. D-ABED

was to receive the individual n am e o f

'Flensburg'. Previously, the airline's Boeing

72 7s had been christened as '727 Europa

jets'. The distinction between 'Europa'

and 'C ity ' was prompted by Lufthansa's

initial plan for operatingthe larger 727s on

medium-haul flights around Europe and to

the Middle Eas t, wh ile the 737 s were

intended for the ultra-short hauls withinWestGermanyand to neighbouring states.

On 10February D-ABEDtook on its first

load of fare-paying passengers, for flight

LH147, the 07.25 departure from Frankfurt

toMunich. From there ,it became LHO16 to

Hamburg, then re turned to Frankfurt as

LI-l709, arriving at 12.45. A little over an

hour l at er , i t d ep ar te d f or Cologne as

LH731, the first of two returnruns between

Frankfurt and Cologne, before closing its

enginesdown for the last time that day, back

CHAPTER FOUR

Into Service

D-ABED arrived at avery cold, very damp Hamburg on 4 February 1968. Luhhansa

lufthansa'sChiefExecutive- TechnicalServices, Gerhard Holtje (centre). was on the

deliveryfl ight. Holtje had been a majorinfluence on the 737's final design.Behind

himis Capt Emil Kuhl. lufthansa'sChiefPilot - 737 Fleet. Luhhansa

57



INTO SERVICE INTO SERVICE

The Boeing 737-100s quicklybecame busy membersof the lufthansa European fleet.

Lufthansa

Boeing 727-200s and s ix m

200s. Th e la rgest s ingle a

PSA, i t was worth $69 mi

PSA was hoping to expand

all-California services to P

and Seattle , Washington acraftwouldbe needed to op

as wellas speedingup the re

airline 's remaining 727-10

Th e 737s were beaten

PSA's first twin-jets by a p

the first of w hi ch had be

1967. However, the Do

replaced by the 737sas the

built up. One of t he DC-9

O za rk i rl in es in 1969 a n

craft was used on PSA's ex

The Trickle Becomes a Flood

more 727s and 737s a rr ived f rom Boeing

and were placed into service for United.

As production aircraft began to be deliv

ered, albeit a month or two la te , to their

patient customers, the 737 finally started

to make an impression o n t h e world's com

mercial airways. Western, Piedmont, PSA

and Wien Consolidated were among the

US domestic carriers that followed United

i nt o t h e U S 737 family over t he following

months.

February 1968 had seen PSA plac ing a

record repeat order for no less t h an n in e

As the delayed 737s were finally delivered,

United swiftly distributed the new aircraft

to other bases on t hei r s ys tem. The

stretched 727-200ssoon followed the 737s

and the increasing shortand medium-haul

jet fleetswererapidlydislodging the remaining DC-6s and DC-6Bsfrom even the qui

eter routesto which they had already been

consigned.

By the beginningof 1969, the only pro

peller-powered passenger a ircraft in regu

l ar s erv ic e in United's f lee t were the jet

prop Viscounts. However, the British-built

Viscount 's days were numbered, a s were

the airline's less economic Caravelle twin

jets. Both typeswere already earmarked for

disposal within t henex t two years, as even

William F. Mellberg (left) and hiscousin Dave MellbergenjoyUnited's

legendary'FriendlySkies' cabinservice on theshort inaugural 737-200

flight from Chicagoto GrandRapids. William F. Mellberg

(Above) N9003U was allocated to United's first 737-200 revenueservice

on 28 April 1968 from ChicagoO Hare. William F. Mellberg

That morning I hoardcd Unitcd Flight 6 4 8 a t

Chicago-O'liarc with my cousin , D""c Mcll

bcrg. \Y)c wcrc 16-year-old high school studcntswho shared (l keen i n r e r C ~ l in airliners. So,

when we heard tha rUnited \ V a ~ inaugurating a

737 ,cn·icc in thc Unitcd Sta tc s with a f l ight

hctwccn Chicago and Grand Rapi,",Michigan,

wc madc ,urc wc wcrc on board' Taking off at

7.39am, our brand ncw 737, N9003U, 'C i t \' o f

Gnllld Rapids', touchcd down 30 minutcs latcr.

There wereinaugural celehrations onhoard the

flight and a r cd carpct W,ls rollcd out for us at

Grand Rapids. (Flight 648 was t hc f i r" schcd

ulcd jctliner rn bnd thcrc.)

Chicago Debut

Promoted by the airline's public relations

department as 'The BiggestThing in Little

Jets', the 737-200 entered commercial ser

vice on regional f lights o ut o f U ni te d' s

busiestbase, Chicago's O'Hare Airport, on

29 April 1968. William F. Mellberg was a

passenger on the first flight.

aircraft. The first United 737 was de liv

ered to the airline on 21 December 1967,

o nl y t wo weeks after Lufthansa 's f irst

Series 100 was handed over.

version of t he Boeing 727, the Series 200,

was due to enter service, joining theorigi

nal Series 100s that had been i n use since

1964. The arrival o f t he t wo n ew jets

wouldsee the final stage of the phasing out

of t he airline's remaining propeller-driven

lufthansa'spassengerssoonbeganto appreciatethe 'bigjet' feel ofthe 737's cabin.

Lufthansa

While Lufthansa was busy introducing its

new '737 City Jets' to the European travel

l ing publ i c, back in t he USA, Unit ed was

also busy, converting crews to the larger

Ser ie s 200 , in preparation for their own

introduction. s wel l a s the 737s, a larger

Into the Friendly Skies

at Frankfurt, at 19.25.Typical of what was to

become the daily utilization of a Lufthansa

737, D-ABED'sfirst day onthe line marked

the beginning of a long and very successful

association between the airline and aircraft.

Asfurther 73 7s rolled off the Seattle pro

duction line, or were released from devel

opment or tra ining work, the followed D-

ABED over the Atlantic. Lufthansa W<lS

anxious to introduce the aircraft through

out their intended network, following the

productionand delivery delays. On arrival,

they were quick ly a ss igned to more and

more of Lufthansa's domestic and regional

flights. The remaining Super Conste lla

t i ons had a lr eady been ret ir ed in October

1967, in anticipation ofthe 737's arrival on

the busy inter-city domestic routes. The

Convairs b eg an t o b e withdrawn as the

737s became established in service andthe

airline was soon c lo se t o i ts ambition to

become an all-je tcarrier. A handful of t he

turbo-propViscounts were to remain in use

for another couple of years,but weresoon to

follow their piston-engined colleagues out

of Lufthansa's fleet.

52 53



INTO SERVICE INTOSERVICE

International or Burbank Ai rport s . This

journey, even by highway, could be a tiring

one, especia lly in the Los n gel es r us h

hour. As well as saving the Orange Coun

ty residents the trials of a drive across Los

Angeles, the major touris t a t trac ti on of

Disneyland was nearby and could be relied

on to attract traff ic to the new services.

The young businessmen were joined in

January 1966 by a number of seasoned air

line executives, includingJ. Kenneth Hull,

formerly president of Lockheed Aircraft

International, andThomas Wolfe,ex-Vice

President of Sales for Western Airlines.

They became President and Chai rman

respectively, of t he new carrier, by now for

mally named Air California. Incorporated

flat-bed truck, complete with Air Califor

nia stewardesses, to Los Angeles Airport.

On the side of t he truck wasa banner read

ing, 'If you came here from Orange Coun

ty ... You could have been in San Francisco by

now", emphasizing the time-saving of

using their local airport.

Early resultswere very encouraging and

the first of a p ai r of short-body DC-9-14

jets entered service o n t he original route

on I Apri l . The introduction of jets had

been achi eved only after a numbe r o f

objections, o n t he grounds of noise nui

sance, had beenovercome.Orange Coun

ty-San Francisco flights now operated

seven t imes a day. Services opened to San

Jose and Oak la nd on 23 September and

the badly-needed additio

In mid-1968 Air Californ

$ [ million loss on an ear

$6,650,000. Finally, Air Ca

solution to the twinproblem

larger aircraft and f inancia l

of theGATX/BootheAircr

Specializing in l ea si ng

GATX/Boothe had taken o

cancelled 737 delivery pos

the Pacific Air Lines place

200s, the aircraft were inte

out on both short and lon

to airlines. Wien Consolid

advantage of their aircraft's

ty by leasing in GATX/Boo

gurate their je t services in

Western'sBoeing 737-200s were used to link smaller cities on a networkstretching fromsouthern

California tothe GreatLakesand midwesternCanada. Jenny Gradidge

June 1968, whilst waitingf

layed aircraft deliveries.

A t the end of the

GATX/Boothe negotiatedAir California, buying th

and two DC-9s and repla

the 737-200s on lease cont

performance was regarded

patible with the noise-sen

requirements a t Orange C

The improved rate of clim

ed nois e abatement proced

The I[S-passenger 737

October 1968, o n t he O

San Francisco route and a

Growing Pains

Air California'srapidly increasing passenger

boardingsshowed no sign of slowing down.

However, the still comparatively new air

line's resources were insufficient to finance

two more Electras j o ined t he busy fleet.

The number of passengers carried in Air

California's f irst year - 293,604 - encour

aged expansi on and inves tment to thepo in t t ha t a new maintenance base was

o pe ne d a t S an Francisco International

Airport in early [968.

on 12 April, Air California was granted its

first route certificate by the California Pub

lic Utili t ies Commission. The certificate

covered a minimum of f ive daily flightsfrom Orange County to San Francisco.

Turbo-prop to J et

Services began on 16 January 1967, with

two ex-Qantas Lockheed Electra turbo

props painted u p in an eye-catching yel

low, black and red livery. Aiming its sales

drives firmly a t t he residents of Orange

County, one gimmick involved driving a

The OC-9 was Air California'sfirst choice of pure-jetequipment,supplementingthe Electras. Aviaton HobbyShop

and t he S an Francisco Bayarea. They had

commissioned surveys that indicated a

huge traffic potential from the area.

With a populat ion of well over a m il

Iion, Orange Countywas oneof t he fastest

growing metropolitan areas in t h eUSAa t

the time. A t ri p by scheduled airline from

t he O ra ng e C ou nt y a re a w ou ld have

required a long car journey to Los Angeles

a ir s er vi ce i n California. [n December

1965,a group of five Californian business

men met in Corona d el Mar , in Orange

County, southeastof Los Angeles. William

Myers, Alan H. Kenison,Mark T. GatesJr,

William L. Pereira Jr and Lud Renick met

to discuss forming a new airline to operate

a scheduled service from the under-used

Orange County Airport, near Santa na,

'WESTER.N(11 ••••••••••••••

The Boeing 737-200 proved an idealstablematefor PSA's larger 727s, operating on lessbusyfl ights on the

intra-California services. Jenny Gradidge

California Competition

Others s t ar t ed to look to emulate PSA's

success in providing low-cost intra-state

and conversion programmes that it had

operated f or a number of airlines and cor

porate customers.

54 55



services from Hollywood/Burbank and

Ontario to the Bay Area. The airline car

r ied a to ta l of 650,000 pas engers during

196 and, early in 1969, celebrated carry

ingit millionth passenger on 27 February.

Ye t fur the r expansion inc luded Palm

prings-Bay Area flights and 1969also saw

Air alifornia offering first-clas 'Fiesta

Service' on its 737s, the first regional carri

er to 0rerate a two-classservice.

INTO S ER VI E

Canadian Debut

Further north, as Western's 73 7s madeearly

appearances on their cross-border routes

in to Canada , the aircraft's anadian cus

tomers werepoised to join the clubas well.

Ear ly o rder s had been p laced by ordair

and Pacific We tern, but t he production

delays meant that they would not take deliv

e ry unt i l l ate 196 /ea rly 1969. Canadian

Pacific Airlines, that had ordered their first

five 73 7s in 1966, tookdelivery oftheir first

Series 200in October 1968. The aircraft was

the first to be delivered displaying the air

line 's new image as CP Ai r, in a br igh t

orange, red and silver livery.

The CP Air 737s, Iikemany of thoseof

many new 737 operators, were being used

to rerlaceoutdated equipment on region

al and 10 al service, in their case, mostly

within anada. Canadian Pacific had

grown steadily since its formation in

1942, f rom a co llect ion of merged local

carriers into a major dome tic operator

w i th in Canada. Long-range expan ion

saw the company even tua l ly orerating

in tercont inen ta l e rvices to A i a, Aus

tralia, Eurore and outh America from

its Vancouver h<'lse. Dougl<'ls DC-6Bs,

o ri gi na ll y o pe ra te d o n t he l on g- ha ul

routes , were s ti l l f ly ing on regional ser

vices within western Canada after being

disrlaced from international and trans

Continental servicesseveral years before,

initially by Bristol Britannia turbo-rrops

<'lnd, la ter, by DC-8 jets.

The 737 entered scheduled service with

CP Air with a Vancouver BC-Whitehorse,

Yukon Flight, on 20 November 1968. Fur

ther 737 servicesweresoonopened, taking

over from the DC-6Bs on flight ' to Whitehorse,Terrace and Prince Rupert.Whenthe

final two 73 7s of the initialorder weredeliv

ered in March 1969, the last of the DC-6Bs

weresoldoff.This left CP Airan all-jet air

line, excert for a " ingle DC-3, operated on

local and charter flights. The 737s orerated

thcir first trans-Continental dome"tic rev

cnuc flight forCPAiron 1Apr il 1969. o r

dair hadbeen the nextCanadian airline to

rlacethe 737in -crvice, on an Arctic route,

w ith a Montreal-Frobisher Bay service on 3

Deccmher 196 .

11 TO SERVICE

The 200 Series Finally

Reaches Europe

Britannia Airways were eagerly awaiting

their 737s and had hoped to havethem in

service in t ime for the peak o f t he 196

summer touri t sea on. However, the trou

blesome production delay at Boeing had

ruled thi s out . A lready suf fe ring a s ligh t

capacity shortage following the tragic loss

ofoneof their Bristol Britanniaturbo-props

ina fatal crash at Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, the

year before, Britannia relied on the sched

uled arrival of the new aircraft to fulfil its

1968contracts. Instead, a pair of addition

al Britannias had to be leased in from rival

carriers for most of the 1968 season. Like

those in their own f le et , t he se wer e e x

BOAC aircraft. One came from Laker Air

ways, one from BKS ir Transport.

The first Britannia irways 737, andEurope' s f ir st Se rie 2 0 , G-AVRL finally

arrived a t t he airline's Luton Airport base

on J ul y 196 . This was actually a fell'

days early, according t o t h e term of a new

renego t ia ted con trac t w ith Boeing that

t oo k a cc ount o f t he p ro du ct i on delays.

ndeterrcd, Britannia Airway's initia l

ordcr for thrcc aircraft had already been

increased w five. Ithough the delays had

disrupted plans for thc 196 sea son' s jet

operations, deliveries for t he n ex t year

wcre expccted to bc on time.

A great deal of British e

incorrorated on to the B

includingMarconi ADF, a Co

der,as well as the galley fitti

ment. To facilitate cabin se

charter flights, the galley

accommodated in the forw

the cabin, with passenger w

centratedat the rear. The in

capacity of 117 on Britannia

exactly matched that of t

102s, which assisted in s

transition from turbo-prop

tion. An increase in the 737

ger caracity, up to 124 on

charter services, was plan

introduction and the new s

layout had already re

arproval.

Into Charter Service

The first five Britanniacrew

to the 73 7 received their co

ing with Boe ing in Seat t le

was comrlcted back in the

ingpilotson loan to Britanni

crews, rcquircd when the

entered scn'icc, were to be c

Seattle-trained instructors.

the second 737, G-AVRM,

i ts time at hannon on train

(Above) The Boeing 737-200s introducedCanadianPacific'sbright new image

as CP Air. Jenny Gradidge

(Below) GATX/Boothesupplied 737-200sto Air California in a leasing deal as

part ofa major re-equipmentprogramme. Aviaton Hobby Shop

56

G-AVRLwas to be the first Boeing 737-200 to be operatedin Europe. andthe first 737 to be flown by an all-

charter carrier. Va author

57



INTOSERVICE INTOSERVICE

Early Jet Days at Piedmont-AVRL received its UK Certificate of

Airworthiness on 10 July, two days after

delivery. On 19 July a proving flight was

operated byG-AVRL from Luton to Palma,

Maj or ca , a nd o n t he 2 2nd it entered

commercial servicewith a n I T charter from

Luton to the Yugoslav resort ofDubrovnik.

G-AVRM carried its first revenue load of

holidaymakers on 16 August with a

Luton-Venice IT charter .

Although too l a te to make much of an

impact on the 1968 summer season, Bri

tannia werestill well impressedwith their

new aircraft. All five o f t he initial 737

orders we re i n use in time for the J969

season and plans were in hand to acquire

more of the Boeing jets. The 73 7s operat

ed on most o f t h e growing IT network,

no ton ly from Luton,serving London, but

also from regional points such as Man

chester,Glasgow,

Birmingham and New

castle. The increase in ITs originating at

regional pointscontinued t o g r ow t o the

po int tha t a numbe r o f t he mor e impor

tant c it ie s g ai ne d y ea r- ro und hol id ay

charter service for the first time in the

winterof 1968/69.

I t wa s calculated that , even with the

original 117-seat layout, e ac h o f t he air

line 's 737s was as productive as 212 Bristol

Britannias. A part of the Britannia turbo

propswere taken out of service at the end

of 1969, a l though the older type was to

continue to contribute t o Br it a nnia A i r

ways' charter operations, a longside the

737s, until t he e nd o f 1970.

Early Days with Lufthansa

While Britannia was i n tr oduc ing thei r

Series200s to the hoiidaymakers of Britain,

Lufthansa continued to deploy their Series

100s on m or e a nd m or e routes on their

domestic and European network. Even

withtheir previous experience in operating

bigger Boeing jets, Lufth:lIlsa W<lS very

impressed with the comparatively trouble

free introduction into service o f t h e 737.

There had b ee n no m aj or e ng i ne prob

lems. A t the very beginning of 737 opera

t ionstherehad been a starter valveproblem

when sand from treated runwayswas ingest

ed. A filterscreen had simply not been up

to its job and the problem was fixed using a

new screen with a finer mesh, assuggested

by Boeing. Unscheduled engine removals

in the first nine mon th s o f operation

amounted toonly

threeexamples, twocaused by reports of vibration and one by

high oil consumption. There had been no

in-flight engine shutdowns and no fire

warnings, even false ones.

The auxiliary power un it (APU) gave

some trouble at first. Thermostat difficul

ties had led to crews having trouble getting

some systems on line w itho ut t he APU

shutting down. New accelera tion control

thermostats were designed and d id m uch

bet ter . A certain amount of nosewheel

corrosion was noted and put downto prob

lems with the alloy used and there were

some problems with the r am a ir inlet sys

tem that was solved by re-rigging.

The self-contained airstairs gave Luft

hansa the most t r ouble . A l th ough t he

r ea r s t eps , mounted in the downward

opening door, were the most complicated

design o f t h e two, these gave little trou

b le . I t was the simpler, forward steps that

folded into a small compartment under

the passenger door, that caused some

del<lys. The improvement in the electri

cal circuit reduced the p robl em . A s

stowage of the forward airstairs was oneof

the last systems operated pr ior to depar

ture, i t was more likely t o c aus e a delay

thanany o ther problem that maybe fixed

before departure time. Thus the blame on

the airstairs for most delays was made t o

look worse than i tw a s i n delay statistics.

The rear airstair arrangement was an

optionnot taken up by many 737 customers.

It allowed swift turnarounds at airports

not equipped w i th je tt i es for embarking

passengers and saved having to have

expensive mobilestepunits hand. Howev

e r, a Ithough used by some earl I' operators,

especially Lufthansa, Wien Consol idated

and Piedmont, they were usually removed

in later years and a conventional door fit

t ed ,a s a weight-savingmeasure. A few air

craft retained their original configuration,

especially the 'combi' aircraft that carried

freight in the forward cabin and passengers

in the rear section and could only load

their passengers th rough the rear doors.

The smaller, forward airstairs, however,

w er e a useful opt io n t ak en up, and

retained, by most customers.

Being an earlycustomer,Piedmont Airlines also played itspart in ironing out the wrin

kles as the 737 proved itself in daily service. Eventualy retiring as a DistrictSales and

Marketing Managerfor US Airvvays,Joe Grantwas originallya UtilityAgentwith Pied

mont,hired in 1966, after his honourabledischarge from the USAF, with whom hehad

been amechanic in Japan and Vietnam.

Joe's first base wasthe airport for Staunton/Harrsonburg,a smal staton servingthe

ShenandoahVal ey in Vrgna that one customerdescribed to him as reminding her 'of

Africa.

Asma staton istough towork asyoumust knoweverythng aboutrunnng it. For instance,

the tcket counter and customer servce, reservatons(a done localy inthosedays, no cen

tra reservatons offce!. weight and baanceof aircraft, weather, teetype, ramp servce,

loadng and unoadng, airfreight,air express,some mantenance andevensomeair traffc

control. Lke I sad, a lot to learn.

As alreadymentoned, Piedmonthad leased a pair of 727s to coverthe latede very of

the 737s.Orgnay intended for United, they still had the largerairlines comfortabe

3-2, fve-abreast confguraton. Despitelosing the first aircraft i n t he Ashev e md-air

collision, the 727s proved a success with Piedmont and boded well for the smaler,

much moreeconomic, 737 on their network.

In1968

Joe Grantvisited Renton.

I boarded Pedmonts frst 737, N734N, whie it was st beng buit. I t had apywoodf oor

andthe cockpt was protected from dust bybengencosed inahuge plastc bag! Pedmont

was one of the fewairnes tohavethe rearboardng airstairsinstaled. Severa years later

theywere removedbecause theywere heavy 10 fy around,p us theywere expensveto f x

if brokenand they aso got inthe wayof'new' modernday caterngequpment. The frst Ped

mont737s were aso ftted with the3-2 seatng confguraton. Itfelt l k e f rs tcass. Later the

seatng waschanged to3-3, al coachc ass.

The orginal engnes of the 737had rather non-effcient thrust reversers. These were

repaced by huge 'clam-shel reversers thatworked'almost 100 good compared to t he o d

ones. Captans sad, referrng t o t he od stye reversers, thattryng to stop with themon a

wet runway was as s ppery as puttng your feet in a pe! The aircraft alw

hydropane in those conditons.

Ron Carterwas a mechanic with Piedmont when both the 727s and

service:

The arrval of the727srequred a lotoftrainingfor the piots, mechancs a

dants.When the727s were leasedin we hadMartn 404s, YS-11 sandFarch

ingwas veryhelpful in settng up our training needs. Atthistme Pedmont

tranedmechanc group but we werenot used to suchcompexaircraftand

inthe electrcal systems.Boeng hed additonalcasses in aircraftelectrcal f

greatdv dends later. The 737 waslesscompexthan the727, sothe trans

Inital in-servce probemswith the 737 werethrust reversersand hydra

aswel as abuffetng probem. These were soon corrected,with Boeng insta

ofthrust reverser and issung numerousservce buletns to correct the hydra

Vortex generatorswere instaled to correct the buffetng.Weaso had to ana

oi and change it at frequentintervals. Afterabout ayear thiswas changed

neverchanged except at overhau.

The P&W JTBD engne had inital probemsbutthesewere soon correcte

the engne smokedand it was desrable to have thiselminated.Theburnerc

soved this probem - butstartedtwo others! One was off-dle stal of the

otherwas that thefumes were more toxc than when the engne smoked.B

lems were corrected in abouttwo years.The auxiary power unit was acon

troubes, butwe hadgood technca supportandeventualyso vedsome of th

clmate is very hOI and humd in the summer, but the coong system hande

The aircraftwas very relable, but needed a few years to correcta lot of prob

coud not have pcked abetter aircraft than the737to enter the jet age,or a

to gude us thanBoeng.

Piedmonts introducton ofthe 737 had benefted from the airlines earli

leased 727s, and the valuableoperatonal support of Boeing. JennyGra

BritanniaAirways had five 737-200s inservice in 1969, with more on order. Jenny Gradidge

58

PIEDmo

5 @--5 @

N737N

••• ••

59



Interiorconfiguration on the 'QC' 737 could be swiftly modified by seatunits on

tracks, loadedthroughthelargeforwardcargo door. Lufthansa

The 'Quick Change' Artists

Lufthansa took delivery on 17 December

196 of t he first order for six 737-200Q

'Qu ic k h ange ' aircraft. Ortions had also

beentaken outon two more. The airline's

f ir st l on g- fu se la ge 7 37 wer e equipred

INTO SERVICE

withlarge cargodoors in the upper forward

fuselage and strengthenedcabin floors, the

convertible aircraft being intended for

passengeruse in the daytimeand for con

version to freight services at night. The

swi tch from passenger to cargo configu

ration was designed to take less t han ha lf

an hour. Lufthansa was already orerating

a fleet ofconvert ible 727s on similar er

vice, alongside their all-passenger 727

100 and -200s.

The convert ible 'combi-version' of the

737 wasfirst placed into service in Alaska,

byWien on olidated in ovember 196

(Abovel The Boeing 737·200QC wasable to operate

bothpassenger and cargoschedules on lufthansa's

European network. Lufthansa

In all-cargo configuration, the 737 ould

carry up to seven standard ral lets or con

tainers. The units wereloaded slightly off

centre, to the right,allowing a rassageway

to the left. With only six pallets, eleven

passengers could be carried, and with onlytwopallets installed,up to eighty-one pas

sengers could be accommodated in the

rcar section.

As well as serving the more populated

poin t amongthe 170 scattered communi

t i e servedby the airline in Alaska and the

Canadian Yukon, the 737's joint passenger

and cargo-carryingcapabilities were put to

good use on contract work for the Trans

Alaska PipelineSystem, from Anchorage.

Weste rn 's 737 s were a lso soon reaching

Alaska and operat ingon busier local and

regional route taken over in the merger

with Pa i fic orthern Airlines, of Fair

hanks.

imilar rugged work was to be shortly

undertaken by convertible 73 7 placed

into service by Nordair, Pacific Western

Airlines and Transair, a ll serving remote

towns and outposts in northern anada.

The smaller Canadian operators' 73 7s, and

those of Wien Consolidated, were alsofit

ted for gravel runway operations. As well as

low-pressuretyres, deflectors were attached

to the undercarriage to shield the fuselage

from stones being k icked up on landing.

Vortex generatorswere alsoattached to the

front ofthe engine nacelles, to blowdebris

away from the intakes and protect them

from gravel damage. However, these air

craft were also just as likely to spend their

weekends flying tourists from major Canadian cities, escaping from the northern

winters to the sun of Florida, the arib

bean, or evenMexico.

INTO SERVICE

Further South

The New Zealand NationalAirways Corpo

ration ( Z AC), became the operator of

three 737-200s on 14 October 196 .

Ordered t o replace Viscounts on trunk-

cheduled services within ew Zealand,

the 737swould join a fleet of Fokker E27

that had begun to replace DC-3 on local

f ligh ts f rom 196 . The first of t he trio had

been delivered to Wellington, after a long

island-hopring trek from Seatt le, on 1

September and the introduct ion of t he j e t

fleet within a month was a l au da bl e

achievement for the carrier.

NZ AC was the nationallyowned dom

estic airline of ell' Zealand, international

servicesto Australia and trans-Pacificflights

being the preserve ofAir ewZealand with

their fleet of long-haul DC-8s and Electra

turbo -p rops . Twenty- five des tin at ion s,served by 4,000 miles of routes, comprised

ZNAC's network within andbetween the

o rt h a nd South Islands of the country.

ew Zea land 's l ink to

membership of theCommon

to high hope in the K of

from Z AC for the BACO

Oneof BAC' development

i ted ewZea land dur ing a w

in 1966,operating demonstr

Z A b et we en D une di

Aucklandand Whenupai be

the touronwards to Australi

Iy for BAC,it hadbeenfelt t

ate financial and political pr

applied tosway ell 'Zealand

ing the One-Eleven and, a

British aircraft was rejected

for NZN 's Viscount repla

The One-Eleven f ared

Australia, with only a pair of

Australia's air force for VIP

Australia's largest domestic a

vately owned Ansett-A Ament-sponsored Trans Aus

both chose the Boeing 72

DC-9 for th ei r sho rt -haul

Nordair and Transair operatedthe

moreremoteregions. as well as b

services and vacationfl ightsto su

Via author/AVaton Hobby Shop

60 67



INTOSERViCE INTO SERVICE

The Fokker F28 'Felowship'enjoyed amoderate success as an econo

alternative to earlier turbo-props. Via author

r.\. -s\\

mance. The F.28 sereswas later totally redesigned and updated as t

100 types, withnew engines and updated flght-deck systems and equ

typesremained in producton unti Fokker succumbedto economic pr

forced to cease al manufacturing operatonsin the late 1990s.

B R A - l I T H ~ N S j6 :A Fit

_ . ~

7

U 1I (JUS/ R /SH / NT ERN T ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ l l · ~ · ~ n D I I J [ i J ; . I I \ ~ I l P ~ ~ i ,

,-n

TheDutchTwin-Jet Option

The long-establshed aircrah manufacturer, Fokker,

based in the Netherands, had a very different concept

for its offering in the short-haul twin-jet market. Delb

erately aiming at a smal capacity replacement forits

F.27 Frendship,the Fokker jet design, when it did final

ly emerge, was originally confgured for upto sixty-five

passengers, about half that of theBoeng 737. Fokker

alsodeclaredfromthe beginning that it preferred steady

salesovera long-termperod, rather than agreaternum

ber of orders over a shorterproducton life.

Powered by two Rols Royce Speyengines, the F.28

received its first producton order in November 1965,

some three years aher the project was officially

announced by the company. The producton of the air

crah was an early example of inter-European colabora

ton, with Short Bros and Harand,of Belfast. producing

the outerwings and undercarrages andGermanys MBB

and VFW manufacturing the centre and rear fuselage

sectons, tai units and enginenaceles.

The first orderwas paced by theWest German charter airlne, LTU. However,Braathens

was the first carrer to pacethe aircrah into revenuese Vice,on

28 March 1969.Ordersfolowed from operators in Australa, Argentna, Coumba, Span and theNetherands,

fromoperators as diverse as Ibera, Spansnatonal carrer, the Argentnegovernment

and Aviacton, asmal start-upcharteroperator inWestGermany. Al hadavarietyof uses

for the versat e Fokker jets hgh performance, especialy fromshort or rough runways.

Larger andmore powerful versions of the F.28 wereoffered laterandthe typebecame

popular asan economic mainlne and feeder airlner, as well as its 'outback' perfor-

The Aerlingus 737s were originally ordered specifically for the busy Dublin-london route and were to be

seenat london/Heathrowfor manyyears. Malcolm L. H

route was one such schedule, with the extra

f reight sales capacity supplementing lower

passenger loads at certain times of the day.

All-cargoservicesalso includeda number of

bloodstock char ters, f lying racehorses from

the I rish studs to race meetings and sales

a ro un d t he UK a nd Continental Europe.

A l ar ge programme o f IT services from

Dublinand other Irish cities kept the 737

and One-E leven f leets busy around theclockover summer weekends, when there

was l ess d emand on t he business traffic

based scheduled routes. Aer Lingus had

operated subs tant ia l numbe rs of both

charter and scheduled flights to Tarbes,

transporting pilgrims to t he C at ho l ic

shrine at Lourdes, in southern France, for

many years and t h e 73 7s were soon regu

larlyassigned to these services. During the

busier months, daily utilization of up to 18

hours a d ay w as getting to be the norm.

..

haul jet fleet of four BAC One-Elevens and

were a lso supplemented by l ar ge r 7 07 s

when loads demanded it.

A 737 simulator was added to Boeing

720 an d BAC One-E leven examples

a l ready in se rv i ce a t t he airline's Dublin

head office. With m or e a nd m or e 737

operatorsstarting to come on line, some of

them with comparatively small fleets, Aer

Linguswas increasingly leasing out unusedt r ain ing hour s on i ts simulator. This was

the beginning of a whole new sourc e of

income for the ai rI ine, w it h t hird-party

maintenance a nd e ve n short-term crew

and aircraft leasing gaining in importance

over t he next few years.

The 'QC ' aircraft were not only utilized

on night-time cargo services. 'Combi' pas

senger/cargo fl ights operated on some

scheduled services to regional points in the

UK. Th e Dublin-Bristol-Cardiff-Dublin

New Zealand NationalAirways' 737s brought jet comfort to their domestic routes.

JennyGraddge

Braathens Boeing 737-200s operated as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far

south as Mediterranean resorts. Steve Buntng

New Northern Highlights

Irish Deliveries

Aer Lingus, the national carrier of Eire, the

I ri sh Repub li c , was c lo se on the heels of

Braathens in inaugurating i ts 737 services.

The airline's first aircraft, EI-ASA, 'St Jarlath' arrived at Dublin on 2 April 1969,

closely followed by two others . The trio

began revenue services later t ha t month ,

flying t o L on do n a nd Paris. Three more

737s, including two convertible 'QCs' were

delivered by the end of 1969. The arrival of

yet three more in early 1970 saw Aer Lin

gusable to offerall-jet flights on their Euro

pean routes, andthe withdrawal of their last

Vickers Viscount turbo-props. The 737s

operated alongside rhe esrablished short-

The 737 seemed to be getting a reputation

a s a c ol d weather native , especially when,

on the European side of the Arct ic Circle,

Braathens took delivery of their first two

73 7s in Decen,ber 1968 and January 1969.

Within a matterof weeks, Braathens had

also taken delivery of their first Fokker

F.28 tw in je t, intended f or use on routes

where the 73 7 wa s considered too large.

The F.28 also possessed exceptionalshort

and rough-field capabilities , making it a

worthy successor to the E n turbo-prop

that i twas intended to replace.

The arrival o f t h e 737 d id not see the

immediate demise of t he seven Braathens

DC-6Bs that i t w as intended to replace.

The first Braa thens DC-6B had entered

s er vi ce i n 1 96 1 and the classic piston

engined airliner was to remain a feature ofthe Norwegian airline's s cheduled and

charter operations for over ten years.

One service o n w hi ch t he D C- 6B had

heavily featured was a regular charter from

Tromso to Spitzbergen, in the Arctic. Sup

portinga joint orwegian/Russian coalmin

ing operation by Store orske Spitzbergen

Kullkompani, landingswere at first made on

the sea ice, then a gravel strip.Although the

DC-6Bs shared the service with F.ns and,

later, the F.28s, only the 737 could match

the DC-6Bs' load-carrying o n t he u ni qu e

service. Both passengers and cargowerecar

ried on t h e flight, with the 737sfreight-car

rying capacity being put t o especially good

use. A tarmac stripwas later laid in the mid

1970s, but t he special weather conditions

and unique opera tiona l restr ictions sti IImeant that an aircraft of the 737's outstand

ingcapabilities was required.

62 63



INTO SERVICE

CHAPTER FIVE

SAL

with a single DC-3 on 27 oveThe n ex t spring, another DC

airline, Challenger Airlines, b

Lake ity, operated its first ch

vices to Denver via several sm

outhern Wyoming . Arizon

began its DC-3 schedules a t t h e

flying from Phoenix to c it ie i

Canyon area.

All three airlines struggled

theyalso managed some limite

to their slTlall route networks

with the Denver, Colorado-b

since1966. Frontier had aclassic

al c ar rier h is to ry , i ts antecede

begun operations shortly after

WorldWar,with fleetsof ex-mil

The first of three smallairlines w

e r resul tcd in thc formation

Monarch Airlines, inaugurated

services ove r t hc Denver-Dur

Frontier Airlines actuallyordered their first

737s as replacements for their fleet of Boe

ing727-100s, five of which hadbeen in use

Rocky Mountain Boeings

restrictions. AIt ho ug h t hc O ne -Elevenswere disposed of as soon as the 737s

entered service, Alohacontinued to oper

ate a sma ll f le et of Vickers Vi coun ts on

local and supplementary fl ights.

the Aloha One-Elcvens had been popular

with passengers and crewsalike. However,

weight limitations had mean t tha t Aloha

had been forced to operate under severe

restrictions from some o f t h e smaller air

ports, with usable traffic loads making the

One-Eleven services less e onomic. The

737s , wi th thei r be tte r runway perfor

mance, were acquired to counteract these

South Afr ican Airwayswas to becomea long-term 737 customer.Seenin a laterl ivery, 737-200 lS-SIJ

displaysits Afr ikaans titling on i tsstarboard side. MAP

IDlproving the Breed

737 customer had operated jets on the irshort-haul networks before. The 737s were

intended either as replacement for earlier

jets, such as loha's One-Elevens, or to

supplement larger 727 on shorter or l es

travelled routes into smaller airports,as was

the case with SAA andANA.

Aloha had been operating a f le et of

three BA One-Elevens on their inter

island Hawaiian network s in ce A pr il

1966. Introduced to compete against D

9s o f t he ir a rc h rival Hawaiian Airlines,

While Bocing was developing t he 'Ad

vanced' version, the original 737 models

werc continuing to spread their wings over

an increasingly wide range. ewoperators

wcrc as scattered as South African Air

lines, Aloha Airlines, Frontier Airlin s

and All ipponAirways. Many ofthc new

Worldwide Distribution

A Day-to-Day Success

extra expense and continued to operate the

unmodified aircraft undertheiroriginal per

formance criteria,orderingnew 'Advanced'

aircraft inany repeat or new orders.

The 737 in 196 and 1969 established

i ts el f i n s er vi ce with several airline

around the world, operating a staggering

variety of operational scenarios. For the

most part, the airlines andtheir pilotswere

pleased with the aircraft. One pilotcom

mented that it was: 'A great aeroplane. It

just goes and goes l '

There was an increase in the droop of two

slat sections, the exten ion of the Kreuger

flaps inboard,sealing the gap between spoil

ers and flaps and smoothing the leading

edge that was exposed beh ind the flaps

when deployed. One result o f t he refine

ments incorporated in the 'Advanced' 737

was an increasein range to 2,370 mile. All

ippon Airways, the japane e domestic

carrier, placed the first 'Advanced' 737-20

inserviceinjune 1971.

Significant as the improvements were,

although kits were made available to cus

tomers for converting theirearlieraircraftto

the new 'Advanced' standard, none were

sold. Instead, the operators shunned the

(Belowl United's 737-200s were soon scheduled on

busy inter-cityroutesthroughoutthe air l ine's

network, l inkingsmallerairports to majorcities

aroundthe USA. Aviation Hobby Shop

Malaysia-Singapore Airlines was one of the few

customers forthe smaller 737-100. AviallonHobby

Shop

The Series 200 Carries On

Onc the outstanding orders for the erie

100 had been del ive red to Avianca and

lalaysia- ingapore Airlines in 1969, the

eries 200was the soleofferingfrom the 73 7

stable. Although various combinations of

passenger/cargo configurations and rough

field-equipped versions were available,

there was only theone basic 737 to hane\.

As wel l a the aerodynamic improve

ments already made to reduce drag, and the

option ofthe later, more powelful, versions

ofthe jT8D engine,from the 280th aircraft

much moresubstantial improvement were

int roduced to the production standard

Series 200 aircraft. The extr a changes

included more aerodynamic refinements,

espe ially concentratedon the wing design,

including a thickening of the enginc strut

and a minor repositioning ofthe slats.Improvements inshort-field takc-off and

landing characteristics had been brought

about by refining the flaps system and the

installation of an automatic brakingsystcm.

64 65



I IPROVING THE BREED IMPROVING THE BREED

Frontier's first equipmentcomprised afleet oftr ied andtrusted DC-3s inheritedfrom thethree local

carr iersthat mergedto formthe new airline. AViaton Hobby Shop

Changes at th e Top

ineteen sixty-eight saw the a

larger Boeing 727-2 Os and t

nell ' routes i n t o Memphi s

Rock. Thus, Memphis hccam

city and Tennessee t he [ 6t h

served hy Frontier. In terms of

of citicsserved, Frontierwas

ond largest air carrier in the U

The following ycar Lcwis

resigned from Fronticr and wa

E. Paul Burkc as Prcsident and

man. O nc o f t h e new manag

decisions was to replace the ori

were soon to be d ispo sed of

allowcd the transfcr o f Conv

routes. Within a couple of yc

600s were replaced by morc

standardize the turho-prop nee

not begin scheduled scrvice until Septem

h cr 1 94 9, u si ng a nCel o( small Beech

Bonanzas on rou te s f rom For t Wor th t o

Dallas and points in Oklahoma Statc. DC

3s had entered s crvicc in latc 1950, w i th

CV-240 s fol lowing in thc car ly [960s

whenCcntral rook ovcr a numher of local

routes from American Airlincs and East

ern Airl ines. Ccnt ra l had also optcd for

turbo-prop convcrsion of their Con vail's,

although they cho sc t o f it Bri ti sh Rol lsRoyce Dart-. As such, their 'nell" Com'a

irs were designated CV-600s and markcted

on Central Airlines sen'ices as 'Dart 600s'.

Thus, when Fronticr mergcd with Cen

tral, twodifferent versionsofConvair turho

propwcrein use on the network. The result

ing neet consistcd offivc Bocing 727- [OOs,

twenty-two CV-5 Os and c1cven CV-600s,

as well as no less than scventeen surviving

DC-3s that werestill in use with bothcarri

e rs a t the time of the merger. The DC-3s

FRONTIER

The Central Airlines Merger

services and t he ext ens i on of routes from

Wichi ta andTopeka to Chicago. The air

line hegan to apply for several more route

extensions, including services to Seattle,

Houston, New York and Washington, cit

ing their use of 727s which allowed Fron

tier to operate non-stop he tween most of

the cities concerned. Frontieralso claimed

t ha t t headd i ti onof t heextra services to its

network would allow the airline to forego

its nccd for i ts 7 m il li on annual suhsidy.Howcvcr, the CA B refused mos t o f t he

more amhitious reque-ts, such as non-stop

California- cw York nights, claiming that

'routc :trcngthening does havc its limits'!

On 1 Octohcr [967 Frontier took ovcr

Fort Worth, Texas-based Central Airlines.

Ccntral hadbeen founded in [944, but did

(Below) The 727-100s were to be ousted by the 737s

from 1969. Via author

The Convair CV-340s inFrontiers fleetwere

converted to turbo-prop power to improve

performance. The increasedspeed and smoother

r ide ofthe redesignated CV-580s wasmuch

appreciated by their passengers.Crews appreciated

theextraavailablepowerat high-altitudeRocky

Mountain airportswith shortrunways. AViaton

HobbyShop

to do so. The re-engined Convairs, redesig

n atedCV-5 0 -when fitted with the Allison

5 1prop-jets ,wereplaced intoservice on I

June 1964. The 'new' CV-5 Os couldoper

ate 100mph faster than the CV-340s. The

extra power provided by the A II isons W,lS

greatly appreciated at the small airports

served by Frontier, many of which were at

rarefied altitudes that had restricted the pis

ton-engined aircraft's operations.

1963 and 1964 boardings hadcont inued

to increase and new non-stopauthoritywas

granted between several ofthe larger cities

on Frontier 's network. This prompt ed

Dymondto place an order for the five Boe

ing 727-100s, at a cost of 55 million. The

first two ofthe 99-passenger jet wereintro

duced on bu ier rou te s f rom Denver and

alt Lake City in [966. By the time the

727s werein service, eighteenConvairs hadbeen converted to 5 0 s tanda rd . on-stop

nights were inaugurated between Denver

and t Louis by the 727s, with the CV-5 s

nying new Denver-Kansa City-St Louis

services, on 13June 1967.TransWor ld i r

l in es t oo k a v er y d im vi ew of Frontier's

entry into itstraditionalmarkets at St Louis

and Kansas City and trebled its own com

peting jet servicesto Denver.

Other new routes awarded to Frontier at

t he t imewere non-stop Denver-Las VeW1s

orth and outh Dakota. The next year,

four more citie were added in Montana.

New Management, NewEquipment

The expanded netwo rk cal l ed for more

modern aircraft andthe first of what was to

grow into a large neetofsecond-hand Con

vair 340s entered service on busier routes

in t hesummer of 1959. The 44-passenger

Convairs brought great improvements in

passenger comfort over the DC- 3s. They

were pressurized, which allowed the air

craft t o operat e a t altitudes above most of

the rough weather, especially importanton

the Rocky Mountain services. Their

increasedcargo and passengercapacitywas

useful and at t racted further revenue wherethe DC-3s had struggled to accommodate

available traffic.

A new management t eam t ook ove r

Frontier i n 1 96 2, headed by Lewis W.

Dymond. Improved schedules, nell' 'stand

by' and generous family fare were intro

duced, resultingin a 26 per cent growth in

passenger boardings for the last six months

of [962. Dymond also signed contracts for

the conversion of the CV-340 neet to turbo

prop power, the first of the regional airlines

Challengerhad reached Billings, Montana

and Arizona new as far south as EI Paso.

With Mona rch' s n etwork nea tly sand

wiched in the middle itsoon becameclear

to all three that a merge r wou ld c rea te a

moreviable carrier. Approval for the merg

er was granted by the Civil Aeronautics

Boa rd in 1950 and the new company was

named Fron tie r A ir l in es , s erving rou te s

that stretchedfromMontana toMexicovia

seven s ta te s in the Rocky Mountain and

Southwest regions. Operations began under

the new name on I June 1950.

A period of teadygrowth followed, Fron

tierutilizinga neetof trusty DC-3sthrough

out the network. Although stretching over

a large territory , the a ir line s ti ll s erved a

region where populations could he sparse,

with few big citie. However, growth in

exploration for oil, natural gas, uranium,plus reclamation dam projects and tourism

t o a ti ona l P ark in the area provideda de

perate need for transportation where little

other public transportexisted and road con

ditionscouldbedifficult.Growinguse ofthe

airline was made by businessmen, construc

tion finns, the military and vacationers.

1n late 195 , Fron tier 's h ard work was

rewarded with the award of routes t o n o

less than twenty-four newcities in Nebras

ka, Missouri, Wyoming, Colorado and

66 67



Frontier's 737s filled av i talnichebetweenthelarger727-200s andthe turbo-prop

fleetof CV-580s. Jenny Gradidge

727-100swith more economic Boeing 737

200s. The first a ircraft was delivered to

Frontier that summer and by the end of

1969, ten 737s lI'ere in use. The smaller,

moreflexible, 737lI'a· able to operate from

smaller airport than the 72 7-lOs had and

introduced jet service to more cities on th e

Frontier Airlinesnetwork.

The 7 37 wa s a ls o mor e econom ic on

some of the non-stop flights bet\\'eenhug

er cities and proved useful on new routes

all'ardedin 1969,such asKansasCity-Dal

las a nd S al t Lake City-Denver-Dallas,

operating alongside the Boeing 727-200s

when loads might not justify the use of the

biggeraircraft. In total contrast, in 1970, a

small fleet of 19-passenger de Havilland

Canada Twin Otters was introduced on

loc al f ligh ts in northern Montana and

North Dakota.

Financial Problems

Generally, 1970 had been abad yearfor the

airlines, with a sharp slow-down in traffic

growth, brought about by inflation and

excessive competition. However, Frontier

fared slightly b et te r t ha n s ome carriers,

although i t was unable to produce a profit

that year. e ll' routeawards lI'erestill f ind

ing their way to the airline, with jet service

inaugurated be tween Omaha , Chicago ,

Denverand Phoenix, amongst others.

The steadily increasing fleet of Boeing

737s was useful o n t he n ew routes, being

better able to operate profitably with the

lowerloads encountered whilst traffic was

built up. The four main elements o f t he

Frontier fleet, the Twin Otte rs, the CV

580s, the 737s and the 727-200s provided

a wide range of capacity and performance

well suited to the airline's varied network.

However, during 1971/72, following

another management change, increasing

financial problems led t o t he disposal of

the 727-200s to Braniff Airways. Other

internal changes were made and t he ser

vice standards were overhauled in an effort

to reverse the carrier's decline. The mea

sures were highly successful and Frontier

Airlines carried 13 per cent more pas·en

gers in 1972. The revenue loads increased

a ga in in 1973 a nd t he CAB statistics

showed that Frontier Airlines received

fewer passenger complaints than anyother

regional carrier. With the depar tu reof the

727s, the ver sa t il e Boe ing 737 f le et h ad

become Frontier's front-line jet equip

ment. Its ability t o o pe ra te b ot h local,

IMPROVING THE BREED

regional and trunk l ine was a major factor

in Frontier 's being able to survive a diffi

cult time in the indu try.

Repeat Business

Repeat orders sail ' orig inal 737 customer

such as nited, Lufthansa, Piedmont, Bri

tann ia, Aer Lingus and Braathens fleets

increasing on a yearly basis as the airlines

came to rely on the 73 7 on more of their

services. Piedmont retired the last of their

piston-engined Martin 404s in 1970, oper

ating to their network of seventy-eight

ci tics wi th a fleet of 73 7 jets,supplemented

by FH-227B and Y -II A turbo-props.

They carried2,234,999passengersin 1969.

Services had been introduced intoChica

go that year and more nell ' services lI'ere

opened to Char les ton , ou th Caro l ina . By

1972 Piedmont was able to report record

earnings and a net profit of 3,323,317 in

its 25th year of operation.

Britannia and Braathens, in particular,

appreciated the increased range and

improved short runwayperformance offered

by the later, 'Advanced' 73 7-200models.As

well as being able to offer non-stop services

to further ranging points, travel companies

were able to develop new resorts and offer

their customers increased choice to points

only served by basicairport f:Kiliries.

68

Cargo operations a lso fea tu red more

heavilyin thecharter carrier's737 service·.

The abilityto convert the 737 to all-cargo,

o r e ve n 'combi', configuration allo ll'ed

increased utili:ation during traditionally

slack t ime when t he aircraft might other

wise be idle. Britannia introduced its first

convertible aircraft, G-AX A, into ser

vice inearly 197 and the aircraft was kept

especially Iusy with bloodstock charters

between the K, Eire and France. Britan

nia 737swerealso used tocarry the British

ShowJumping Team from Luton to Kiev.

As their lastt urho-prop Rrisrol Rrirannias

were withdrawn, the Britannia Airways

737s began to operatemuch longer-ranging

(

passenger flights, albeitwith necessary refu

ellingstops, including services from Luton

to both orth America a nd t he Far East.

Bangkok, Colombo, Hong Kong and Kuala

Lumpur lI'ere all served on affinity group

charters from the K, although fuelling· to ps h ad t o be mad e e n r ou te , u ·u al ly at

Zagreb, Damascus, Dubai and Karachi.

Braathens also exploited the convert

ib le 737s, taking delivery of cargo-door

equipped 'Advanced' examp les in 1971.

Whennotoperating passenger flights on the

orwegianairline's scheduled and charter

network, the Braathens convertible 737s

flew cargoes throughout the world . A reg

ular operation was the airlift of oil-drilling

equipment ::Ind per sonne l , f rom o rway to

\

IMPROVING THE BREED

Pltumunl

•

(Top) Piedmontbased a considerable expansionprogrammearound the 737-200 as more were deliveredto supplement theoriginal aircraft. Aviat

(Middle) Bolder,updated, colours were seen on United's '737 Friend Ships'from 1972. Jenny Gradidge

(Bottom) The flexibility ofconvertible 737s, such as G-AXNA, allowed Britannia Airways to increaseuti l ization inthe quieter winter months

when passengercharter work traditionally decreased. Via author

69



IMPROVING TilE BREED IMPROVING THE BREED

SportingAer l ingus'slatertai l l ivery,EI-BDYwears Eastern ProvincialAir l ines' red cheatline,the legacy

of an off-season winter lease. Va author

The large cargo doorofthe convertible 737 allowed theeasy loading of awkward andoutsize loads, such as this

dismantled helicopterbeing transported from london/Gatwick to Greenland by Braathens. Ivar Hakonsen

Air Algerie was an early client forAer l inguss leasing outof spare 737 capacity. EI-ASBis seen in Air Algerie's

Caravelle-era livery. Aviaton HobbyShop

70

West Africa. With weather in the orth

Sea t oo rough for oil exploration drilling

in the European winter, operations were

moved to the West African coast. As their

737 fleet increased, Braathens also posted

two or three aircraftin neighbouringSwe

d en o n a year-round basis, flying IT to

Mediterranean re orts in the summer and

to the Canary Islands in the winter.

Seasonal Leases

Early on, Lufthansa had leased out a t least

Lhree of their Series IOOs to its charter sub

sidiary, Condor Flugdienst. The 737s oper

ated alongside six Boeing 727-100s, also

leased from Lufthansa, o n I T charter' from

a number of West German cities. The

Condor 737s replaced the airline' last

Vickers Viscount turbo-props and allowed

the ca rr i er to c la im to be one of the first

all-jet charter airlines in Europe.

As well as longer-term leases, like that

from Lufthansa to Condor, a number of

carriers managed to lease out their spare

73 7 capacity in their lessbusy seasons. Aer

Lingus, which had pionee red such unde r

takings with their Br)eing 720, 707 and

RAC One-Eleven fleets in the past, was

one o f t h e fi rst to exploit the 73 7 in th is

way. The very first wint er of Aer Lingus

73 7 operations, 1969/70, saw El-ASB

leased to Air Algerie for three months,

supplement ing the North African airline's

fleet of Caravelles.

Later winter contracts usually saw at

least some o f A er Lingus' 737s returning

regularlyto the African continent and also

migrating to Canad,l , t he Cari bbean and

the US on short-term seasonal leases.

Those t hat remained i n E ir e continued

operating o n t he Irish airline's scheduled

services, although frequencies on some

routes were much r edu cd in the winter

months. IT charter flying was almost non

existent until the summer and thesecom

bined factors allowed the releasing ofoth

erwiseidle aircraftfor lease work.These highly profitable arrangements

usually took effect b et we en t he e nd o f

December and early March, when the air

craft would r et urn t o er Lingus and their

regular scheduled r ou te s f rom E ir e to

Europe. Often , t he 737s that had bee n

leased out would he seen back on the Aer

Lingusservices till wearing at leastpartial

liveries o f t he lease customer, t here no t

having been t ime to completely repaint

the aircraft.

71

737 Newcomers

ot all of Boeing's custome

were est<lbl i sh ed o pe ra to rs .

carrierstarted their operatio

craft in June 1971. The road

ration of Southwest Airlines

vi es within Texas had been

their suc essful strugglewast

tant to Boeing over the foll

Ithad been asearlyas 196

of a low-fare, frequent-serv

ing Texas had first been m

time Rollin King was cons

down a commuter service

and operated, also called

lines, that waslosing mone

services from an Antonio,

cities such as Laredo and E

t iny airline operated a coll

eight-passengeraircraft, mo

Piperaircraft. Considering

King eventually h it o n t he

commercial operation, se

biggest three commercial

Houston andSan ntonio.

A yea r later King presen

study to his lawyer, Herbe

Kelleherhelped King incor

company, originally called A



and dispose of the loss-making commuter

carrier. Kelleherwas not keen on the pro

posal at first, but agreed to under take the

legal work free of charge. Kelleher then

s tar ted check ing ou t similar operation,

such as t h at o f Pacific outhwest in Cali

fornia, and started i nv e t in g i n the idea,

and, more importantly, persuading other

t o d o t he same.

Most of the first 100,000raised went on

the cost of preparing an appl ication and

p roduc inga p rope r p ro sp ec tu s. n option

was also taken out with American Airlines

for three of their surplusLockheed Electras,

w ith f inanc ing f rom Allstate Insurance.

The new company managed t o a tt ra ct

extra financing from several important

IMPROVING THE BREED

unanimously, on Z F ebr ua ry 196 8, to

back Air outhwest. However, t he n ex t

day the established carriers, in theshape of

Braniff Airways, Trans Texas Airways and

Continental Airway obtained a re train

ing o rd er , prohibiting the commis ion

from delivering th certificate. The case

wa refer red to the Aus ti n t at e District

Court that summer.

The major airlines argued that they

already providedadequate service between

the cities concernedand that there was no

r oom for any more compe ti t ion . Air

Southwest actually lost the first trial and

had to resor t to appea l ing t o t he Texas

Supreme Court. A II the $543,000 raised

had been spent on thecourt cases and AII-

flights, the Air Sou thwest board was also

faced with having to refinance the airline

if it was t o h av e a ny chance of starting

operations. Trained accountant ami e x

president of a number of airlines, M. Lamar

Muse was hired inJanuary 1971 and given

the task of getting the company airborne.

A swel l a h ir in g an experienced manage

ment team, Muse used every skill andcon

tact he had acqui red in h is long career to

g at he r t og et he r t he desperately needed

funds.

Gradually, the new finance package was

assembled by Muse and veteran airlineexec

utiveswerehired toorganize the new airline.

The man who had comeup with the whole

idea in the first place, Rollin King, became

its operating name from Air Southwe t to

outhwest Airlines, King'soriginal compa

ny now being defunct. Wearing titles to

that effect, the first of the o rde r for four

737s was delivered to Dallas in June 1971.

The company adopted a bright eye-catch

ing livery in orange, red and 'desertgold'.

Other innovations introduced included

pre-punched 1MB-card packets of tickets

for regular customers, monthly billing and

stewardess uniforms that included hot

p an t o r red vinyl mini-skirts.

Underway but Still under Fire

Scheduled operations finally began on 18

June 1971. Th e liZ-passenger 737 'Love

Birds', christened to reflect Southwest's

choice of home base at Dallas'sLove Field,

IMPROVING THE BREED

Repeated fares wars, e sp ec ia lly with

Braniff, dogged the airline over the next

fewyears, as it struggled to e tablishitself as

a profit-making business. At one point,

Braniff had reduced their fare o n t he Dal

las- Houston route to 13, half t ha t o f

outhwest. Although Braniff, with their

large domestic network and international

serviceswould beable to absorb the loss, at

least in the shor t term, Southwest would

have bankrupted itself trying to match it.

Instead, Musedevised a programme where

by passengers were still charged Z6, but

were offered a gift. Anyone declining the

gift was entitled to a refund of the fare dif

ference. Initially, 76 per cent of the passen

gers took the gift, a nd o ut hw es t could

pocket the extra revenue. The percentage

later dropped considerably as the novelty

was a popular move. Sout

began toe tablishitselfin th

Texas public asa practical,

native ro the big-name airli

One o f the four original

sold after a federal distric t c

nounced that outhwest co

fly harters outside Texas. T

airline of a potential source

also left them with an idlea

times in the schedule. Altho

profit was made o n t he sale

to Frontier Airlines, South

with the problem of coverin

uled flights o n t h e network.

A solution was found b

the 10-minute turnround,

become a leg end in the indu

turnrounds hadbeencomm

Pacific Southwesfssuccessful California operationwas to providethe modelfor aTexas-based imitator. MAP SouthwestAirlines' brightly painted 737-200s finally started revenueservices within Texas inJune 1971.

Martyn East

Texas concern that bought rock in Air

outhwest, raising 543,00 .

Legal Wranglings

As with P A and Air Cal i fo rnia fu rther

wes t, as l on g a Air o ut hwes t c on fi ne d

thei r ope rat ions to wi th in the borders of

thei r home state, they would not require

federal approval from the Civil Aeronau

tics Board. The company would onlyneed

the go-ahead from the Texas Aeronautics

Commission, with whom the application

to begin commercial operations was filed

on Z7 November 1967. Th e TAC voted

state Insurance h ad w it hd ra wn t he ir

financing for the EI c tr as . However , in

March 1970, the Texas upreme Court

overturned the decision ofthe lower court,

and in December that year, the

upreme Court refu ed to hear an appeal

by the rival airlines.

Certified - but Bro/<e'

Even now, the rival carriers werestilltrying

to sabotage Air outhwest , a t tempt ing to

dissuade underwriters from buying stock

and filingspurious complaints to theCAB.

Although i t was nowfree to begin revenue

72

executive vice-president for operations.

Kelleher continued to participate on a part

time basi as he was till working for his law

firm. Although the Alls tate d ea l for the

three Electras had now lapsed, th is turned

out to bea blessing in disguise. Boeing was

not onlywillingto look at an orderfromAir

outhwest for four Boeing 737-Z Os, Jut

theywere preparedto finance 90per cent of

the purchase cost. These were unheard-of

financial terms and i tw as t o b e the begin

ning of an excellent rela tionship between

customer airline and aircraft manufacturer.

In March 1971, during the height of the

legal wrangling, the airlinequietlychanged

operated twelve round-trips daily between

Dallas a nd Hou st on a nd six a day from

Dalla to an Antonio. Fares were pitched

a 40 round-trip, undercutting Braniff

and Texas International, a s Tran s Texa

had become in the meantime, by 14 and

16, respectively. The inaugural flight

had been able to t a ke p la ce despite yet

another eleventh hour attempt by Braniff

and Texas In te rna t ional to enfo rce a

restrainingorder that would have prevent

ed services beginning. Only the afternoon

before, Kelleher man ag ed t o h av e t he

order overthrown by the Texas Supreme

Court in Austin .

wore off, but the p romotion lasted long

enough for outhwest to win that particu

larskirmish in the fare war.

Loads had taken a while to pick up, with

some early flights opera ting with on ly a

handful of passengers. ome rescheduling

and revamping of the fares structure fol

lowed and passenger boarding figures start

ed to how some improvemen t . One more

major change was to switch the Houston

terminal from the new In te rcon tinen tal

Airport, milesoutside the city, t o t he old

Hobby Airporr, much closerto downtown.

This served the needs of Southwest's large

ly commuting passengers much be tte rand

73

of the 0 -3, o r e ve n som

turbo-prop operations, b u

with the larger jet aircraf

round t imessla hed, the rem

wer e a bl e t o m ai nt ai n

schedu le minus the sold

speedy tu rn rounds cont inu

enablingthe airline to sche

perdayperaircraft,aswella

capital cost ofextra aircraft

required to maintain a more

gramme. The success o f t

round system spoke volum

ceived reliability of the B

high-pressure operations.



IMPROVING THE BREED IMPROVING THE BREED

The Love Field Factor Southwest and MuseAir

SouthwestAirlines resistedmoves to make it transferoperations to the new

Dallas/FortWorth Airport.Instead. it headquartereditself atthe downtown love Fe d

nearDallas. TIm Kincaid COecton

One disputethat was guaranteed to keepSouthwests lawyers in steady employment

was the problem of Love Fed versusDallas-Fort Worth.

In 1968. al the airline operatorsthen usingDalas original airport at Love Fed. sgned

an agreement.the 1968Regona Airport Concurrent Bond Ordnance. tomove to anew

airport beng built nearGrapevne. Texas. to jointly serve the citiesof Dalas and Fort

Worth. Situated roughly halfway between the twocities. the costy new facility would

haveto attract a l t he airlnes to use it for it to have anyhope of being profitable. The

airlnes who sgned up for the bondwere notonlyoblged tomoveto thenewairport.

but were also lablefor anylosses it incurred. However. SouthwestAirlnes was not in

existencewhen thebondwas set up andwasnotabouttos gn up to it .withits expen

sve conditons.

As Love Fe d was on y t en minutes from downtown Dalas. Southwest also

recognized its convenience forits business commuters. whichwould give it amajor

TranStar Airlnes and with its fleet painted a striking 'Empyrean Blu

airlne became Southwests longer-rangingassociate.offering premiu

Soon. TranStars route network stretched from Texas to Calfornia.

Nevada and Okahoma as wel as still offering flghts l nk ing t he

(co

TheMcDonnell Douglas MD-80 was MuseAir 'schoicefor its region

TIm Kincaid Collection

Old Dog, New Trcks

The new arrangementworked quitewell for the first year, Southwest

ing their different customer bases in their ownway. Unfortunately

embroied in avicious war of fares with Contnental Airlnes. In 1982

raton, the owners of Texas International Airlnes, had acquired Co

which couldtrace its operatons as far back as 1937. Despite contn

its employee ranks,much ofthe merged workforceobjectng to asom

new management style, Texas Air Corporaton merged the two op

older and larger airlne's name.

After thebankruptcy of Braniff International thesame year, the 'ne

then operatng under 'Chapter 11 bankruptcy protecton and now

Houston, was anxious to establsh itself as the major operator both

fromthe state totherestof the US. Contnental sawTranStaras a th

tous plans, the smaler carrier having built up aconsiderable traffic

ing routes fromHouston.Contnentalintroducedmuch reduced, non-

Fares, countered by TranStars 'StarFares' and 'MediFares' programoffered improved, two-class, service with a new Business Cass u

Cass in an attempt to improve revenue yields. However,losses mou

able levels and Keleher finally gave up the fight in 1987, closing

August that yearin an effort to protect SouthwestAirlnes.

On 28 March 1978,M. LamarMusesuddenlyresigned as SouthwestAirlne's President

and CEO. In the interim. HerbKeleher was appointed as atemporary replacement. until

Howard D. Putnam,the VP-Marketng Services at UnitedAir Lnesacceptedthe per

manentpost.threemonthslater.Putnamwas to remain until 1981,when he left to take

the reigns of the, by then, ai ng Braniff International. Herb Keleher was finally per

suaded toreplaceh m on afull-time basis. Practicaly snce Day One, Keleher had been

an important infuence on Southwest Airlnes, butonly asan outside advisor andlegal

representatve. Now he wasto lead the airline hehad been instrumental in founding.

Lamar Muse's departure from Southwest was folowed by that of hs son, Michael.

who hadbeen vp-Financeunderhis father. A non-competton clause was written into

the agreementsreachedover their leaving Southwest. but within daysof this expirng

a newairlne, Muse Air,came intoexistence in 1981. Under the control of father and

son, Muse Air immediately began rval services over Southwests core Texan routes.

There were significant differences inthe style of operaton adopted byMuse.Aiming

for a more select clentele, Muse offered assigned seatng, with three facing-seat

lounge areas in the cabin, extra cabin attendants andupgraded refreshment services.

Interestngly, Muse Air was the first US carrier tooperate a ful non-smoking polcy on

its aircraft. The Muse Air fleet comprsed brand-new,159-passenger MD-80s, of vari

ousmarks, later joined by slightly smaler,130-passenger DC-9-50s, boughtfrom Swis

sar. The al McDonnel Douglas-buit fleet was painted in aunique lvery with Muse's

signature across thefuselage.Rather than try to compete by spending money on upgrading their own passenger

amenites, Southwestrespondedwith its strengths, and increasedfrequencies on routes

where the twoairlnes werenow competng head-to-head. Although Muse Air managed

to makea dent in Southwests traffic and even expermented with expanding its route

system within Texas and to inter-State points, the Southwest phiosophy of frequent.

low-cost travel with basc amenites won through. Muse Air never made a profit and

eventualy, in 1986, Lamar Musetook up HerbKelehers offer to buyout the company.

Rather than just absorb Muse Airsoperatons. the airlne was reorganzed. Renamed

Initia l servicesbegan on th e newexpand

ed intra-Texas n etwo rk t h at w in te r a nd

were increased in the spring of 1977, as

more 737s were delivered from Boeing to

operate them.

With its colourful pres enc e now be ing

felt throughout its home state, Southwest

would have to start looking further afield

for any future deve lopment o f the net

work. Muse began studying the possibility

of setting up a new subsidiary of the com

pany, to provide a SouthwestA ill inesstyle

of service from Chicago's Midway Airport.

Once the main airport for Chicago, Mid

way had been eclipsed by the open ing of

the new facility at O'Hare and was, by the

1970s, very little used. However, moves

were being made in Washing ton tha t

would release Southwest f rom i ts intra

state shackles and allow new routes to be

opened without the need for out-of-state

subsidiaries to be formed.

commercial advantage over itslargercompettors. In 1972. the cities of Dalas andFort

Worth broughtthe f irst of a seresof lawsuits in an effort to make Southwest move.

Several years of litigation later. Southwest was told that it coud operate from Love

Fe d as long as it was an airport. Southwest had actualy been told thisafter the first

hearng. but appeals from the cities and larger airlnes had kept the casein thecourts

foryears.When the other airlnes moved outof Love Fed. Southwest took over the

prestgious gate positons previouslyoccupied by giant Amercan Airlnes. The little air

lne was growing up.

Aeronautics Commission. Unfortunately

for Texas International, they were suffer-

ing from industrial ac tiona t the t ime and

their flights were strike-bound. Therefore

they were una bl e t o put up much of an

argument and the judgedecided that any

service was b et te r t h an non e, a nd threw

theirobjectionsout of court.

As it was, the legal dispute had delayed

Southwest beginning service from Harlin

gen until 1975. Their presence in the area

was immediately felt though. The year

before, 1974, had seen 123,000 passengers

flying from the Valley to Dallas, Houston

and San Antonio. Eleven months after

Southwest introduced their service, this

had risen to 325,000.

Encouraged by the success of the

Rio Grande Valley flights , Southwest

appl i ed to introduce similar flights from

Corpus Christi, Austin, Midland-Odessa,

Lubock and EI Pas o, i n March 1976.

One ' advantage ' o f Southwes t Airlines

finding i tself in almost continuous legal

dispute with the larger airlines was that it

had t o c u rb a ny temptation to expand too

quickly. This was a common trap that

many mher inexperienced carriers had

fallen into in the past. However, the fre-

quent court cases kept the Southwest

management's attention focused on main

taining s t andards and maxim iz ing rev-

enues on the existing network.

By 1973 though,Southwest 's operations

were s t ar t ing to show a p ro fi t and some

modest expansion was considered feasible.

First targeted was the Rio Grande Valley

area, served by the airport at Harlingen.

Texas International already served routes

from Harlingen and would, normally, have

been expected to put u p a f ig ht against

Southwest's application to the Texas

Slow Expansion

74 75



IMPROVING THE BREED IMPROVINGTHE BREED

soonoperat ing over much mAsian network.

In 1972 though, MSA wa

six-year agreementbetween

tries t o opera te t hei r airlin

joint venture having expired

ber. MSA became Singap

o

1969. Their initial f1eet of Series 100swasintroduced on scheduled f1ights from

Singarore to Kua la Lumpu r, Penang,

Bangkok, and Kota Kinabula, ousting the

long-serving Comet 4s. More 737 routes

were introduced as the l at er order for

Series 200s arrived and t he aircraft were

. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .. __ _.....•...

Texas International's arguments againstSouthwest'sexpansioninto theRio Grande Valley fell f lat. as

Texas Internationalwas groundedby a st r ike a t thetime. Via author

New Services Worldwide

The Boeing 737 was, by the 1970s,

becoming a common sight at airports in

every corner of t he world. Malaysia-Sin

gapore Airl ines became the first FarEast

ern operator of the aircraft on 21 August

Singapore Airl ines' inheri ted' the MSA Boeing 737 f leetwhen the original carrier was split into two

airlines. Avaton Hobby Shop

Southwest and MuseAir continued

Southwest acquiredcontrol of its Muse Airrival in 1986. lim Kincaid Coecton

Muse Airwas reorganzed as TranStarAirlines, replacing Muse Airs 'signature l ivery withanew 'Empyrean Bue

desgn. lim Kincaid Coecton

76

/77



IMPROVING THE BREED IMPROVING THE BREED

Renamed Wien Air Alaska,the Alaskan pioneer airline made good useof i tsconvertible 737-200Cs

throughoutthe northernstate. Jenny Gradidge

More 'Rough Field' 7

continent in 1970/71. Indian

operated a small fleet of Car

major route' for several year

props such as the Viscount,

74 operat ing on local rou

with i ts improved runway

ovcrthe olderCaravelIe, was

duce jet flights to more citie

As well as having establish

on in rough-field operations

of Wi en Consol idated, renam

l as ka I nc in M ay 1973,

Pacific Western, suitably m

werealso soon demonstrating

talents elsewhere in the worl

In the more remote part o

A si an and Cen tr al / o ut he

cont inents there was a s m

high-capacity aircraftcapabl

economicallyand safely from

Iy equipped airports, as there

ka or arcticCanada.

The enhanced performan

of t he 'Ad van ed' 73 7s lent

1969/70 . Both car r ie rs had previously

beenoperators of first- and second-gener

ation European jet ai rl iner s. VA P

already flew a pair o fBAC One-Elevens,

and cont i nued to do '0 for many years

after the VA P 7 37 f le et h ad h een con

siderably expanded. The contract for the

f ive VA P 7 37 s had r ep la ed an order for

five much larger Boeing 727-200 , the

contract for which had been s ign ed in

1968. Aero l ineas Argen ti nas opera ted

several Caravel les and DH Comet s o n

domesticand regional flights - both types

were fated to be d ispo sed of as the 737s

entered Aerolineas's service.

Avianca had actually withdrawn their

737-100s from service after only two year's

use, in late 1971, deciding instead to con

cent rat e on the Boeing 727 for domestic

and regional jet Trvice. The 737s were

originally sold to the West German Ai r

Force, but were soon sold back to Boeing.

The two aircraft were eventually bought

by Aloha ir linesin J973.

Back in sia, the statc-owned Indian

Airlines Corporation had introduced a

fleet of Boeing 737-200s on to i ts huge

domestic network throughout the sub-

b as ed i n i ng ap or e, and t he Mal ay 'i an

Airline ystem, based at Kuala Lumpur.

ingapo re i rl ine s rook over most of the

jet equipment, Boeing 707sused on long

haul flights, andthe 73 7s. Malaysian rook

over most of t he fleet of F.27 turho-props,

operated on local flights, eventually leas

i ng in B oei ng 7 7s, and order ing nell'

737s, to open t he ir own jet service

throughout the region.

mong an increasing number of new

operators, outh African Airways intro

duced their f le et in 1969 as part of a gen

eral modernization p lan for their short

and medium-haul routes. Boeing707shad

operated on long-haul services ro Europe

for many years ami the 727 had a lso been

introdu ed on major domestic ,1Ild region

alflights in 1965. The 737swere intended

to supplement the 727s and replacc a si:

ablc flcct of Vickers Viscounts operating

on domestic routes.

Thc Brazilian domest ic airlinc VASP

(Vi ac ao A er ea a o Paulo) and Argen

tinean national carrier, Aerolineas Argen

tinas, had fo llowed Avianca 's example

and placedSeries 200 Boeing 737s in ser

vice on t he ir South American routes in

(Below) Avianca's 737-100s were onlyto servefor two years before beingsold

on. AViaton Hobbyshop

(Above) Malaysian Airline Systemacquired Boeing 737-200sto operate

regionalschedulesfromits Kuala Lumpurbase. Steve Buntng

78 79



Thestretched Fokker F.28 2000 couldcarrya more economicload ofpassengers, but stil l soldin

comparativelysmall numbersagainstthe 737's muchmoreimpressivesalesfigures. Via author

the more demanding operationalenviron

ments. Rival type, such as the Fokker

F.28 Fellow hip, and t he m uc h modified

erie 47S ver ion of the B AC One

Eleven, designed specif ical ly as rough

field aircraft, were soon eclipsed by the

73 7 ale f igures as i t encroached on their

targeted markets.

A ll the r ival types were capable of S<1tis-

factory operation f rom difficult environ

ments. They were also mode rn and com

fortable e nough t o be util ized o n m or e

important regional services, even where

the rough-field capability was not required.

This gave a degr ee of flexibility in styles of

operation that precluded the need for dif

ferent types of aircraft on different parts of

the network.

Where the 73 7 scored over the equally

versatile, but smaller, types wasits capacity

and range. Th e original Fokker F.2 carried

only sixty-five passenger, although this

wa incr eased in laterver ions,still capable

of rough-field operations, ro seventy nine.

Th e er ies 47SOne-Eleven could carry up

ro eighty-nine, in a high-density configura

tion. A convertible 737 could carry these

sorts of loadsin the rear cabinand still have

the forward passenger cabin in a generous

cargo configuration, in a dd it io n t o the

standard below-floor cargo capacity. Th e

IMPROVING THE BREED

small f leet of F.2 s oper<1ted by Braathens

was soon ecl ipsed by the airline's 737s and

the Fokker s were sold in f avour of more

Boeings.

By 197 , the 73 7 was a Iso serving mixed

pre t ige and ' second- level ' service with the

likes of Air Algerie, AirGabon, A i rMada

gascar, Air auru, Air Tanzania, Air Zaire,

Cameroon Airlines, hina Airlines

(Taiwan) , DETA (Mozambique), Far East

ern Air Transport (Taiwan), Gulf Air

(Bahrein), I ran Air, I raqi Airways, Kuwait

Airways, iger iaAirways, Royal Air Maroc,

Royal Brunei Air lines, Saudia (Saudi Ara

bia), SAHSA (Honduras), Sudan Airways,

TAAG Angola Airlines, Thai Airways,

TA Airlines (Honduras), Yemen Airways

and ZambiaAirways.Although not allthese

operarors rook advantage of the rough-field

modifications, they all used their versatile

73 7 on disparate service throughout their

regions.

Coping with Crisis

Despite the steady pread o f t he 737

throughout the worldwide airline system

during the late 1960s and early 1970s,Boe

i ng was going through a financial crisis.

The increasing costs of t he 747 wide-body

80

programme, the cancellation of the

S T proje ct and a general down-turn in

world financial markets was having a eri

ou accumula tive effect.

At one point, af ter 737 sales had plum

meted, a taskforce set upby Boeing in 1973

seriou Iy considered the option of s l Ii ng

the whole 737 programme to Japan. Th e

fact that most of the 73 7 production jigs

were portable led to the choic eof the twin

jet as an asset that might profi tably be sold

off to savemoney. From a sales high of 114

in 1969, only twenty-two were ordered in

1972 and barelyfour teen in 1973. However,

a turnround began with thedevelopment of

the 'advanced' version and order began to

slowlybuild upagain.

Changes Afoot

Despite the ongoing production delays and

expensive difficulties in introducing their

newgiant 747 'Jumbo', the earl y 1970s aw

Boeing with relat ively healthy order books

for most of their available models. On the

horizon though, wasa slow-down inair trav

el generally,massive fuel price increase and

a wor ldwi de wav e of deregulation, that

would change the air transpor t industry 's

goalpostsforever. Testingtimes were "head.

IMPROVING TilE BREED

Carriers as geographically separate as North Africa's Air Algerie and Air Nauruof the Pac if i c found use for

the 737 on theirdiversenetworks. Via author/MAP

81



I ~ I I ) R O V I N G TilE BREED

Saudia,of Saudi Arabia (above) andaircraftof the

Indian Airlines Corporation (left) wereflown into

bothmajorcities and remoterpointsin their

respective countries. Both pictures va author

(Below) The Boeing 'family' of jet airliners, as

offered inthe late 1960s.737-200, PP-SMA, of VASP

ofBrazi l . 727-200, N1783B, eventuallydestined for

libyan Arab Air l ines. PP-VJH, a 707-320C, later

deliveredto anotherBrazi l iancarr ier, VARIG, and

747-100, N731PA wearing Boeing titles overits Pan

American colourscheme before delivery. Boeing

The Ripples Spread

airframedesignersweredesp

trim asmuch weight and ae

aspossible off the forthcomi

The oil crisis also affect

revenues in otherways. Indu

cial institutionssuffereddec

a result of their own , and

increased fuel costs. Some c

out o f business, the survivo

wherever possible, often ca

backs in corporate travel. W

force was hit by redundanci

leisure travel suffered and th

losing passengers fmm all

The effect continued into 1

advance bookings and mor

price rises. Europewasas b

where, with the UK suffe

strike as well. Petrol ration

ened in the UK; in the end,

to be introduced, a l thoug

public did have to suffer e

cuts from the electrical ind

One importantUK chart

Line Aviation, ceased ope

middle of August 1974, at th

summer travel season. Th

operator flew a large fleet

Elevens and a p ai r of Lo

wide-bodies throughout E

spots,as well as some longe

Canada and the Caribbean

corner by the increased fu

vicious price-war among th

nies, including Clark,ollS

Hori:on Travel, both owne

holding company as the air

group was unable to avoid

tion when the workingcapi

Court L in e Avi at io n' s

bour, Britann i a Ai rways ,

weather the storm. By now

sidiary o f t he powerful an

diverse Thomson Group,

able to survive with on ly

and cost-saving measures.

types with high fuel consumption at a prof

it. This changed overnight, and aircraft that

had previouslybeen viable were found to be

an expensive liability. The Convair series of

medium-range, four-engined, jet airliners

suffered especially. TWA and Deltaoperat

ed large fleets of t he CV-880 in the USA,

and withdrew them from service assoon as

they could be replaced by more economic

aircraft. Suddenly, Boeing and all theother

airliner manufacturers around the worldwere having to pay much more attention to

fuel consumption in their designs. Engine

manufacturers were under pressure to pro

duce fuel-efficient power plants and the

Worldwide Influences

CHAPTER SIX

The Oil Crisis

ne worldwide crisis that not only con

tributed to Boeing's woes but alsoaffected

nearlyevery industrial undertaking in the

civilized world, struck in 1973. That year,

the rganization of Oil Producing and

Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to

incre,lse the price of t he oil they supplied.

Fuel prices rocketed in all sectors, trebling

within days and plunging the financialworld into chaos.

Up until then, airlines had enjoyed the

benefit of comparatively cheap fuel for their

aircraft and had s ti ll b een able to operate

lufthansa soon acquired Series 200 737s to operate alongsidetheir original Series

100s. The likes of D-ABHU, 'Konstaz',and itsfleetmates,were already established as

oneof themost popular regional jetair l iners,when the oil cr isis changedthe

operationalparametersof the air l ineindustry forever. Lufthansa

82 83



WORLDWIDEINFL ENCES WORLDWIDE I I FLUENCES

and G.P. Gurelman. Boas

image, in contrasr ro earli

cialisrs, the air line started o

an ex-Easrern Airlines B

Three early model Boe i

jo ined the single 720 on I

rhroughour Europe and

longer-haul desrinarions.

T wo e ri cs 200 737s ar

following rwo leased wide

A300Bs rhar had joined rhe

Wirh anorher series 20 o

European was to find rhe 7

crafr for irs needs and was

on acquiring further aircra

major expansion of irs oper

(Below) PH-TVH was one of the first ofTransavia's737-2

oustedthe Caravellesfromthe Dutch charter carrier 'sfl

Belgian Pace-setter

I r was a fur rh er rwo yea rs b efore anorher

European charrer carrieradopredrhe 73 7for

ir horr-haul needs. Trail' European Air

ways, based in Brussels, Belgium's capital,

wa one o f rhc ncwcr brccd of charrer air

line, wirhour irs roots in rhc propeller era .

Trans European h ad nor bccn foundcd

unril Octobcr 1970, to opcrarc IT charters

for parcnr Bclgian travel companicsTIFA

Of rheseven, one was leasedfrom Brirannia

Airways and rhreewere on l ea se f rom n ir

cd Airlines.

(Above) Transavia's Caravelle 3, PH-TRP had previously served with SAS andSwissair.

Duringits timewith Transavia it spenttime leasedout to Tunisair. Aviaton Hobby Shop

fleer a r r he end of 1969. More 707s were

leased in over rhe subsequenr years.

The fuel crisis hir rhe Caravelle 's eco

nomic viabiliry very hard and Transavia

began lookingfora lessrhirsry replacemenr.

Twelve of rheFrenchrwin-jcrswerein use by

1973, operaring over an increasing nerwork

ofIT charrers,as well as beingin demand for

ad hoc and shorr-rerm leasing contracrwork

wirh other airlines hort of capaciry. This lar

reroperationwas to becomea Transaviaspe

cialiry in rhe yearsro come.

The Caravelle replacemenrs started to be

del ive red in May 1974 and by rhe follow

ingMay rherc were seven Boeing 737-200s

in scrvicc wirh rhe Durch charter carrier.

MEY-A IR

rI"o DC-6s ami one DC-6B. The follow

ing ycar rheDC-6 flecr consi'red of no lcss

rhan rcn aircrafr , afrer rhe arrival of rwo

convcrtible passenger/cargo D -6As and

fivc more DC-6Bs.

Transavia operared irs firsr jcr cquipmem

i n r he shape of a singlc Boeing 707-320C

rhar flew long-disrance charters berween

May and October 1 96 . T wo Caravel Ie 3 ,

leased from rhe manufacrurer, enrered ser

vicc on rhe IT roures from t he e rhe r

l and s in 1969. More Ca ravel l es were

acquired second-hand, f rom wis sa ir and

Unired, replac ing rhe leased examples, as

wcl l as rhe lasr DC-6Bs, which lefr rhe

Mey-Air Transport's attemptto expand into jet charter operationseventuallyfai led.

LN-MTD later found a new home with Piedmont as N754N. Jenny Gradidge

ccasing o p e r a r i o n ~ and undergoing rhe

ignominy of having irs jcr flccr rcpossessed

by Boeing for non-paymem. Dcspirc Mey

Air's disappointmcnt, Belgium's Trans

Europcan Airways and rhc crhcrlands'

Transavia had both finally opred for the

737-200 to rcplacc rheir oldcr jcr flccrs.

Transavia was rhe longer-csrablished of

rhe rwo airlinc" having been founded in

1965 a s Transavia (Limburg) V. Re\'

cnuc operarions, however, did nor begin

umil 17 I ovembcr 1966. On rhar dare,

supporting personnel ami a r ti s t' o f r he

Durch Dance Thearre wcre f lown to

aples. Transavia's inirial fleer comprised

More European Charter 7375

Aftcr being oncof rhe 737s fcw supportcrs

for all-charter services in Europe, by rhe

mid-1970s Britannia was finally joined by

more inclusivc-tour operators. Gcrmany's

Condor, thar had leased 737s from

Lufrhansa for several years, had rerurned to

onlyoperating 72 7·forrheirshorr-haul fleer.

However , o rweg ian car ri er Mey -A ir,

prcviously an opcraror ofConvair propeller

aircrafr, rook delivery in 1971 of rwo 737

200s. Operaring an exrensive IT and ad hoc

nerwork from candinavia, Mey Air was ro

become a vicrim of rhe posr-OPEC slump,

re cove ry saw rhcir flccr of 7 3 7 - 2 0 0 ~increase to rhirtccn, including rwo con

vcrtiblc modcls. A pair of long-rangc 7 0 7 ~hadbeen operared bricfly in 1971-73, on

flighrs to rhc USA, Canada, rhc Carib

b ca n a nd Far Easr. Howcvcr, rhcy had

bcc n r ct urn cd t o t he ir lcssors aftcr

changcs in US law had madc ir uncco

nomic for Britanniato operatc lhcirchar

rcr, rhcrc. Thc all-737flcct was now opcr

ating from a numbe r o f K rcg iona l

poims, as w el l as thc Luton hcad office.

(Above) Britannia Airways managedto survivethe

turmoil ofthe fuelcr isis,with thebackingof i ts

powerful owners and careful management.

JennyGradidge

84 85



WORLDWIDE INFLUENCES WORLDWIDE INFLUENCES

u

Deregulation in the USA

, - TEN .A IR . ~ ~ ••••..... ,

•• il. L!J' .-• • • • • • u .- .

Although acommercial failurefor its maker, the few Dassault Mercures built enjoyed long and successful,

accident-free, careers with French domestic carrier, Air Inter. Dassaut

Trans European opted for the 737 to replace larger, but ageing, Boeing 707s and 720s. Via author

Air Florida began its short-range, intra-Florida services with a highlyunsuitable, long-range, Boeing 707.

Via author

Caribbean Lease

France's national carrier, Air France, had

joined the ranks of European cheduled 73 7

operatorsas early asOctober 1973. Howcv

er, it was not the extcnsive Europcan-sched

uled network of Air France that was to sec

the 737s, but the airline's regional services

between the French ter ri to ri es in the

Antilles Islands chain in the Caribbean. In

addition to providing an important feeder

service to Air France's trans-Atlantic flights

to and from Paris , the Caribbean network

provided regional links to other import<lnl

islands in the vicinity,as well as to Floridain

the southern USA. A ir France had previ

ously assigned Caravelles to the area to

operate the local network.

Two Boeing 737-200s were leased from

Western, the first, 4522W was chri tened

'Antilles' once i t was painted in Air France

colours. The s econd, 4504W, was chr is

tened 'Guyane' and arrived inJanuary 1974.

Being operated as dictated by Western'

practice' asagreed with their pilots' unions,

the aircraftleased to Air France were oblig

ed to be flown with three flight-deck crew

members. The French airline was also in

tcnding to use the period o f t he lease to

cvaluate the 737 asa possible replacement

for the remaining Caravelles on European

scheduled services. Air France had already

introduced Boeing 727-200s on busier ex

Caravelle routes within Europe.

Once again, t ho ugh, t he three-crew

que'tion wa s r ai se d by the Air France

pilots' unions and was to delay the compa

ny's decision. Despite theo ther European

operators o f t h e 737 all opti n g f or a two

pilot flight-deck crew, the French unions

concerned, S PL and OMAC, both

pressured for Air France t o ad opt t he

three-crew option. The two organizations

disputed Lufthansa's assertion t ha t t he

two-crew operation was per fec tly safe.

However , a n ew joi nt , 9 -month , FAA /

NASA study from the U A, presented in

1978,reaffirmed that it 'found no evidence

to indicate that a two-man crew aircraft is

a detriment to safety'.

The study had reviewed the record of

five trunk carrier aircraft, namely the Boe

ing727, 737, BACOne-Eleven, DC- and

DC-9. The furrher study of th ree versus

two c r ew membe rs c on cl ud ed t ha t t he

records studied:

prccludcd makll1g any ,ralCmCI1l hCYllnd rhar

rhcrc is nll S1gnl!lcantLhff crcncc 111 rhc Ic\c1 llfsafcry hcrll 'cen rhc IlI'll ,md rhrcc m,1I1 llpcra

tion.

onetheless, the lack ofan agreementon

the matte r l ed to Air France cancelling a

lease package for th irreen 737-200s. 1twas

to be December 1981 before Air France

was able to announce an order for twelve

737-200s.

Air France's Alternatives

One serious alternative to the 737 for Air

France was a French-built option, the Das

sault lercure. Dassault had developed the

Mercure as a 'mini-airbu 'seating 130-15

passengers, specifically on shorr-haul oper

ations. The company had discerned that

the rival types then in use were basically

medium-haul airliners, believing their

bas ic d es ign had been compromised by

stretchingto provide more capacityover a

shorter range. Resemblinga much enlarged

737, the Mercure was designed from the

beginning as a high-capacity , shorr-rang

aircraft and the first prototype first flew on

28 May 1971.

Powered by imporred Pratt & Whitney

JT8D-15s , the Mercure was offered to

many European carriers and marketed as

a viable a l ternat ive to the merican

choices. However, the much hoped-fo r

A ir F ra nc e o rd er failed to mate r ia l i:e .

Other t ha n a n o rd er for ten from Air

bIter that placed the first into service on

its dome'tic French network i n 1 97 4,

there were no other rakers for the Mer

cure . P lans for an enlarged version were

soon abandoned. A ir In ter la te racqu ired

one of the prototype Mercures a' well and

were very satisfied with the ir fleet, but

there were no more Mercures produced

after the initial product ion ba tch , a

financial disaster for D<lss<lult.

The AirlineDeregulaton Actwas passed by the US Congressin 1978, WithWide sup

port f rommostsdesof theparty political fences. In effect, theAmercan scheduledand

charter aircarriers hadpreviously been stringently controled by the CAB and FAA In

everythingfrom routel cencesto fares theycould offer Under deregulatIOn the airlnes

were tobe 'set free', at leastdomestcaly, fying wherethey thoughttheycould make

a profit andcharging what they thought the market wouldalow. The carrers hadonly

to prove to the authorities that they were 'fit, willing and able' to conduct their opera

tons safely and inthe publc Interest. On overseas services, for thetme being,regu

lation contnued as most foreign routes were governed by Internatonal agreement

The main aimofthe act was to reduce airline fares and offer morechoiceto the trav

e lng publc. For manyyearstheprme transcontinental routes were thesole province

ofthe majorcarrers. Amerca,TWA and Unitedrued thenon-stopcoast-to-coast ser

vices. With Braniff, Eastern, Delta and National operatng the main north-south routes

on the eastcoast and to thesouth and southwest.Contnental. Northwest and West

ern lnkedthe west coast with the midwest and southwest as well as flying someof

the 'thinner transcontinental flights inthe northand southof the country. In between,

themajorcarrers had their 'sphereof influence' in varous regions, often in compett on

With a regional or local service carner There were overaps and In

instance,both Deltaand Natonal operated transcontinental routes

the USA, albeit usualy with at least one en route stop. Nonethe

establshed status quo that wasaboutto be serously upset.

Once the act waslaw, therewas an upsurge in new routes and

trying to take advantage of the situation The establshed carrier

glng with the effects of the oil crisis and financial down-turn in

omy that had left themWith half-empty aircraft being flownat a lo

intentioned, some of the new operators found themselves flound

carriers that expanded theirnetworks overnight were having trou

cost of theiractions.

Even themajorestablshed carrers were not immune. Compett

fare carriers was one of the factors blamed for the eventual demise

iff Airways, Eastern Air Lnesand Pan Amercan WorldAirways I

someof the survivorswere badlymauled in the fightfor revenue.

Word Airlnes eventualy found itself shrunk to a shadowof its fo

international networkespecialy hit by low-fare competton and wo

86 87



WORLDWIDE I:-<FL ENCES WORLDWIDE INFL ENCES

Ex,SIA 737-100sheraldedthe arr ival ofthe many -200s,both new and second,hand, wi thAi r Florida. Aviaton HobbyShop

The Boeing 727,200provided more capacity as routes expandedthroughout theeasternUSA. Va author

The People's Cham

\ \ ' '1 ; ' about to land o n t he

them. The pressure this p ut

clear the runway for the ap

ern 727 was cited as a possi

crew missing signs that a l

with t he engine thrust rea

haps choosing n ot t o give

tion as they should have to

snO\\' o n t h e aircraft's wing;

Air Florida had always

slim profitmarginin an eff

offer the cheap fares ithad

t i on on . The inevitable d

boardings, fo llowing t he

Washington, hi t the compa

cially. Although some im

eventually achieved as t im

Florida never managed to

from the adverse public

closed down in the summe

While Air Florida hadbeen

carrier that took advanta

t i on t o change itselfbeyon

another feature of the po

e ra was the formation of

l ines, estahlished to mak

under the new rules.

Formed in 19 0, PeoplE

was the brainchild of Don

MBA , w ho h ad b ee n Pres

InternationalAirlines.Bur

a newlow-fareairline, with

agement style. Having pion

'peanut fares' at Texas Inte

Pettit,two of the flight attendantsand sixty

nine of the passengers,four personsunfllrtu

nate enough to havebeen in vehiclesonthe

bridge alsoperished. All the survivors from

the aircraft, one flight attendant and four

passengers, had been in the rear section of

t he c ab in , w hi ch h ad b ro ke n away and

remained partly above the icc and water in

the river. The survivors were hoisted or

towed to safety by a US Park Police heli

copter that had managed to reach the crash

site in twentyminute,'. When a female sur

vivor lost her grip on a rescue rope, two

bystanders from the b ridge, inc lud inga S

Congressional Budget Office clerk named

Lenny Skutnick, jumped into the freezing

r iv er to h elp her . One passenger, who had

survived the in itia l impact, had been seen

to unselfishly assist others reach the heli

cop te r' s r es cu e l ine , b efore he 'lipped

beneath the water and drowned.

The Aftermath

In the subsequent inquiry , a number of

unfllr tunate factors were found to have

cont r ibu ted t o t he crash. The in itia l de

icingwas criticized as having been under

taken with an incorrect mix of glycol and

water. Evenso, human errorwas deemed to

have been a majo r fa ctor , w i th some seri

ously flawed j udgement on the part of the

operating crewbeing accredited with much

of t he blame. The airline itselfcame in for

somecriticism with regards to trainingpro

cedures. However, the control lerat Wash

ington had asked the crew of N62AF for

'No delay on departure', as another aircraft

Airport had reopened at 15.00hrs, follow

ing snowclearance that had closedit down

for an hour. Following de-ic ing, N62AF

was pushed back f rom t he t e rm ina l and

awaited its turn for departure with several

other aircraft, mostly also debyed.

N62AF sat o n t he taxiway for nearly

another hour before finally being given

clearance for take-off. In that t ime, snow

had bui l t u p o n t he wing ;,urfaces and ice

hadalsobuilt upin the compressor inlet;,of

the engine. Blockage of the inlet tube;,

wou ld g iv e fal se indications of thru;,t,

showing a higheramount than wasactual

ly being developed. On take-off, the ,mom

alous readings from the blocked tubes led

the crew to helieve that they had reached

a safe tak e-of f sp eed before th ey actu al ly

had. In addition, the renewed snow and ice

o n t h ewings andempennagethat had built

upagain as the aircraft waited o n t h e taxi

way, caused the aircraft to pi tchupas soon

a s i t wa;, airborne andthe aircraft was 'oon

in a dangerousstalling condition.

In a nose-high at t i tude, wi ththe under

carr i age down and flap;, s till partially

ex t ended, N62AF barely reached 300ft

(90m) in altitude before starting to descend

again . Ina slightleftturn , the crew tried to

raise the nose and apply power, but their

efforts were in vain. The aircraft crashed

i n to t he 14th treet Bridge, about a m il e

from the end ofthe runway. lidingover the

roadway o n t he bridge, packed with early

rush-hour traffic, 62A F plunged into the

iced-up Potomac River.

As well as killing the flight-deck crew,

Capt LarryWheaton and FirstOfficer Roger

As its tenth anniversary approached, Air

Flo rida was able to boa st a f le et that had

increasedfrom one 707, to threeDC-lOs,six

727-200s, four 737-100s and nineteen 737

200s, with fi\'e more 737-200;, on order.

There wasalso an orderforthree of Boeing';,new high-capacity twin-jetmodel, the 757,

in the p ip el in e. Celebra tion s for the

anniversary took on a decidedly muted air

though, following tragic los;, o fo n e o f t he

737-200s at Washington in January 1982.

Already runningwell behind schedule as

a result of exceptionally harsh winterweath

e r in the northeast, Air Florida's 737-200,

N62AF, was o ne o f t h e ex- nited aircraft.

I t was operating Flight 90 on 13 January,

a Washington-Fort Lauderdale ;,ef\'ice,

with ;,eventy-four passenger and five crew

memberson board. Washington ,Hilmal

America also came on line as oon a' aircraft

couldbe found to openthe routes.To aid the

growth of the network, Air Florida also

acquired halfa dozen Boeing727-200s from

a cancelled BraniffAirways order.

The modes t a ribb ean and Bahamian

international network was soon eclipsed by

the opening of trans-Atlantic schedules to

Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt,

London and Madrid. Long-range, wide

body, DC-I 0-30s were leased in to operate

the long-haul schedules.

Pride before the Fall

Take-over and Meteoric Expansion

More DC-9s joined the fleet and local com

muter operator, Air Sunshine, also based

at Miami, was t aken over in July 1978.

Although the AirSunshinefleet of DC-3s

and Convair CV-440s was not retained,

Air Florida added several extra Florida

cities to the network via the huy -out . e \\ '

international r ou te s w er e a ls o opened

from Miami to points in the Bahamas and

the Caribbean.

Air Florida joined the ranks of 737oper

a to rs in 1979, when the first of four ex

Singapore Airlines cries 100s arrived at

Miami. Over t he next two years the com

pany under took an explosive expansion

programme, taking full advantage o f t he

nell'freedoms available under deregulation.

More 737s,all cries 200s, wereacquired,

with tweh'e'Ad\ 'anced' aircraft on order.In addi t ion, second-hand aircraft were

acquired to speedup the expansion. As well

as nine ex-United aircraft, two of which

were leased from Transavia , another two

were contracted infrom leasingcompanies.

The much enlarged fleet was soon open

ing newscheduled services from Florida to

neighbouring southern states, the Midwest

andthe Great Lake;,.Most importantly,des

tinations in the affluent northeast, such as

Boston, e\\ 'York, Philadelphia and Wash

ington were aIso served by the 737s. e\\'

destinations in the Caribbean and Central

Amongthe U carriersalreadyin operation

that wereswift to takeadvantageof the new

rules, Air Florida was, at least for a while,

one of the more successful. Originally

formed under the old regulations, it was an

intra-state carrier, based in Miami. Eager to

repeat the California and Texan success of

P A and Southwest Airlines, Air Florida

began 'cheduled sef\ 'ices from Miami to

Jacksonville and Tampain eptember 1972.

Curiously, Air Florida'sfirst aircraft was

none other t han a Boeing 707-320. Even

in pre-fuel-crisis days, this was far f rom

suitable equipment for the brief flights

within Florida's borders. In short order, a

pair of much more economical Lockheed

Electra turbo-props replaced the 707 , in

March 1973.

Although soon joined by a third Electrain 1974, the small fleet was initia lly strug

gling against the local might of Eastern

Air Lines and Nat ional Airlines. A leased

Boeing 727-100 jet was acqui r ed in 1976

and operated alongside the Electras. Steady

r ou te e xp an si on b ro ug ht G ai ne sv il le ,

Or l ando, Panama City, Pensacola, St

Petersburgand Tallahassee, all s till with

in Flo rida , i nt o t he network. After a

change of management in 1977, an injec

tion of investment capital followed and

f i \ ' t ~ ex-AirCanada DC-9-15Fs replace the

727 and Electras.

Post-DeregulationScramble

88 89



WORLDWIDE INFLUENCES

INTRODUCING

NEW SER VICE TO:

Chicago (.1id... y) ColumbusCincinnati DetroitCleyeland Indianapolis

St.Thomas &St.Croix Il .5.VirginIslands)

was wel l awa re t ha t t he paying public

wouldforgo expensive amenitie in return

for cheap, frequent, re liable airservice. In

particular, h e h ad a v is ion of maximum

responsibilities to the employees, for min

imum supervision. This wasunlikely to be

approved by his then boss, Frank Lorenzo,

the entrepreneur who owned Texas ir

Corporat ion that controlled Texas Inter

national.

Burr, and two other Texas International

associates, Melrose Dawsey and Gerald

Gitner, resigned from the Texas carrierand

set about gathering finance for their new

venture. Fromseveral options, the base for

the new carrierwas narrowed down t o the

then much under-used Newark Interna

t ional, in New Jersey. Initial stock offerings

gained the company 25 million to finclnce

its start-upand several other talented exec

utivesdefected from Texas International to

join PeoplExpress.

Lufthansa's Series 100sCome Home

Lufthansahad been offering itsearlySeries

100 Boeing 737s for sale , as more, larger,

'Advanced' Series 200s arrivedfrom Seat

tle. The offers Lufthansa received for the

aircraft varied from the sublime to the

ridiculous. One prospective purchaser

WORLDWIDE INFL ENCES

wanted one aircraft to ferry his casino's

clients free of charge, another wanted

'over-favourable' credit facilities for eight

aircraft over t en years. One presented a

contract full of holes and t henex t 'candi

date' wanted an astronomical commission

paid to him personally 'under the counter'.

PeoplExpress were willing to pay 51.

million for a lease-purchase agreement for

fourteen of the aircraft. Well experienced

in s e ll ing of f urplu members o f t he ir

fleet, Lufthansa knew a good deal when it

was presented and, after protracted nego

t i at ions , involv ing dozens o f c on tr a ct

rewrites, an agrcement was reached. The

deal included modification o f t he 737s

into a high-density, I18-passengerconfig

uration, pre-delivery overhauls , cockpit

instrument conversions back to US stan

dards and the repa i nt ing o f t he aircraft

into PeoplExpress's cream, burgundy and

brown livery. A further thre' aircraft were

added to the order at a later date, the last

five Lufthansa 737 -I OOs being sold to Far

Eastern Air Transpor t o f Taiwan later in

1981.

The first three 737-100s weredelivered

to Newarkreadyforservice inauguration in

early 19 I, wit h routes opened from

ewark to Buffalo, New York, Columbus,

Ohio and Norfolk , Virginia , witha typical

one-way fare of 35. More routes opened a.

the rest o f th e Lufthansa aircraft wcre

delivered over the next twel

PeoplExpress began itsmete

the start, the new airlinetarg

f ly er s as a major pa rt of it

Burr wanted to attract pas

buses, trains and even outof

make air transport accessibl

Th e unique administrati

airlinesawsubstantial staff a

'cross utili: ing ' a ircraft crew

based jobsin addition to the

Other ground-based functio

taken in a similar mann

money-saving moves include

of passengers for any baggag

a p ie ce . A ll r ef re shments o

charged for as well, and mos

ingactivities were undertak

the cabin crews. ewstaffw

buy a minimum of 100shar

pressstock. As longas the a

ing money, the quarterly pro

out went a long way towards

significantly lower salaries

industry norm.

Explosive Expansion

Despite the rather basic natu

v ic e, PeoplExpres s' s f ligh

among thc most popular in

July 19 3, an incrcdible load

pcr ccnt was achicved. On 6

Air Florida's careful lybuil t empire was to slowly crumble inthe wake ofthe Washington tragedy. Va author

Whenlufthansa deliveredthe lastof PeoplExpress's -100s, the Germanair l ine's engineerspainted farewell

tears on theaircraft's tai l logo. Va author

90

Ex-BraniffInternational Boeing 747, N602BN, was oneof severaloperated on PeoplExpress'smuch

expandedtranscontinental andtrans-Atlantic low-fare network. Aviaton Hobby Shop

97



WORLDWIDEINFL ENCES WORLDWIDEINFL ENCES

TheBoeing 727-200 becamethe most commontype inthe PeoplExpressfleet.outnumberingthe 737-100s

and -200s. Malcolm L. Hi

Despitethe best efforts ofi ts staffandmanagement. thesale ofFrontierto

PeoplExpressfai led to save the carrier fromeconomicoblivion. Jenny Gradidge

PeoplExpress a welcome

Western markets.Neverthel

ed tooperate Frontier as a s

for at least five years before

integration. This was bec

more traditional approach,

unionized workforce, con

with Burr's system of 'staff e

Unfortunately, Frontier co

moneyat an a la rming rate

I million aday atone point

substantial investment instartingto look veryrisky. I

clear, by the 'ummel' of 19

could not survive and it loit might take PeoplExpress

In a desperate b id to k

bay, an attempt was madeon to United. However

employees' unions objecte

put forward for integratin

staff and the deal ne\'er matthe talks with United brok

t ier was forced to s top f ly

Loren:;o made hismove. Te

ration purchased the assets

tier and PeoplExpress; hy

on the brink of insolvency.of the two heleagueredairlinental took effecton [ Feh

Another Texas Air Corp

La Guardia Airport-hased

wasalso absorbed intoCon

same time. Founded by Tex

al, initially as a r ival t o t

IishedEastern Air Lines 'Sh

La Guardia, Bosron and Wa

York Ai r h ad started low

services on 19 December 19fleet of three ex-Texas Inte

9s had grown as t he netw

into further New England p

south as Florida and Louisi

ty a ircraf t were in usc by t

consol idat ion into Conti

DC-9 and MD- Os, but a h

were in service as well.

Texas Air Corpora t ioacquired Eastern itself, but

putes wi th i ts employees

thoughtsof integrat ion int

Instead, Eastern's few pr

were disposed o fo r transfe

nent al and the remainder

slip into bankruptcy ami ev

tion in January 1991.Continental had only re

a 737 operator itself, shor

multi-mergers. As well as s

o n the ex-Frontier, New

FRON"'ERQ

i:able presence at Denver. [n the mean

time, Burr and PeoplExpress offered 24 per

shareand, to the Frontier employees' relief,

finalized the dea l in t he au tumn of 1985.

Frontier continued operations,now as asub

sidiary of PeoplExpress, for the time being.Burrdid intend toeventuallyoperate as one

carrier, the Frontier route system giving

False Optimism

Frontierhad continuedto operatea mixedfleet ofConvair CV-580s andBoeing

727-200s. bothtypes taking on a brighter.modern.red andorangeliveryin lateryears.

Malcolm L. Hi

A one option, inearly 19 5, the airline'sowner offered Frontier A irl ine's employees

the chance to buy the carrier for 21 [

million, at $17a share. However, Lorenzo

steppedin and offeredsubstantially more to

the shareholders, leaving the employees

hopelesslyoutbid. The employees,fearful of

Lorenzo's reputation, tried to block the

move by threatening court action, citing

the monopoly that would be created by

the enlargement of Continental 's already

hostile t o t he ex ten t t ha t t heCont inen ta l

employeeshad been treated t oan unpleasa nt e xamp le o f Lorenzo's management

style when drastic reductions in pay and

b en ef it s h ad b ee n f or ce d upon them,

despite vociferous union objections. [n an

attempt to further expand h is a i rl ine

empire, Loren:o had made a b id for Den

ver-based Frontier Airlines.

Frontier had con ti nu ed t o s e n' e t he

Rocky Mountain area of its origins, even

tually 'erving twenty-six states, as well asinternational

flightstofour cities in

Cana

da. The Convair 580s wereslowly replaced

by more 737-200s, and, later, MD-80s,

until the last were retired on 1 June [982.

new holding company, Frontier Hold

ings Inc, took over the airline as its prime

subsidiary. nfortunately, t he economic

downturn in the A followed soon after

wards and, in [9 3 the a i rl ine po ted i ts

fir t annual lossfora decade, of [ 3. mi l

lion. The results in 19 4 were even worse,

with projections for 19 5 not showing any

sign of improvement.

Burr'sold bo s, FrankLoren:o, of TexasAir

Corporation, had recent ly merged Texas[nternational with Continental Airlines

after a hostile takeover. The takeover was

DenverAmbitions

widespread, a lack of accountability to a

supervisory body causing incompetence to

go unchecked and even criminal abuse ofthe in-flight ticketing, and other revenue

gathering systems, becoming rife. While

most ofthe employees were intensely loyal

and trustworthy, the actions of a few oppor

tunists within the organi:ation were drain

ing bad ly needed funds f rom the airline.

Within four years PeoplExpresshad certain

ly g rown b ey on d i ts f ou nd er s' w il de t

dreams, and even proved theconceptof air

line scats as a commodi ty to besold a t t hecheapest rate the profit margin would bear.

onetheless, Burr and the [eop[Express

management were sailing the airline very

close to the wind, financially, and it would

takejust one mistake to bring about disaster.

ex-Braniff [nternational Boeing 747, with

485 sca ts , was p laced into service on a

Newark-London (Gatwick) trans-Atlantic

schedule, with similar low-fare features.

F ive s ligh tly large r 737-200s had been

acquired from CP Air inearly 1982, as the

original seventeen -1OOs were stretched to

their operational limits. The extra 737s

were soon eclipsed by the arrival of eigh

teen [ 5-seatBoeing727-2 Os.

Eventually, the 727 was to outnumber

the 737 in PeoplExpress service, with no

less than fifty-one being acquired, alongwith an eventual total o f n in e 747s, as

routes were extended from coast to coast,

south t o Florida andeven a further trans

Atlantic r ou te , f rom ewa rk to Brussels

was opened. Unfortunately, the explosive

expan ion soon began to t ak e a t ol l on

PeoplExpress service reputation. The air

line's claim to 'Fly Smart', no longeralway

lived up to expectations.

Burr's revolutionary staff empowerment

philosophy also became unwieldy as the

carrier grew. Abuse o f t he system was

92 93



Northern Stars

Whienew 737 operators were using the aircraft in a leading role in explorng new

formsof commercialair transport, italsocontnuedto make itsmark inmoreruggedf elds,

literally,with its Alaskan andCanadan operators

Wi en Air Alaska had contnued to operate its socialy vital scheduled network

throughout Alaska durng the 1970s and eary 80s. 8y 1982, the fleet consisted ofthir

teen737-200s, tenof them convertble to 'combi passenger/freight operatons, fve of

which wereof the'Advanced'model. The remaining three wereear y modelsleasedin

from United. The airlne also flew fve 727-100s, one ofthem an al-cargo freighter. The

carrier hadbeen the subject of speculaton regarding apossible takeover byWestern

Air Lnesin the eary1980s, as itsone-tme neighbour Pacifc Northern had oncebeen.

On this occasion,however,the merger talks came to nothing. Unfortunately,Wi en Air

Alaska began to suffer from financial problems and, with no other viablepurchaseron

thehorzon, succumbed to thepressures in 1984andceased operatons, bringing to an

end neary sixty years of service to Alaska.

Alaskas othermajor carrer, Alaska Airlnes hadbased their jet fleet on a variety of

optons overtheyears. Initaly, Convar 880and 990As had repacedthe piston-powered

OC-6on manroutesfromA aska toSeatte and Portand.Eventua y,theConvar jetswere

joined by Boeng 707sand 720s on the 'Goden NuggetServce and Boeng 727-100s

joined Alaska Airnes in1966.The727was much better suited toAlaskasoperatons, with

itsability tooperatefrommore airfields on the airlne's local network than thelarger jets.

For the first tme, jets could serveout-of-the-waycities lke Nome, Kotzebue andUnalak

leet. The airlne introduced its first 737, a leased 'Advanced'convertble aircraft, in Jan

uary1981.Two more, new,convertble aircraft arrved from Seatte a few months later.

In Canada,the 737was proving as useful a transportation tool as ever. On both inter

city commuter, holday flghts to sunnierclmesand Arctic services to remote commu

nities, the aircraft was invaluable.Nevertheless, company poltics began to intervene

andthe aircrafts operatorswere to gothrough a seres of changes.

PacifcWestern Airlnes had already absorbed the fleet of fellow 737 operator, Tran

sar, in 1979. in 1986, CP Air had reverted to itsoriginaloperatng name, CanadanPacif

ic Air Lnes. Shorty after this, PacifcWestern Airlines' parent company acquired con

trol of t he larger airlne in 1986. This and later moves also brought 737 operators

EasternProvincial, Nordair andQuebecairunderthe control ofthe same group and the

survivingoperatons ofal theairlines were merged underanew name, Canadan Air

lnes International. Some of the less economic regional serviceswere assigned to new

subsidiaryairl nes. However, the combined feets still consistedof morethan eightyair

craft, of whichsixty wereBoeing 737-200s.

AlaskaAirlinesoperated amixedf leetof 727sand 737s . V ia author

Transair had been absorbed by PacificWesternin 1979, their 737 fleetscombining to create an impressive operation.

Jenny Gradidge/AviationHobby Shop

Another round ofmergers,acquisitionsand renaming broughtEasternProvincial intothe new Canadan Airlines

International. SteveBunting/Martyn East




Another ex-Western aircraft, 737-200, B2613 f lew for Far Easte

ofTaiwanfrom 1979 to 1996. Avaton Hobby Shop

G-BADP was named 'Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown' in Britannia Airways service. Steve Buntng

------=---

Delta ordered a fleetof 'Advanced' 737-200s to replace older DC-9s. N303DL

was oneof thef i r s t. ar ri v ingin 1983. Via author

as appearing on some international Euro

pean routes. Pan American' s buy-out of

Miami -based Nati onal Air li nes i n 1980

hadbrought a number of short-haulflorid

ian routes into thenetwork,wherethe 737s

a lso proved more economic. F ive ex-Air

Florida 737s were acquired to increase the

Boeing twin-jetfleetand the aircraftserved

inWest Germany as well as Florida.

The reunification of Germany, in 1990,

sawPan Americaneventually withdrawing

from Berlin. Pan American itself was now

in decline system-wide, struggling against

ser ious mismanagement , unabl e t o cope

withlow-farecompetitionfromderegulated

carriers. The 737s returned to Miami where

they replaced more 727s. A total ofsixteen

737swereto beoperated by Pan American.

96

being rebranded as 'Midway Metrolink'.

These offered all business-class facilities,

whilet he Florida-based 737s flew allecono

my-class flights, as 'Midway Express'. Even

tually, the twooperationwere merged into

one. The airline continued its expansion,

replacing the 737s withmore DC-9s, of var

iousmarks, untilmountinglossescaused the

company to cease a ll opera ti ons i n 1991.

Another concern also took overa num

ber of Air Florida's aircraft. Veteran long

haul carrier Pan AmericanWorld Airways,

had already introduced a handful of 737

200s on their Internal German Network.

Leased-in from 1982 to replace less fuel

efficient Boeing 727-100s, the 737s flew

from West Berl in to Frankfurt, Hamburg,

Munich,Nuremburg and Stuttgart, as well

Pan American acquired 737-200s to replace 727-100s on WestGermanand US

domestic services.N388PA 'Clipper Reinickendorf' was l easedinfor theBer l in

based operationsin 1983-84. Via author

Air Florida Aftermath

PeoplExpress Boeing 737s (of three differ

ent marks), Boeing 727s, 747s, McDonnell

Douglas DC-9s, of several models, MD-80s

and DC-lOs made up the highly diverse

f le et . I n add it io n, e x-Ea st er n A ir bu s

A300Bs were short ly t o make the i r own

maverick contribution. The varied net

work serviced not only l ocal domesti c

routes, but also transcont inental , t rans

Atlantic and even trans-Pacific longer

haul services. Few of the routeswere mak

ing m uc h, if any, mo ne y a nd t he n ow

highly unwieldy Continental Airlines

entered i ts second period of Chapter 11

bankruptcy protection within months of

the mergers takingeffect.

Continentaladded the PeopIExpress/Frontier/NewYork Air 737s to itsalreadyover-diverse fleet, in 1987. Martyn East

With the demise ofAir Florida, there was

a g ap in the low-fare market in the 'Sun

shine State'. Quick t o s te p i n t o t ry t o f ill

t he breach was Chicago-based Midway

Air li nes , which took over some of the

assets, including the more profi table local

routes. Midway also tookoversome ofthe

ex-Air Florida Boeing 737 fleet , offering

employment to many of the defunct air

line's staff.

Midway Airl ines had begun operations

from Chicago's older airport in November

1979, operatinga fleet ofDC-9s on services

t o Cleveland , Detro it and Kansas Cit y.

Expansionfollowed with new routes open

ing toNewark,New York and Washington,

wit h t he Chi cago opera ti ons eventua ll y



(Above) Delivered tothe Imperial Iranian regime in 1977, Boeing 737-200,

EP-AGA continuedto operateVIP servicesfor the post-revolutionaryIslamic

Republicgovernment. MAP

(Right) USAir's N247US began

life in 1982as N793N,'Su wanee

Pacemaker' with Piedmont

Air l ines.The aircraft was

transferredto US Airways

Metrojet in 1998. Steve Buntng

(Below) F-GLXG was operated

byTrans European, Rotterdam

Airlines, TEA (UK) and GB

Airways before joiningEurope

Aero Service in 1993. MAP

(Bottom) Air Malta's 737-2oos

fly an extensiveIT charter

programmeto theMediterranean

island, as well asvital scheduled

services. Martyn East



United has flown 737-300, N330UA

in 1988. Steve Buntng

(Below) Deutsche BA hasbased its

success around the 737-300. Deutsc

(Top) A MaerskAir 737-300, on leas

Airways, shares the Bristol. UK, ram

Airways 737-200 in 1989. Martyn Eas

(Above) Inter European's leased 737

turn-round atBristolwith Paramou

1990. Martyn East

/

BRI71SHAIRWAYS

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Air Hollandoperated 737-300, PH-OZAon IT

charters from Amsterdam in the early 1990s.

Malcolm L. Hi

(Above) N307AC was retained by American

Airlines forjust over three years after the

airlinetook over AirCal. American Ar nes

CR Smith Museum

(Below) EC-EBY wasdeliverednew

to Hispania in 1987. It later served with

Transwede, TEA (Switzerland),Air Europa,

TAESA, NordicEast and Western Pacific,

before becoming N334AW with America

Westin 1999. Richard Howel

airho?and



(Above) 737-500, N507SW is one ofseveral SouthwestAirline's aircraft to wear

the special 'Shamu' livery, promoting Seaworlds famous killer whale attraction.

SteveBuntng

(Belowl France's Air Outre Meroperatesa number of 737 ver

scheduled and charter services.737-500, F-GINL was deliver

1998. MAP "




Following Pan American's withdrawal from Berlin, the 737s returned to the USA. N68AF, 'Clipper Rainbow',

an ex-Air Florida aircraft, carries the final 'Billboard' livery, on push-back fromTampa for a short flight

back to Miami. Malcolm L. Hi

flights. The Egyptair 737

already in service in the r

Air, Iran Air, Iraqi Airwa

Sudan Airways. Egyptair

craftfrom their 737 fleet

line, Air Sinai, that ope

flights domestically with E

nationally on schedules to

chartersto Europe.

I n Eur ope, among o

national carrier, Olympic

the 737-200 in service on

and European schedules. B

had replaced their last Car

ing 727-100s with 737-20

1974. Sabenaalso leasedai

charter subsidiary, Sobelair

withTEA's Boeing 737 op

Airways, a new Brussels-ba

ated737-200s alongside 70

ing its name to Air Belgium

Luxair replaced their own

737-200s, flying them on E

ules, as well as a popular p

from its Luxembourg base.

Air France's own, long-

737 -200s f inal ly a rr ived

December 1982.They rep

the airline's surviving Ca

that had been in service w

since 1959!

More NewOperators

commercial flight by an aircraft o f t he

original Pan American World Airways

was operated later that day by a Boeing

727-200 on a scheduledservice from Bar

bados to Miami. Ironically, the 727 wasnamed 'ClipperGoodwill'.

An interesting addition to the ranks ofUS

737 operators was scheduled Air Express

carrier , Federal Express. A small fleet of

convertible 737-200Cs were delivered to

FederalExpressfrom 1979, and operatedon

their extensive night-time cargo network.

The convertible version had been chosen

as, at the time, thecarrierwas considering

diversifying into passengercharter or low

fare scheduled services, to occupy the aircraft when not required for the freight

work. However , the se p lans were soon

abandoned and the 737s disposed of by

1981, in favour of larger all-cargo aircraft.

In the Middle East, Egyptair leased two

Air Lingus 737-200s in 1975, prior to tak

ingdelivery of their own fleet of eight new

aircraft on order from Boeing. The 737s

were to replace the airline's ageingfleetof

Comet 4Cs and Russian-built 11-18 and

AN-24 turbo-props on local and regional

Beginning by selling off its Pacific net

work, Pan American continued to sell off

assets and close routes in an effort to save

money.New, smaller,Airbustypeshad been

imported from Europe to replace 747s on

domestictrunk routes, and were later seen

on some of the international flights. The

sale of the prime US-London/Heathrow

routesfollowed, alsosold to United.

A dealwas reached with Atlanta-based

Del ta Air L ines , whe reby Del ta wou ld

acquire the remaining trans-Atlanticnet

work and domes ti c 'Shuttle' operation

between Boston, New Yorkand Washing

ton, one of the few profitable parts of the

airline. Pan American would continue on

services to the Caribbean and Central and

South America, based at Miami. The 'tac

t ic al r et reat ' t o Miami was seen as the

chance for a new start, and t he only

chance for the car ri er to survive in any

substantialform.

However, at the last minute, Delta

withdrew vitalfunding. The 'Shuttle' and

the remaining trans-Atlantic routes had

already been transferred to Delta, butthe

expected life-span of t he rest of P an

Americancouldbe counted in hours. The

tattered remnant of the historic carrier

wasforced intoan ignominious bankrupt

cy on 4 December 1991. The very lastTop) British Midland's new image asbritish midland bmi was unveiled in 2001.737-500,G-BVZH was one of the first to wear the revised livery. Aviaton Hobby Shop

IMiddle) Lufthansa operates its737-300aCs on night-time cargo and mail services around Europe. Lufthansa

(Bonom) Maersk Air operate 'Next Generation' 737s, including 737-700, OY-MRC, alongside earlier versions. Aviaton HobbyShop97



low-Fare Hopefuls WORLDWIDE INFL E CES

(Belowl The singleaircraftfleet of AirSinai,operating alimited domestinetwork, contrasteddramatically with Sabena's wide-ranging use of its

various versions,throughout Europe. Both pictures courtesy of Steve Buntmg

SAE l ENA I

(Abovel Federal Express only operated the 737 fora short time,replacing them with larger 727-200 freighters when plans to operate

passenger services were dropped. MAP

Pansto replace the 737s with an al-BAe 146 fleet werespeeded upas the company

contnued to losemoney and entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protecton. Eventualy the

company was reorganzed as aUnited Express carrer, operatng on behalfof the larger

airlne on routes from Dules. Even thissupport faied to save Presidental and, after yet

another reorganizaton and renewal as Presidental Express, operatng BAe Jetstream

commuterturbo-props, Presidental finaly ceasedoperatonsfor goodin December1989.

Amerca West Airlnes managed to survve, despite experencing its own growing

pans. The Phoenx-based airlne was forced into Chapter 11 itself anumberof tmes, for

the first tme in 1991. In what was seen later as acassc case ofoverexpanson, apair

of second-hand80eing 747 wide-bodies had been paced in servce on short-ved, loss

makng,schedules to Hawai. For once, as with other less fortunate airlnes, this didnot

foretel thebeginning of the end. AmercaWest used itsperods ofbankruptcyprotecton

as auseful breathing space in which to reorganze and, where necessary, reinvent itself.

(Belowl Originaly Britanniaairways G-AVRO, Presidental Airways N313XV is pictured at Luton before

itstrans-Atlanticdel veryfl ght. Steve Buntng

(Above) Amerca Wests initial growth at Phoenix was based around

the 737. Steve Buntng

PeopExpress, and its initial success, soonfound some disciples around Amerca. One

to take up much of the PeopExpress phiosophy, including a version of the staff

empowerng concept, was AmercaWestAirl nes, based at Phoenx, Arzona.

Founded as acompany in 1981and beginning operatons in1983,Amerca West initial

ly operated a trioof Boeng737-200s on routesfrom Phoenx to Coorado Sprngs,Kansas

Cty, Los Angeles andWichita. By the end of the first years operatons, ten 737s were in

use servcng twelvecites fromPhoenx. Internatonal operatons, with routes openng to

Canada, folowed shorty aftelWards, as did seasona ski-flght schedues to Coorado.

Further east. Presidental AiWays began operatons from Washington'sDul es Inter

natonal Airport in October 1985. Highfrequency, low-fare, flights served Boston,Hart

ford, Cincinnat, Cleveland, Miami, Orando andWest Pam Beach with a fleetof twelve

737-200s.Asmal fleet of British-built BAe 146-200s began joining Presidental inmid

1986, on lower-capacityfl ghts.

98 99




CHAPTER SEVEN

seater, short/medium-range

publicreference to the new t

as the 737 -300 , wa made

ough ir Show in 1980.At

was still negotiatingwith th

didates to supply the new

CFM International, with th

Rolls Royce with the propos

'FM International final

and, when the 737 -300

launched with the first pro

March 19 I, the aircraft w

powered. CFM Internatio

owned by General Electric

ECMAof France. The Cd ev el op ed a a p os si bl e r

older types of engines o n t

Boeing had planned to off

frames fitted with the eng

retrofitting existing aircraft

gramme was later cancelle

engine was used to re-engin

707s and KC 135s. An upd

for the new 737saw the use

ins trumentation and new

temssuchas digital avionics

dard on Boeing's new 757 a

Go Ahead for th e -300

Boeing finally made itsdecision to proceed

with an improved 73 7 inJanuary1979.The

established design would form the basis of

the company 's offering for t he 100 -150

the -200 a nd t he airline came close to

placing a production order. However, an

all-new design, originally designated the

7N7, was finally chosen for development

by Boeing. This eventually emerged as the

twin-engined 757. The last new 727 rolled

off the production l ine in September 1984.

Al though the 727 had eventually been

completed replaced, Boeing opted to study

an upgraded 73 7, asan alternative to design

inga whole new type, The 73 7 studies cen

tred on re-engining the design, preferably

with more fuel-efficient high-bypass turbo

fans, then under development. As wel l as

offering the required fueleconomie

, thenewengineswouldbe much quieter,Further

improvements looked at for the new 737

versions included a moderni:ed flight-deck,

revi ed systems and refined aerodynamics.

What Next?

The Baby Grows

Britanniaairways updatedtheir 737-200 fleetoverthe years,replacing olderaircraftwith more modern

versions. G-BJCV, 'Viscount Trenchard'was deliveredin early 1982. Va author

With the 1980s approaching, the 73 7 sales

figures had mainta ined their recovery from

the early 1970sslump, Withthe 'Advanced'

version making its mark, Boeing was finally

able (() sLart looking to Lhe future of the 73 7

programme.

A major factor to be considered was that

of fuel economy. Since the original OPEC

c ri si s in 1974, the price of aviation fuel

had leapt up several time'. The compara

t ively thirsty JT Ds were becoming less

economical as the years went by. ew

noisepollution

legi lation was on th e hori:on as well that would eventually restrict

opera tions of bo th the early model 737,

a nd t he larger 727s. There were at least

only two thir ty and noi'y JT8Ds on the

737, compared to th ree on the 727.

Developmentof an even more tretched

727-300 s er ie s was f in al ly ahandoned,

although it had found favour with several

airlines. United, in particular, had co

operated with Boeing on the design stud

ies for the proposed 727-300, that would

be a further 18ft 4 in (5 .6m) longer than

(Left) Sabenas charter subsidiary, Sobelair,

operatedits 737s to resortareas aroundthe

Mediterranean. Va author

(Below left) Air France finally placed theirown

737s intoservice on European routes in 1982.

F-GBVP ispicturedduring a turnroundat Geneva.

Malcolm L. Hi

Deregulation Aftermath

Although thedebate will certainly rage for

year' as t o t h e benefits or otherwise of the

deregulation of t he US airline industry,

there is no doub t tha t it had a dramatic

effect of the travelling habits of America.

While some operators th rived under the

new conditions, some faltered and many

fa iled in short order. Similar reforms were

soon to be copied the world over in the following decades, with varying degrees of

success.

Throughout the upheava l, the Boeing

73 7 had played a part, both plying itstradi

tional trade with the established carrier,

and bla:ing pioneering trails with the new

breed of low-cost airlines. As the regulato

ry changes beganto make theirmark on the

airlines, Boeingwas looking closely at the

basic737, Wasitto beseenashaving served

its purpose and conf ined to h is to ry as a

1960s and 70s phenomenon?Or was there

life in an updated design'

(Below)luxair's busy fleetof 737-200s flew both

scheduled and IT charters within Europe. Luxair

100 101



THE BABY GROll'SBetter late Than Never

The 737-300 flight-deck incorporatedmany advances originally designed for thethen new 757 and 767models. Lufthansa

Although BrtanniaAirways' success with the 737had notgoneunnotced with theUnit

ed Kngdom's natonal carrer, it was to be over ten yearsbefore Brtsh Airways was to

put their own aircraft into servce. BA's predecessor, Brtsh European Airways had lob

bed for permission to order the737 for many years. Operatng as anatonalzed corpo

ratonat the tme though, there was agreat dea of poltical interference in the airne's

operatons. As a result. localy produced aircraft suchas the Hawker SiddeleyTrdent and

BAC One-Eeven hadto be favoured, even though theywere less economic to operate.

By the tme the two natonal airlnes were merged into one company, BritshAirways,

in 1974, the British aerospace industry was in serous declne, which occurred as a

result of poltCal interference.As such, its proposals for new aircraft for Britsh Air

ways EuropeanDivision, as BEA had initially become, werefor themostpartuncom

petitive. Yet further anlarged versions of the Trdent and One-Eeven were proposed,

but soon rejected, as was the French-buit Mercure.

Once freed from its governmentcha ns, BA wasable to actvely consider US aircraft for

its short-haul needs. In late 1977, underthe pretext of a capacity shortage, Brtsh Air

waysleasedinboth McDonnel DougasDC-9-51 sand Boeng737-200s,fromFinnairand

Transava respectvely, to assess the performance of bothtypes on their short-haulnet

work. The Finnair DC-9s ony operated on the London-Helsinki servce. The Transava

737s, initially wearng BA stckers in additon to Transavas coours,were used on flghts

from Londonto Amsterdam,Brusses, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul. Stavangerand Stock

hom, as wel as aso appearng on the Helsinki route. As the study contnued, the

Transava aircraft wereeventualy repaintedin ful BA lvery.Also

wasthe Boeng 7N7projectthat BA later ordered asthe Boeng 75

As a result of the assessments,Br tsh Airways paced an order f

in July 1978. To be promoted asthe 'Super 737s, byBA, the airc

version of the Advanced 737, with CAT 3Aautolandcertification, m

capabities of theTrdents that they were to replace.The f ght-dec

ed and theavionicsincorporated anew digital Automatc Flght C

Britsh Airways' own 737sentered service in February 1980, a

craft were returned.Coincident with the arrival of the737, amas

prcerse wasimposed,makng their arrival even morewelcome a

retirement of more thirsty Trdents and One-Elevens. The f ac t t

could be operated with two flght-deck crew, as opposed to the

added to costsavngs that arrved with the737s.

Nine more 'Super737swere ordered to re-equip BAs charter s

tours. Originaly fying ex-BEA Comet 4Bs,as BEA Airtours from1

had taken on anew identitywith the emergence of BA after the m

BOAC Boeng 707shad already replacedthe Comets,but these w

nomic on the shorterEuropean charters. Lockheed Trstarstookov

flights and the 737s were to finally replace theageing 707s from

Britsh Airways itself ordered a further sixteen 737-200s that, a

of Boeng 757s, would accelerate the retirement of the last Trden

"I . ~ " .-

. ' ~ ' '. i . _ ~ . --.....;;:;v",",,"

(Below) BA subsidiary, British Airtours,specialized in ITcharters w

hadreplaced older 707s. SteveBuntingThe CFM56 was a I'ery different engine

design from t he jT8D. Much bigger, the

h igh bypas s rat io eng in es cou Id not be

hung below th ' 737 wings as with the ear

lier versions o ( t h e aircraft. Instead, they

had to be cantilevered out a he ad o f t he

wing' s l e ad ing edge. The o rigina l 737

design's inherent lack of centre of gral'ity

problems made this fairly major re-design

possible, Anyother engine locationwould

havemade use of themuch larger CFM56

difficult, if not totallyimpossible. To solve

the problem of ground clearance with the

wider engine, the lower section o f t he

engine nacelle wasslighrly flattened at the

bottom and el'ensome parts of the engine

were repositioned.

The power added by the n,OOOlb thrust

of the CFM56 allowed Boeing to initiate

the first major stretch ofthe 73 7 since the

-200. Two fuselage plugs, o ne o f 3ft 8in

(1.lm) forward of the wing, one of 5ft

(1.5m) a t t he rear, increased the ol'erall

length to 109 ft 7 in 03m). In a high-den

sity configuration, this would allow the

seating of up to 149 passengers.

Bigger Yet

The initial stretch that produced the eries

300 was not to b e the end of the story. Boe

ing continued to tudy whole new designs

in the 150- ,ea t range th rough the mid

1980s, evaluating aiI'I ine reaction to a ' 7 -7 '

702

de-ign, to be powered by IAE V2500

engines. Later this design was refined into

the '7j7' proposal that was expected to be

built in c lo se co-opera tion w ith japan .

Despite, or pos sibly a s a resul t o f, h eingpowered by propfan engines and incorpo

rating f1y-by-wire, totally electronic con

trols, the 7]7receil'ed a (airlycool reception

from the airlines.

onetheless, Boeing kept the 7 j7 p ro

posal alive and offered a further stretch of

the 737 as a 's top-gap ' until the 7]7 tech

nology wasperfected into a more practical

airliner design. The a ir li ne s h ad b ee n

pressuring Boeing to make a decision and

the eries 400 was finally announced in

la te 1985. Further ·tretched by 6ft (1.8m)

(Above) BritishAirways own 737-200s were operatedfrom February 1980 on both

domestic and international servicesfrom London/Heathrow. Malcolm L. H

..i;...."."" ••• Britishairfours............

----.-



to offer a cost-effective,

w i th inc re ased a ir craf t u

allowing lower rates to be

terers. The olderfleet oper

was unableto offer the lowe

increasingly demanded b

other tour operators.

A deposit was paid to B

new 737-200 'Advanced' a

craft's f inancing came

investment group and inv

lease-purchase agreement

novel idea, but n ow a st

practice, the arrangemen

evolution of earlier ty les

tices. In addi t ion to the i

c ra ft , two mor e 7 37 s w e

delivery in time for the 19

Lat e 197 t o e ar ly 19 79

flurry of organization, r

train ing. Determined to la

charter airline's reputation

able aircraft and indiffer

Europe's management laid

on employinga cadre of pr

whotookpride in theirwo

a t London /Ga twick bec

when the first aircraft, regi

(after MikeHarry Goodma

on 10Apri11979. oonjoi

(after MartinO'Regan) and

ErrolCossey), commercial

Getting Air Europe Underway

Tile BABY GROwS

The strong financial backing meant that

Air Europewas able to gostraight to Boe

ingfora brandnew fleet.The whole pretext

behind Casey and O'Regan'splan hadbeen

to introduce modern aircraft with lower

operating cost and operational reliability.

As a result, theyfelt that theywould beable

starting to look seriously at their options

for replacing their thirstier fleets.

The first o f t he ' new breed' of British

charter carriers to emergewas Air Europe,

which began operations i n M ay 1979.

Established with the hacking of Intasun,

t h en one o f t h e largest UK IT travel com

panies, both organizations had entrepre

neur Harry Goodman as their chairman.

The original founders of the airline, Errol

Cossey and Martin O'Reganhad bothbeen

with leading British independent, Dan-Air

ervice', as Commercial Director and

Group Finance Director respectively. They

decided to strike ou ton thei rown after the

Dan-Air management rejected their pro

posals for modernizing the fleet to make it

more economicand attractiveto potential

charterers. Goodman had been in te re' ted

in their ideas and offered backingto estab

lish Intasun's own 'in-house' airline.

Despite the post-fuel-crisisdepression, the

seemingly inexorable rise of the inclusive

tour market in Europe was to lead to furthe r expansion of the 73 7's presence on

the con tinent in the early 1980s. Estab

lished operators found themselves in the

position ofhav ing to lease in extra capac

ity to ca te r for the demand as the holiday

indu try recovered. o me new carriers

quickly stepped in to exploitopportunities

in the growing marke t and were soon

showing their colours on a irport ramps

around Europe. Cost-cutting was s ti ll a

h igh p rior i ty a nd cha rt er o pe ra to rs o f

o ld er , l es s f ue l- ef fi ci en t a ir cr af t w er e

More UK Charter 7375

As a result of the Mohawk acquisition,

Alleghenyoperated a number ofthe, basi

cally similar, American-built DC-9-30s

and British-built SAC One-Eleven jets,

the la tte r inher ited from Mohawk. The

je tswere supplemented bya large f le et of

Convair CV-5 0 turbo-props. The first of

an initial order o f seven 737-200s joined

the U Air fleet to begin the replacement

o f the o lderOne-Eleven and DC-9s, with

new 727-200s also jo in ing the airline's

inventory for n ew Pittsburgh-California

longer-range services.

TilE BABY GROWS

forward and 4ft (1.2m) aft, the 737-400

fuselage was only Sin ( l2 .5cm) shor ter

than the original 'Dash Eighty', the proto

type Boeing 707/KC135.

The 7J7 was officially'indefinitely post

poned', while the supposedly 'stop-gap' 737

4 0 was launched into production with the

firstorders receivedin June 19 6. Over 17

passengers could now be accommodated in

the stretched 737-400.

(Above) Southwest's 737s steadily expanded their

sphere ofinfluenceunder deregulation. Tm Kincaid

Colecton

USAirtook delivery of 737-200s as partof amodernizationprogramme, beginningthe

gradual processof replacing olderDC-9sand SAC One-Elevens. Steve BuntngThe Series 200 into th e 19805

Even as Boeingwas refin ing the proposed

Series 300, the Series 200 continued to

attract customer.The Series 300 wa not

intended as an immediatereplacement for

the Series 200. 1ndeed, the Series 200 and

300 were to be produced side by side for

some years.

Estahlished U operators ofthe 73 7 con

tinued toexpandtheir fleets of cries 200s.

outhwe t Airlines had been swift to takeadvantage of deregulation andexpand ou t

of its Texan confines. Othershad stumbled

i nt o t he post-deregulation era and over

stretched themselves. Nonetheless, under

Herb Kelleher's direction, outhwest had

controlledtheir g rowth, whi le t il l s u tain

inga healthy expansion. As well as extend

ing the established network to the east and

west, eventually reachingArizona, Califor

nia, evac.Ia and Tennes ee, n ew Kansa s

ityserviceswere extended northwards to

St Louis and Chicago/Midway.

nlike other pioneer 737operators,

California's Pacific Southwest Airlines

had eventually disposed o f t he ir fleet.

f ter a financially disastrous a t tempt to

operate wic.Ie-bodied Lockheed L-lO II

Tristars on their high-pressure, inter-city

network, P A had standardized o n t heBoeing727-200. Over thirty were operat

ed by the airline at the tr ije t 's PSA zenith .

Later, eventhe 727swere replaced by more

economical MD- Is and several DC-9-30s

were acquired second-hand. A number of

UK-built BAe-146s were also introduced,

a f re qu en cy of service became a priority

over aircraft capacity.

Other long-term 73 7 operators, United,

We te rn and Piedmont, were still s teadily

increasing their fleets of e ries 200 s. e c

onc.I-hand aircraft were often acquired, as

well as new examples off the production

line. Even Lufthansawa still takingdeliv

ery of 737s, taking their 70th aircraft on

charge in March 1985. All these operators

wereshowinga healthyinterestin the Series

300/40 development, as was outhwest

Airlines.Air, the renamed Allegheny Air

lines, whose takeover of Lake Central in

196 had led to thecancellationof the lat

ter's own 73 7 order, finally tookdelivery of

the t yp e i n 19 2. Another takeover in

1972 had seen the network and fleet of

ew York tate-based Mohawk Airlines

being integrated into Allegheny. The

much expanded carrier had changed its

name t o A ir i n 1979 i n o rd er t o g ive the

airlinea lessparochial image and reflect its

ambitions to expand nationwide.

a i r e u r o p e............. ,

•

Air Europe's brand new fleet was oneof themost modernavailablefor IT work i nthe UK. MAP

704 705



THE BABY GROWS TilE BABY GROWS

in the off-season. oon,

ciali:ing in longer-term le

craft specifically to under

tracts, using them only br

charter services.

Dan-Air only opera te

Bl V, through 19 1. Init

ly used on IT, for theTho

organization, for whom

hoIiday passengers throu

was not until 19 2 that

also leased from Maersk

737. However, further le

followed from various so

(Above) Maersk began large-sc

Boeing 720Bs.eventually repla

leasing contractssoon became

airline's operations. 737 OY -AP G

outto Tunisair in 1978. Jenny G

night service division of its

Fokke r E27s had opened

nights in 1979, later unde

schedules ami ITs for a num

companies, As the IT mar

Denmark asswiftly asanyw

sk replaced the Fnkkers ont

t er s w it h second-hand

resplendent in their all-blu

Maerskbegan to replace

737-200sin 197 , l ikeoth

it, Maerskstarted leasing o

maintain. The tour companie were also

hecoming reluctant to accommodate their

cI ients on Dan-Air'solder aircraft and were

threatening to take their business else

where. As the last ofthe Comets wa final

ly withdrawn from service, a t t he end of

19 ,Dan-Airtook deli\'ery of ire first 73 7,

The s in gl e Ser ie s 2 was operated on lease

from the Danish airline, laerskAir.

Maersk Air,a suhsidiaryof the giant A.P.

Moller Group, owners of t he Maersk h ip

pingorganization, had hegunoperationsasa

G-BICV was the first 737 to wear thefamousDan-Air 'Compass Rose logo, Va author

Dan-Air Services, based a t Gatw ick and

Monarch Air l ine s, Br it a nnia Airways'

neighbourat Luton, both introduced 737

200s intotheir neets in late 19 O.

Dan-Air had finally recogni:ed that

their neet needed moderni:ation. Its char

ter operations were based mostly around

neets of second-hand Comets and B C

One-Elevens, with larger Boeing 717-I OOsand -200s. Despite having been compara

tively cheap toacquire, the Dan-air aircraft

were increasingly expensiveto operate ,1Ild

I ga\"(o up" Clllnmand on Vi,count,Wi th R I A to

go fly 7 )7, a , " Fir,t O(f,ccr (,omcthing I now

'lLk"cFlO, net'a to do - ,omctimc.' It " I'crydif

ficult to gct hack In thc Icft hand ,cat '). Apart

from 'lI1glc cnginc Jc t; in thc Roy,,1 Air Forcc,

thi, w,,, Ihc fiN I ypc of Jc ta i rcr"f t I h"d f lown .I

w","ma:cd "t hmv muchfurthcrahcad of thc air

craf t 1had to think. For im tancc ,havingto plan

Topor I)c,ccnl points, dcpcndcnton winds, air

era lt weigh t , ATe altitude rc:-,triction . , C C

m'htly up to 110 n"utic,,1 milc, rromlhc airport'

Thc .,ircfi,rt, '" "rc "II jct" hccamc a h lgg l id

c rw l lh t h c cngll1c,,It Idlcpowcr. Ofcou"c, on

thc Vi, counts , propc l lcr , could pnl\' ldc cnor

moll'. <l1l101l11(', o f drag to . Iow down ,lnd

de c c n J , hut could ~ l l s o pnl\'IJe 1!l . t,lnt<lIlCOU'I

n: pon .c toJc!J\'cr po\\'er. ThiS was not . 0 on t h e

J T ~ I ) " on which anc lght ' ccond,pool-up t lmclrom Idle to full powcrcould hc cxpcctcd. Th"

could hc pOlcntl"lly d"a,rrou,"t low he,ght, 10\\

powcrconflguf,llion, ifilllll1edl,HC(ull po\\,er \\'(1 .

reqUired, llence, h Ighd rag agilllbt high power

. ,ppro"d,C'wcrc much "tfer. The 7)7 lI'a, onc 01

t h c f iN aircraft to Il1CIlfIIlfIlC high !tIt del' ICC'

and ,f "II werc extended - sh it " flal"and ,f, upon

landing, the ,peedhrakewa, extended, It looked

'" though the rew" , ha rdlyanythingon the wing

th,lt \\a", not extcndcdor mO"lng, ; ) ~ you could,ee nghl Ihmugh III

The Orion717, were , , ,cdcxtcn,ivclyon hol

iday IT wllfk. Bccause of the highdensi ly con

figuration of 110 p""enger scats rorflighls of up

to four h O l l r ~ , \\'ith n . ~ ~ e r \ ' c ~ , thi", l11eanl "OI11C-

time., having ro inc lude technic t l , refucllll1g,

'tol" on flighr, t o a nd from thc etl1ary Island"

e'peclally (rom airfield,further north tI1the UK.

Operal ing the aircraft to the maximumextentof

It ... r ange and field pcrformancc, \\'Ilh tcmpera

ture, in Ihe holid.ly de,tinarHtI1' oftcn hCll1g

,'cry hOI In.

lImmcr, lip to 30-40°,mC,lnt th ;11 \ \C

werc hecomlng \'cry adept at "'qucc:lng the la ... t

kilo out or thewe ightand ha l"ncec" lcula t' o" , .

More IT Interest in the 737

Airways, the only carrier with any signifi

cant presence at East Midlands upuntil the

arrival ofOrion irways. Although Chris's

introduction to the Boeing 737 was to he

sometime after the type made it debut, his

experience of transition from propeller to

jet was tohe typical of manyover the years.

As well as Air Europe and Orion's usc of

the aircraftas the basis of t he ir new oper

ations, a numberofother charter operators

around Europe s tar t ed taking in te r es t in

the t yp e a s a replacement for their older

fleets , In the UK, established operators

Among t he pilots recruited was Chris

Harrison, originallywith British Midland

One Pilot's View

Operations were initially undertaken sole

ly for Hori:on, eventually serving twentyfive holiday destinations in nine countries.

When three more aircraft were delivered

in time for the 19 I s ea so n, operations

werealso being undertaken from Birming

ham, Luton and Manchester, with other

regional points eventually joining the IT

charter network.

Staff and c rews were recrui ted and

trained throughout 1979, in preparation

for the 19 summer ' ca so n. n li ke Air

Europe that based i t se lf at London's

Gatwick irport, Orion irll'ays adopted

East Midlands Airport as its headquarters.

East Midlands Airport, ncar Ca st l e Don

ington, had heen opened in 1964 to serve

the metropolitan area encapsulated hy

Derhy, ottingham and Leicester. Up until

the opening of East Midlands Airport, the

area had heen dominated hy Birmingham's

Elmdon Airport, much further to the west

and inconvenient for the population of the

more eastern cities in the reginn.

Orion's first three Boeing 73 7-200s were

delivered in February and March 1980.

with a Gatwick-Palma ITcharteron Friday

14 May, carrying 130 Intasun customers.

Another Holiday Flight

Newcomer

s ir E ur op e was getting itselfgeared up

for i ts f ir st summer season, another K

tour operator was also setting u p i ts own

737 airline. Horizon Travel had heen one

o f t he pioneers o f t he industry, nying its

first IT passengers from Britain to Corsica

in 1949. Expanding steadily over the years,

the inevitahle corporate 'ups and downs'

included the company heing a part o f t he

Orion Airways had thebacking of Horizon. oneof themost distinguished andlongest

established ITholidaycompanies. S teve B untng

giant Clarksons organization when it

entered bankruptcy i n 1 97 4. J Inll'ever,Hori:on survived, being sold on to nell'

owners by the official receiver.

Ilori:on soon regained i ts place among

the busiest tour companies. Like lntasun,

Hori:on became dissatisfied with the ser

viceoffered by established charter airlines

and looked to provide a superior service

while being able to reduce costs by operat

ing its own airline division. The new air

line, Orion Airway, wa, formed in lare

1978, hut was not to hegin operations until

the 19 0 summer season.

..

106 107



THE BABY GROWS THE BABY GROWS

Monarch Airlines leased in 737-200sfrom Germany'sBavaria. MAP

An early production 737-300 was displayedat Farnborough in 1984, wearing basic USAircolours. Jenny Gradidge

however,as the aircraft we

end ofthe 1980season foll

financial collapse. The

Maersk Air also lost out

November 1980,a newGe

line, Supair, had thei r air

by Maersk within a month

the airlinefailed to begin

The Series 300 De

The fi rstSeries 300 Boein

air for the first time on 2

Orders werealreadyflood

craft, the customersbeing

the prom i sed inc re ase

economy and reduced no

levels o f t he new engines

the year, orders for the

reached no less then 252

customers bringing the t

seriesas a whole to 1,418.

One o f t he f ir st 737 -3

colours o f USA ir , t he l

with Boeing titles, and

such at the 1984 Farnbo

in the UK. By t he n end

year the new version had b

AirCal ( t he rebranded

Leasing False-Starts

Al though the increasing use of leasing

contracts instead of outright purchases by

a ir li ne s was a popular one, it di d not

always work out . A s a number of leasing

operators increased, GATX/Booth were

soon joined by the lines of International

Lease Finance Corpora t ion (lLFC),

Bavaria, Ansett Worldwide, Guinness

Peat Aviation (GPA), American Finance

Group, Pacific Aviation Holding Co.,

Integrated Aircraft Corporation and oth

ers, as well as airlines such as Maersk Air

acquiring aircraft specifically to lease out

at a profit. The more favourable economic

terms meant that the smaller airlines no

longer had to wai t for the bigger carrier's

'cast-offs'. The established airlines alsosaw

the advantages to themselves of leasing in

their fleets fromfinancial and leasing com

panies. They no longer needed to have

such large sections of their capital t i ed up

in owning their aircraft outright.

Not all the customer airlines werefinan

cially stable enough to support their 737s

though and soon fell by the wayside. In

1980, GPA leased737-200s to French char

ter operator Aerotour, that had previously

flown Caravelles. Th e leasewas short-lived,

aircraft were fitted with 's tick-pusher' s tall

warning devices that were not approved by

the American authorities.

This ' swap ' was repeated t he n ex t two

years, unt il Air Florida ceased operations.

As Air Florida lurched into i ts final finan

cial crisis, Air Europe ins is ted i t b e paid

every 48 hours for the cont inued use of

their 737s. Whenthe endcame for t heUS

carrier in 1984, i ts sudden demise into

bankruptcy left Air Europe with a serious

capacity shortage as the promised aircraft

were no longer forthcoming. The airline

wasforced to lease in extra aircraft atshort

notice, a rather expensive exe rc is e, to

cover the shortfall.

Air Europe, under the wings of i ts par

ent company, the Intasun Leisure Group,

l at e r r e ti t le d the Internat ional Leisure

Group, or ILG, survived the loss o f A ir

Florida's loaned equipmentand cont inued

its appa rent ly unstoppable expansion.

Brand new Boeing757s, among the first in

Europe, had j o in ed the f le et i n 1 98 3.

Long-haul flights had been introduced,

with the 757s operatingover the Atlantic

to Florida. Orion, still deriving much of its

income from Horizon, steadily expanded

its 737-200 charter operation, with sever

al new bases opening around the UK.

and Eagle Air of Iceland, all in variations

oftheir combined liveries.

Air Europe, however, came to a firmer,

more regular, agreement with Air Florida,

whose slackest time, the summer, Florida's

lowseason, was Air Europe's busiest. This

worked both ways, with Air Europe having

spare capacity in the winter, when thou

sands were trying to escape the potentially

harsh northern American winter and head

south to the 'SunshineState' .

Two of Air Florida 's Boeing 737-200s

s pe nt t he summer of 1981 operating

Europe-based inclusive-tour charters from

the UK alongside Air Europe's fleet of six

similar aircraft. When they returned in the

autumn, thre e Air Europe aircraft joined

them andspent the winteroperating on the

Florida-basedscheduled flights ofAir Flori

da. Although a convincingly 'tidy'arrange

ment, the operation was not without its

problems, not least with America's Federal

Avi at io n Admi ni st ra ti o n a nd Britain's

Civi l Avia t ion Authority . Both offic ia l

bodies found objections to the 'foreign'

a ircraft. For example, the UK-registered

at Luton that had already been flying from

the Bedfordshire airport for twelve years,

the new 73 7s began ope ra ti on on

Monarch's inclusive-tour network soon

afterwards.

Seasonal Swaps

ir E ur op e pioneered a new leasing

arrangement with foreign carriers , in an

effort to boo st u t il i za tion in t he win te r

months. As already mentioned, leasing

contracts were undertaken by a number of

airline operators. Aer Lingus, Britannia

and Transavia, among others , had all sent

aircraft off to tempora ry new homes in

their slack traffic periods. The lucrative

contracts were often repeatedover several

years, but were u sual ly a one-way street.

As well as enjoying a steady influx of

new aircraft of its own most years, Britan

nia of ten leased in extr a aircraft to cover

seasonal shortages. Amongthe sources for

Br itannia' s extr a s ea sona l aircraft were

Pluna of Paraguay, Quebecair of Canada

Monarch Joins the Club

Monarch Airlines had intended their 737s

to replace their fleet of BACOne-Elevens

that operated alongside Boeing 720Bs on

European ITs from bases at Lut on a nd

Manchester. Like Air Europe and Orion ,

Monarch had been se t up by a tour compa

ny, Cosmos Holidays, in 1968. Originally

operating a fleet of Bristol Britannia turbo

props,Boeing 720Bsand BAC One-Elevens

had eventually replaced the prop-liners.

The first pair ofMonarch 737s werealso

lea sed in, a s was the increasingly popular

f ashion , thi s t ime f rom Bavar ia Flugge

sellschaft. Although originally a charter

carrier, f ly ing BAC One-Elevens from

Munich, Bavaria had sold its commercial

airline operation to another operator, Ger

manair. However, Bavaria continued to

existas a separatecompanyand beganspe

cializingin leasingaircraft to other airlines.

The first of a p ai r of Bavaria 737-200s

arrived atMonarch Airline'sLuton base in

late September 1980, followed by the sec

ond a month later. Joining Britannia's 73 7s

708 709



Non-Airline 737s THE BABY GROWS

(Belowl Aviogenexs main IT charter market, to andfrom Yugoslav resorts on the

vanished overnight when war broke out between newrival states in the region.(Above) JArs 737-300 operations were stalledfollowing

the violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Steve Buntng

L

•••••••••••••••• • TNI-AU.........."-'" '' ". ,-,

•••••••

DespteBoengs traditonalmi tary connectons,the 737

remaned a largelycivi an project. ashad been intended

from the beginning. However, long-standing Boeng cus

tomer, the US Air Force, didpace an order for nineteen

speca zednavigaton trainers, to be based on the 737

200 airframe. The aircraft was designated theT-43A by

the USAF. With most windows removed, the cabin

rearranged to accommodate up to twelve trameenavga

ton statons and four astrodomes fitted to the top ofthe

fuseage, the first T-43A wasdel vered in July 1973.

From 1992, at least f veo f the T-43As were transferred

to a Civ an operator, E.G. & G. Inc, who operate them

alongside ex-airlne 737-200s on 'Special ProJects, per

sonne and equipment shuttes from Las Vegas, m con

necton with US governmentworkat theremoteRoswel

Air Forcebase.

Ten years later,the Indonesangovernmenta soordered

specialy modified 737s for military use. Designated

Boeing 737-2X9s, the three aircraft are equipped with The USAFT·43Anavigat on trainer was based aroundthe 737-200 airframe. JennyGraddge

Indonesia's 737-2X9s feature radarhousings built intothe fuselage. Boeng

IBelowl N1288 was a737-200 suppled to Essex Internationalas aprivate corporate jet in late 1969. Via author

Motorola side-ooking, mult-mission radar instaled in

distnctve housngs above the rear fuseage. The aircraft

are used to patrol theIndonesanIsands to detect i egal

martme actvites.

The 737wasa soadopted as aVIP orcorporatetrans

port by a numberof civilian operators, as well as pro

viding luxury accommodaton for military organizatons

and government heads throughout the world.Some companiesaso operatedairlne-style confgured

aircraft on prvate 'scheduled'sel\ cescarryingcompany

personnel between far-ranging plants and locatons.

Range could be extended to 4,606 mies by the additon

ofex tra f uel cels in one of the lower cargo hods. The

moreluxurousexecutve interiors,whererequired,could

be instaled by Boeng,but in many cases the customers

preferredto use outsidecraftsmen.Civi ancustomers for

prvate737-200sIncudedDome Petroeum, EdoradoOi,

Essex, Maritime, NogaandPetroar. Military operatorsof

bothnew andsecond-hand737s incuded the air forces

of Braz. Inda, Mexico, Peru, Thaiand and Venezuea.

110 77 7



TilE BABY GROWS TilE BABY GROWS

--, , ~ ~ . . . ~ I >

Airways International Cymru

:;.._--- .I•• ' r- - I - I - I - I - I_1_1_1-1-:::1 1 1 1 1 1 I ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 •• ••

AirwaysInternationalCymru operateda largeproportion of their fl ightsfromBristol/lulsgate, acrossthe

SevernEstuaryfrom itsmain base atCardiff. G-PROK, thesecond 737-300, isseen here,taxying awayfrom

the oldBristolterminal. Martyn East

G-BAZIcameto Airways International Cymrufrom Britannia Airways,via a leasing company. Rchard Howell

One-Elevens wasleased out to BritishMid

land Airways, but was replaced in 19 5 by

an cx-Bri tannia Airways 737-200, G

BAZI, obtained via Havelet leasing.

Although at t ract ing a number of contract from important tour operators, such

as o smo s, Air Cymru, as the company

name t ended to be shortened to in every

day use, had a chequered reputation. Pop

ular with pas engersfori t friendly ervice,

and with i ts staffasa pleasantcompany to

work for, the daily opera ti on t ended to

uffcrfrom an unusual number of technical

d lays and operational problems. The air

line's situation was not great ly helped

w he n t he unworld a ircraf t a rr ived i n

19 6. The operational fleet then consisted

The 737 in Wales

One of t he unworld International aircraft

found a t emporary home a t Cardiff, the

capital o f t he UK principality of Wale.

Airways Internat ional Cymru (Wales

International Airways) had begun opera

tions in 19 4 with a pair o f BAC O ne

Eleven.Owned bya local travel company,

Red Dragon Travel, IT charters operated

from Cardiffand the nearby English cityof

Bristol to European resorts. One of the

USA. The DC-9s onlycontinued inservice

for a short while before the airline ceased

operationsdue to financial problems.

In high-density, inclusive-tour,configu

ration, the Series 30 carried 148passeng er , eighteen more than the -200's maxi

mum. This increased revenue potent ial ,

linked to lower fuel costs, at t racted the

cost-consciou charter carr ie r i n part icu

lar. Monarch took delivery of their first

-300 in 19 6, supplementing their earlier

eries -200s and hastening the ret irement

of t he last of t h ir ne-El evens. New Boe

ing757s had replaced the last of Monarch's

highcapacity720Bs and were used on long

haul flights as well as supplementing the

737s on European ITs.

curtailed and most of t he fleet disposed of.

Limited charter services later restarted

wit h a s ingl e 727-200 o nc e o me sem

blance of peace r et ur ned t o t he region.

New York Air w a ~ to be merged into

Continental by the two airlines' owner, the

Texas Air Corporation, when PeoplExpress

was taken over. unworld Internat ional ,a

low-fare schedul d and cha rt er carrier

based at Las Vegas, operated three leased

73 7-300s only briefly, supplement ing i ts

DC-9 services throughout the west of the

Monarch's 737-300 servicesencompassed most ofthe mainholidayairportsof southernEurope.G-MONH is

pictured atone ofthe busiest,Palma, Majorca. Martyn East

halt ed when Yugoslavia was broken up

into several states, following the fall of

Communism i n Eas te rn Europe. ]AT's

once extensive network was closed down,

or severely curtailed, for long periods andthe fleet either stored or l eased out.

AnotherYugoslav 737 operator to uffer as

a result of t he political unrest in thecoun

t ry was Aviogenex. Formed as t he coun

try's IT specialist, Aviogenex operated a

pair of 737-2 Os a lo ng si de a f le et of

Tupolev Tu-134As and Boeing 727-200s,

on ITcharters from the Adriat ic resorts to

Western Europe. When the Yugoslav

tourist industry collapsed with the violent

break-up of the country into independent

states, Aviogenex operations were greatly

America West, Cameroon Airlines, Con

tinental, CP Air, Dan-Air, ]ugoslovenski

Aero t ran por t OAT), Maersk Air, ew

York Air, Orion, Pakistan International,

Piedmont, Southwe t, u nwor ld Interna

tional, United, U Ai rand We' te rn .

Many of t he e cu t omers were new 737

operators.In the case of ]AT, ew York Air

and unworld International, their previous

main equipment had been DC-9s . ]AT 's

effort, to replace i t medium/short -haul

fleet with the 737 were to be temporarily

112 113



New Mediterranean Operators

OPPOSTE PAGE

(Top) Air Algerie built up a considerable 737 fleet for

domestc,regional and trans-Mediterraneanscheduled

services. Steve Buntng

(Bottom) The 737-200 joined Air Malta in 1981, with

leased aircraft replaced by their own fleet in 1983.

Richard Howel

(Middle) Arkia f lew itsf irst 737s only briefly on IT

charters and scheduled services in 1983/84. Other

versions were acquired by Arkia some years later.

MAP

As well as Europes chartercarriers suddenly fnding the

Boeng737 the answer to their re-equipment prayers,

even more scheduled carrers were seeing the lght.

As already related. Air Algerie had been an early

lease contract customer for AerLnguss737s sncethe

late 1960s. Air Algerie later went on to operate a not

inconsiderable fleet of their own, finally replacing their

ageing Caraveles. Tuns Air had introduced their first

737-200 in 1979, serving an extensiveregional network

that extended to Europe.as well as neighbourng North

African states. With Tunisa boastng anumber of popu

lar coastal resorts, Tuns Airs 737s were soon chartered

out to touroperators for IT flights, especialy from north

ern Europe.

Already popular with Arabian carrers, the type was

alsoadopted by the Israel natonalairlne, E AI. Prev

ously almost solely an operator of longer-range aircrah,

E AI leased in two 737-200s from Trans European, of

Belgium, to evaluate the aircrah for use on regional

schedulesfrom Tel Avv. The pairof leased 737s joineg

E AI inOctober1980and were operated on schedulesto

Europe and around the Mediterranean. An order was

placed for two of their own 737-200s, delvered in Jan

uary1983, replacing theleased aircrah.The independent Israel airlne. Arkia, alsotook delv

eryof Boeing 737-200s, its first, asecond-hand ex-Wien

Air Alaska aircraharriving in 1981. When two new air

craftweredelvered toArkia in 1983,the original aircrah

was sold. The aircrah were operated on scheduled

domestc and regional flights, as wel asan extensive

programme of charters to Europe. Unfortunately, Arkia

suHered fnancial problems after much of their sched

ued networkwascoseddown for political reasons,and

the aircrahwere sod orleased out in 1984.

Air Malta took delvery of their f irst 737 in 1981,

leased in f romTransava ofthe Netherlands.The first of

AirMalta's own order, for sx 737-200s,was delvered in

1983. Operatng on scheduled and IT charter services

throughout the Mediterranean region and to Europe,Air

Malta's 737s were acquired to replace the companys

first aircrah, a fleet ofsecond-hand Boeing 720Bs.

In 1983, the Boeing 737-200 also joined the f leet of

the Portuguese national carrer, TAP-Air Portugal. The

new aircrah were replacing older Boeings, in theshape

of 727-1 ODs on TAP-AirPortugal s scheduled and holday

charter network. The airlne's charter subsidiary, Air

Atlantis, based atthe southern resort of Faro, alsooper

ated737s from 1985. Air Atlantis, too, flew ahandful of

727-200s and even long-range 707s on higher-capacity

and further-ranging flights.

" . ~ : i : ~ " r. ",.. ;«-< • ~ .

in ear ly 1987, i t was joined by two othcr

ILFC 737-300s, one of them also an ex

Sunworld Intcrnat ional aircraft. This at

least gave the fleet some semblance of

standardization. At t he e nd o f 1987, thc

737-300s were returned to ILFC a nd t he

Scrics200 wassubleascd to a ncw US start

up to bebased in Miami .

Unfortunately, thc contract wcnt sour,

with t heUS airlinc failing to bcginopcra

t ionsand strandingthe aircraft, alongwith

its scconded Air Cymru c rcws , in Miami

amid the legal wrangles. An ill-advised,

(Below) The larger 737-300 provided Orion,and its other operators,

with increased revenue potential forsimilar costs, Steve Buntng

.. _ ~ _ e ~ ~~ 1 i i...~ ~ \ ~ .

AirwaysIntQrnatlonalCymru

__ . QR\QN

- - ~ " . . - . . , . . . "LJ

o f t hr ce aircraft, onc Onc-E levcn , one

737-200 and the 737-300, all with totally

diffcrent seating configurations (89, lJO

and 148, respectively),

Should any t e chnic a l or opcrational

problems occur, none of t he aircraft could

covcr thc othcr's flights, cvcn if available.

The first ex-Sunworld aircraft was returned

to itsowncrs, 1LFC, at thecnd of thc 1986

scason, with thc -200, G-BAZI, going to

Acr Lingus on lease for four months in the

wintcr, Icaving thc Onc-Elcvcn a lonc in

Air Cymru service. After G-BAZI returned

A cartoon 737 featured in Airways

International Cymru's promotional

material. Via author

174 115



THE BABY GROWS

Atypical UK airport l ine-up inthe 1980s. No lessthanfour different UK 737 operators, OrionAirways, Air

Europe, British Airtoursand Britannia Airways all sharethe Manchesterramp. Steve Buntng

been taken over by Atlan

Air Lines, a nd A irCa l h

out by American Airlines.

Western had struggled in

u la tion e ra . As a cos t -c

emphasis was diverted aw

expensivebases, suchas Los

cut-throat competitionwas

small profits there were, Th

concentrati ng fl ights at less

suchas Salt Lake City, inU

important airline, operatin

all-metal-based livery. The latter compa

ny hadacquired Piedmont, afterpurchas

ing a majority shareholding. However,

with protracted legal wrangles and opera

tional problems, i twas to be another eigh

teen months before the Piedmont identi

ty was to be fully absorbed into USAir. In

the spring of 1988, USAir further expand

ed itsswiftly growing network by acquir

ing Pacific Southwest Airlines, giving it abadly needed foothold in America's west

ern states,

CHAPTER EIGHT

A New Lease of Life

As the Series 300s began rolling off the

Renton production l ine , beside the still

popular -200s , Boe ing was ref ining an

even larger 737.The 9ft6in (2.9m) longer

-400 was f it t ed wit h e xt ra o ve r-wing

emergency exits, two each side instead of

one, and stronger wings and landing gear

were fitted t o c op e with the increasedgross weight of upto 142,0001b(64,4lOkg).

The first Series 400 flew on 29 April 1988,

The Next Big One

,

I found rhc workload much lowcr on r h c 300

due [() rhe assistancc of INS, auromared powcr

scnings and calculations i n r h c climb. Evenru

ally, when rhe ' g la ss cockpir ' c amc our , onc

couldhave a much bener 'situational awareness'.

established analogue technology. Once it

was more widely available though, the air

lines and thei r pilots were soonenthusing

abou t the new systems and thei r advan

tages overolder versions.

Chris Harrison flew bo th the Series 200

and 300 with Orion an d, from 1986

onwards, other operators:

the last o f t he Elew'as were finally dis

posed of.

More interstate flights were added,with

service open ing to Seat t le and Phoenix .

Shortly before the in troduc tion of the

MD-80s, in 1981, the company identity

was amended to AirCal, with a smart new

modern logo and colour scheme. The air

line was purchased from WestgateCalifor

nia by a new company, AirCal Invest

ments Inc, for $61.5 million.

Twelve Boeing 737-300s were ordered

in June 1984, with op tions taken ou ton a

further eleven, as p ar t o f a l ar ge f le et

In the hands of new majority shareholders,

the Westgate-California Corporation, since

1970,Air California had continued asteady

unofficial attempt to repossess the aircraft

caused even more legal expenses for Air

Cymru. Without suitable aircraft for the

forthcoming season, a nd t he US legal bills

eating into its operatingcapital, the com

pany was forced to cease operations in

early 1988.

Air California Progress

Thearrivalof theeven further stretchedSeries 400 saw the 737 finally losing its'Baby Boeing'tag, Boeing

expansion throughout the decade, carrying

its ten millionth pas senger in 1976. As aresult of deregulation, Air California was

able to expand outside California's borders,

initially beginning in te rs tate s ervice to

Reno, Nevada, in December 1978.

By 1979, nine 737swere operated along

side three ElectJ'as, the latter type reintro

duced into the fleet in 1975 to operate ser

vices to ultra noise-sensitive Lake Tahoe.

Also in 1979, an order was placed for five

162-passenger McDonnell Douglas MD

80s, wi th options for up to eight more,Two

more Boeing737-200s arrived in 1980, as

replacement p ro gr amme . i ne of the firm

orders came from AirCal i t se lf - the

remaining three wer e f or a ir cr af t t o b e

leased from ILFC.Th e -300s were intend

ed to eventually replace t he t he n e nt ir e

fleet of fourteen 737-200s, two leased

-I OOs and seven MD-80s.

The New Boyan the Block

Although advanced electronic flight sys

tems were to be in troduced on the 737-

300, the earliest examples were built with

It gavc one rhc abiliry [() scc, almost as on a

map, your reference [0 waypoints , track, t h L l n ~d e r ~ t o r m s , airpolTs and, evcnrually wirh TCAS

(Tcr rain Collis ion Avoidancc Sysrcm) , othcr

aircraft around you.

The forthcoming Series 400 promised even

more technical advances, linked t o t he

higher capacity offered by the yet-further

stretched fuselage, However,as well asbeing

a natural development ofthe 737 breed, the

Series 400 was developed in response to a

growing threat to the type's sales from

Europe. Would it riseto the challenge?

the first production delivery being made

to launch cus tomer , P iedmon t Airl ines ,

on 15 September the same year. Piedmont

placed the aircraft into service on 1Octo

ber 1988.

Th e Piedmont Airlines 737-400s were

delivered in a h ybr id Piedmont/USAir,

Californian Merger Mania

The loss of Pacific Southwest Airlines was

the la test in a series of mergers and acqui

sitions that saw the disappearance of no

less than three of California's 'home based'

c ar ri er s. In 1987 Western Air Lin es had

bodies to Hawaii and M

Boeing 727-200s and 73

had begun introducing the

side the olderversions. De

the chance to extend itsne

and took over the ailing6

as of 1April 1987,

116 117



A NEW LEASE OF LIFE A NEW LEASE OF LI FE

Dallas operat ion and mo

smaller hub already esrab

City, retainingOrlando as

The 737-20 s were lea

Polaris Aircraft Leasing Co19 7, to supplement the

Elevens. A largeorder was

Airbus A320 ,intended as

aircraft for Braniff. nfor

after the first of the A320

from KansasCity, BraniffI

tions in eptember 1989.

Once again though, Br

The operating authority o

carrier, EmeraldAirlines,

newowners and i twas tur

Braniff. Once more flying

o me o f t he e x-Ai rC al /A me ri ca n a nd

Western s er ie 2 00 737s found temporary

newhomeswith the re-e tablished BraniffInc. After a dramatic ces a t ion of opera

t ions by the original Braniff Airways in

19 2, t he c om pa ny r em ai ne d d orma nt

u nt il a n ew f in an ci al p ac ka ge was put

together under new ownership. Braniff

r eo pe ne d s er vic e from Da lla s w it h a

much reduced fleet of Boeing 727-200s in

March 19 4. Later, Orlando-based Florida

Express Airlines was t aken over and thei r

fleet ofBACOne-Elevensjoined the 727s.

After a per iod of reorganization and re

trenchement, Braniff closed down the

Braniff Revival, and Revival

Il

Eventually, the ex-AirCal 737- weregrad

ually disposed of or rerurned to Ie sors as

contractscame up for renewal . American

rookdeliveryoffurther MD- Os, their pre

ferred twin-engined jet, to replace them inalifornian service as s oo n as i t became

practicable to do so.The ex-Piedmont aircraft suffered no

u h ignominy. The length of t ime it had

taken for the two airline to merge had

allowed them to co-ordinate their fleets

wel l before they became one. PSA's MD-

Os and DC-9s were fi tted i nt o t he com

bined f leet a wel l, although, in t ime, the

British BAe 146s werestored and then dis

posed of, after SAir had decided t o c u t

backi tsWest Coast presenceafter all.

(Be/owl Delta had ordered their own

'Advanced 737-200s to replace older

jets. The ex-Western 737-300s, like

N303WA, soon appeared throughout

the Delta network in full colours.

Via author/SteveBunt ng

Western'sattempts to survive after

deregulation were doomed to failure.

Its second 737-200, N4502W, wasstill

in the fleet and taken over by Delta in

1987, nineteen years after it had been

delivered. Va author

Post-Merger Operations

Following the acquisitionby theirnewown

ers, both t he fleet of Western and AirCal

started appearingin 'hybrid'schemes, usual

ly comprisinga new name painted overtheir

old liveries. Delta had actually been in the

process of introducing their own fleet of

'Advanced' 737-200s, to replace older DC

9s, when the Western 737-200s and -300s

wereadded.

American Airlines, t ho ug h, h ad n ot

previously been a Boeing 737 opera to r.

1984 - a landmark year - the airlne carred 13m i o n passengersand exceeded $1 bi

lon inrevenues.thus offCialy becominga 'major airlne. In January 1985.Piedmontwas

named 'Airline of the Year by the influential magazne, Air Transport Word.

May 1986saw Piedmontacquiring New York State-based Empre Airlnes that oper

ated a fleet of Fokker F.28 jets from Syracuse. The addition ofthe Dutch jets brought

Piedmonts fleet up to 149 aircraft. Ths consisted of sixty-three Boeing 737-200s, thir

teen737-300s, thirty-four 727-200s (the 727-1 ODs had left Piedmont in 1983), twentyFokker F.28-1 OOOs and nineteen F.28-4000s. The 1.177 daiy departuresserved eighty

seven airports in twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia and two international

points in Canada.

Internationalexpansionplanswere implemented, withnew wide-bodied Boeing 767

200s opening a Charlotte-London service in June 1987. The 767s aso operated on

transcontinentalservice fromthe hubsin theeastern states. New international flights

also opened to Nassau, in the Bahamas in November. By then though, negotiations

were well undervvay for the USAir purchase of Piedmont and,on 5November, the air

lne became asubsidiary of USAir Group Inc.

Operatons contnued independenty forawhile, as the full merger of the two sizable

airlnes was engineered.However,f naly, on 4 August 1989 the last Piedmont flight

ever left Dayton forSouth Bend, Indiana. The next day, Piedmont ceased to exist and

al operatons were conducted underthe USAirname. At the tme ofthe fnal mergerPiedmont Airlnes wasf ying sixty-two 737-200s, forty-two 737-300s,eight 737-400s,

sx 767-200s. thirty-four 727-200s, twenty F.28-1000s and twenty-five F.28-4000s.

Rorh Amcrlcan and AII'Cal arc \\ 'lI1nc". Rorh

afC Ciln,do, qualityorientated o r g a n l : a t J ( ) n ~ , full

of ralcnrcdpcoplc who hclicl'crhey can achicl'c

anyrhing rhcyscrour (() do.

t he 3 , 700 AirCal employees, m'er 95 per

cent were offered j obs within the new

operation.

American' s Chai rman and President,

Robert J. Crandall was expans i ve in h is

praise for the AirCal staffas he welcomed

them intoAmerican Airlines:

Since its introduction ofthe 737-200, in1968, Piedmont Airlnes had never looked back.

Asustained programme ofgrowth and expansion hadseen the once humble Loca Ser

vceCarrer that had struggled to lnk the Oho RiverValeytotheAtlantic coast,become

one ofthe USs leading regional airlnes. The remaining vintage Martin 404shad left

the fleet in 1970 tobe replaced by the Japanese-buit YS-llAs.ln 1972. the airlne's

25thyear of operaton. Piedmont reported record earnings and a profit of $3.323,317

In 1979,Piedmont had fought off ahostie takeoverbid by thethenexpansiveAir Flor

daand in 1981 anewhuboperatonwas openedatCharotte. NorthCarolna. Ths was

folowed ayear later with anothernewhub beinginaugurated at Dayton. Oho. The last

turbo-prop YS-11 As were sod off by 1982. and Piedmont became an all-jet airline,operatng thenow long-establshed737-200s,alongside amixed fleetof 727-1 ODs that

had re-entered Piedmontservice in 1977,and 727-200s that had arrved in 1981.

Yet anothernew hub operatonwas opened atBaltmore in 1983.with twenty-ninedai y

flghts to fourteen destnatons. Henson Airlnes. asmal commuterairlne basedin Sa

isbury. Maryland. was taken over in 1983. Henson was then operated as a 'Piedmont

Regona Airlne', thebeginningof anetwork of sma er, associated airlnes thatwere to

feed traffic intoPiedmonts mainlne network as 'PiedmontCommuter carrers.The fol

lowing year. a transcontnental servce was opened to Los Angeles andSanFrancsco. In

The737-200had proved itself the ideal aircraft forPiedmontsnetwork, leading to

sustainedgrowth for the airline. Jenny Graddge

The Rise and Rise of the Pacemakers

American' s i n ten ti on t o buy AirCal

was announced in November 19 6 and

the dealwasclosed in Apri l t henex t year.

As with Delta and USAir, American fclt

t heneed to increase it' profile in the west

ern ha lfo f t heUSA, hence its interest in

AirCal's succe sful network. The merger

became effective on 1July 19 7,withAir

Cal's identity beingreplaced by American

Airline's image from that date. The order

ly integration of A i rCal employees and

aircraft into American was t o m ak e t he

merger 'nearly invisible' to passengers. Of

778 779



A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

720

Both AirCal's 737-200s and -300swere to acquire

American Airline's titles as soon as the merger took

effect. Bothpictures courtesyof American Airlines C.R.

Smth Museum

the 'new' airlinewascontracted for a num

ber ofcharter services by travel companies

around t heUSA. An attempt to re tu rn to

scheduled services, from Dallas t o N ew

York and Los Angeles , was ini t ia ted in

1991, and the networkwas later expanded

to i nc lu de For t L au de rd al e, I sl ip a nd

Newark. However, scheduled serviceswere

closed down as uneconomic later that year

and, inJuly 1992, the third Branifffollowed

itspredecessors into bankruptcy.

Air Europe- and Family

Air Europe had followed Orion by intro

ducing the Boeing 737-300.An Orion 737

300 was leased-in for crew training before

the type entered charter service with Air

Europe in 1987. Orders were placed a t t he

(Top) American Airlines retained the

ex-AirCal 737s long enough to justify

repainting, but they were disposed of

as more MD-80s arrived to replace them.

AmericanAirlines C.R. Smth Museum

(Above) Braniff's ex-Western 737-200,

N4509W is seenat Tampa on the afternoon

of27 September 1989.Withina couple

of hours of this photograph being taken,

Braniff had ceased operations.

Malcolm L. H

Air Europa was Air Europe's first attempt

at establishing a 'family' of airlines. Its

737-300s operated their first Spanish-based

IT charters in November 1986.

Rchard Howell

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

727



same time forfive more757s, as well as five

737-400s, for 1988/89 delivery.

Not all t he A ir Europe o rd er s were

intended forUK-based operationsthough.

In June 1986, ILG had invested a 25 per

cent holding in a n ew Spanish [T operator,

initially ent it ledAir Espania. The operat

ing name was changed to Air Europa

before operations be ga n i n ovember

1986, with their aircraft flying in an only

very slightly modified Air Europe livery.

The adoption of the new title and identi

cal livery wouldenable swifttransferofthe

aircraft between the two companies, with

only one letter o f t he title and the nation

al flag needing to b e changed.

The 'Airline Family'

Concept Spreads

Air Europe was far from the onlycharter

carrier t oembrace t he 'family' concept of

linked airlines. In 1988/89, Trans Euro

pean Airways had established both a n ew

Turkish subsidiary, TUR, and a UK-based

operation, Trans European Airways (UK)

Ltd. New 'TEAs ' were a lso set up in

Cyp ru s, France, I ta ly and Switzerland,

with various levels of shareholding by the

Brussels-based 'parent' ai rI inc.

Air Europa inherited Air Europe's 'mis

sion' to establish more professional, mod

ern, airline practices within the indepen

dent Spanish airline community. Its 737s

were to jo in those operated by long-estab

lished charter specialist, Spantax, and rela

tivenewcomer,Hispania that hadbegun IT

charter operations witha fleet of Caravelles

in 1983. H isp an ia ini ti al ly lea sed in 737

200s, and later-300s. The Spanrax aircraft

were part of a modernization programme

that was intended tosee the replacementof

a n a ge in g f le et of Convair CV-990As.

Unfortunately, Spantax's attempts at reor

ganizing and its eventual sale to newown

ers failed to revive its fortunes and the air

l in e cea sed ope rat ion s in 1988. H isp an ia

survived long enough to introduce Boeing

757s alongside its737-300s, but also ceased

trading, due to financial problems in 1989.

Other Spanish Hopefuls

Universair wa s a n ew IT operator formed

by t he Span ish hot el group, Hola. With

backing from the UK's Orion Airways and

Belgium'sAir Belgium, both 737 operators

in their own right, Universair opened its

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Palma , Ma jo rca base in 1987. The fleet

had grown t o t h ree 737-300s by J988 . In

1990, Universair merged with two other

Spanish operators to form Meridiana SA,

a new scheduled carrier, and cea sed to bea

737 operator.

VIVA (Vuelos Internacionales de Vaca

c i ones SA) was set up in 1988 and was

owned by Iberia and Luf thansa, w i th a

modern fleet of four 737-300s. The first

flight, a uremburg-Palma charter, took

place on 15 April. Initially concentrating

on t he t ra di ti on al IT charter markets,

VIVA began undertaking scheduled ser

vices on behalf of Iberia, especially after

Iberia bought out Lufthansa's share in

1990. Eventually VIVA opened a sched

uled networkof its own, centred on Palma,

Majorca and Malaga on the mainland. At

i tspeak the VIVA 737 fleet stood a t n i neSeries 300s. The scheduled services oper

ated f rom [991 to 1996, when Iberia took

over t he routes and VIVA reverted t o a n

al l -charter operat ion. In 1 99 9, I ber ia

decided to close down the airline and inte

grated itsaircraft and staff.

Shorter-lived was Nortjet, a n ew Span

ish charter operatorthat began IT services

in 1990 with the first of three Boeing737

400s leased from GPA. However, Nortjet's

fleet was repossessed by GPA in February

1992, after the airline ceased operations.

Much more successful was Futura , estab

l ishedin 1989 with backingfrom Aer Lin

gus and Banco de Santander. Using a s in

gle Boeing 737-400, operations began on

17 February 1990. With its sol id fi nanciaIbacking, Futurasurvived and was flyingsix

737-400s by 1993, from bases at Palma and

Tenerife. Throughout , Aer Lingus main

tained a 8 5 p er cent shareholding. InMay

1997 a Palma-London/Gatwick schedule

opened under t he name of Futura Direct.

Air Europe Acquisitions

Air Europe's 737-400sstarted to enter ser

vice in the 1989 summer season. The high

denSityconfigured, 170-passenger 737-400s

joined the airline's -300s and replaced the

last ofthe -200s, which were disposed ofor

l ea sed out . A s ingle Boe ing 747 had a lso

been lea sed in for a y ea r and f lew to US,

Caribbean and Far Eastern destinations.

The establishment of t he Spanish sister

company was the beginning of lLG's 'Air

lines of Europe' policy that envisaged a

European network of aiII ines. Other sub

sidiarieswere opened in Italy and Germany,

722

both operating Boeing 757s on charter ser

v ic es .A o rweg ian charter carrier, Norway

Airlines, was purchased and itsBoeing737

300s painted in Air Europe'sfull livery. Ini

tially the Oslo-based airline was renamed

Air Norway, t he n A ir Europe (Scandi

navia). As well as continuing to operate IT

charters from Oslo, Air Europe (Scandi

nav ia) ' s a ir craf t were a lso u sed t o o pen

scheduled services to London/Gatwick.

Change of Direction

Air Europe had started t o a dd scheduled

services to it s UK operations since the

ear ly I980s . At first, leisure-orientated'

destinations were served, but from 1988

more business traffic-based services, from

London/Gatwick to Amsterdam, Brussels,Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich,

Paris and Zurich were opened. A sma ll

Gatwick-based commuter carrier, Con

nectair, was acquiredin 1989 and rebrand

ed as Air Europe Express, flying Shorts

330sand 360s. Guernsey AiII ineswas later

b ou gh t o ut a nd merged in to th e n ew

'Express' operat ion that operated sched

uled flights from points in the UK t o the

Channel Islands and from Gatwick t o

Antwerp, Dusseldorf and Rotterdam.

St il l l ed by [-larry Goodman, ILG, the

a i rl ine 's owner s, were very keen for Air

Europe to establish itself as a major UK

scheduled operator. Goodman's ambitious

scheduled service plans eventually led to

Air Europe' s o rigin al founder s, Errol

Cossey and Martin O'Regan, leaving the

company. They grew increasingly wary of

Air Europe's owners' apparent determina

tion to leaveits original specialization, the

hoiiday charter, and con cen tr at e o n t he

much riskier scheduled network.

A fleet of Fokker 100s was in the process

of being acquired for use on the less busy

scheduled f ligh ts f rom la te 1989. For the

longer term, Air Europe had ordered no

less than eight wide-bodied MD-Ils from

McDonnell Douglas, as well asstill further

737s and 757s. However, t he e nd came

suddenly, on 8 March 1991. On that day, a

number of banks andother creditors took

s tep s to re tr i ev e f, 160 m ill ion owed to

them by the financially overstretched ILG

group. That morning, Air Europe's aircraft

were impounded and the whole organiza

tion was placed under administration.

Various 'rescue' plans were put forward,

but ILG collapsed and A ir Europe never

t ook to the skies again. The German and

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Although Universair wasluckier thansomeSpanishcharterhopefulsin that it survivedthrough merger, the

resulting carrierdisposed ofthe 737-300s. Richard Howel

Air Europeuti l izedits 737s on new scheduled services as well as theoriginal IT charter programme. Steve Buntng

723



The European Challenge A NE W LE A S E OF LIFE

By the 1980s, Europes first bd to rval the 737, the Dassault Mercure, had proved a

fnancialfai ure, attracting only one customer, and the quantity producton of theear

lier European jet airliner t ypes was drawing to a cose. The larger-capacity,

medium/short-rangejet market seemed to be firmly in the hands ofAmercas Boeng

and McDonnel Dougas. The new -300 and -400 Boeng 737sand the newMD-80

seres of enlarged DC-9s from McDonnel Dougas were attracting orders fromairlnes

and leasing agents worldwide. TheFokker F.28 andBAe 146weresel ng in respectable

numbers,but were of a considerably lower capacity thanthe larger Amercan aircraft

and aimed at amorespecialzed market.

Recognzng that the smaler aerospacecompanies of Europehad no hope of produc

ing serous rivals to the giant Amercan concerns, the European industry had already

taken steps to combine forcesand offercompett ve products. As eary as 1970, an

Anglo-French study into medium-haulwide-bodied types had led tothe formal estab

lshmentof Airbus Industrie, amultinational consortum of aerospace and aircraft man

ufacturing companies. Eventualy, Airbus comprsed contributions from Aerospataleof

France, British Aerospace loriginally Hawker Siddeley) of the UK, Deutsche Aerospace

of Germany, Fokkerof the Netherlandsand CASA ofSpan.

The new consortum's first commercial project, the wide-bodied Airbus A300, first

flew in October1972. Although initial saes were slow, theA300 eventualy establshed

a substantal customerbase for the aircraft. Amajor breakthrough was achieved with

thesale of A300sto US-basedEastern Air Lnes, with later US saes of developedver

sionsto Amercan Airlnes and Pan AmercanWord Airways.

Airbus had always planned to offer a portfolio of airliner types and the first newvar

ant. the slightly smaler Airbus A310, folowed in 1982. Airbuss first narrow-bodied

type, the A320, was formaly launched into development in 1984 and the first flight

occurred in February1987. The A320 wasadirect rval to theenlarged737 models, with

simiar capacity tothe 737-400. The sae of theA320 to long-establshed 737 operator

UnitedAirl nes, as well as a largeorder placed by Minneapols-based NorthwestAir

lnes, an operator of a substantal fleet of DC-9s of different varants, setalarm bels

rnging inthe Boengand McDonnel Douglas saes offices.

(Belowl Although init iallysellingony slowly, theAirbus A300B eventuallyestablished

itsell as aserious contenderin theinternationalairliner market. Malcolm L H

(Bottoml The acquisition oflarge fleets of Airbustypes IA320 illustrated) by major US

carriers, such as NorthwestAirlines,madeBoeing examine itsown offerings very

closely. Northwest via author

Norwegian subsidiaries also ceased opera

tions. Nonetheless, the Spanish and Ital

ian operations f ou nd n ew owners and

eventually thrived as Air Europa and air

Europe (Italy). Air Europe Express even

tually re-emerged as a n ew commuter car

rier, Euroworld, la ter renamed CityFlyer

Express.

M ore U K Comings and Goings

Orion Airways had disappeared in 1989.

Its parent company, Horizon Travel, had

been taken over by the Thomson Travel

Group that year. Horizon's operations were

merged into Thomson Holidays and, not

surprisingly, Orion's services were merged

i n to Thomson ' s own established airline

subsidiary, Britannia Airways. At the t imeof the merger, Orion was operating its 73 7

300s and a p ai r of wide-bodied, Airbus

A300Bs. As Britannia was operat ing the

similar Boeing 767, the Airbus A300Bs

found themselves surplus to requirements

and were returnedto their owners. Orion's

737-300s were retained for a while though

and were flown alongside the long-serving

737-200s.

I n Apr il 1 98 8, a new airline had risen

from the ashes of Airways International

Cymru. The ex-AIC 737-200, G-BAZI re

emerged as G-BOSA in the livery of

Amberair, t heoperat ing name ofCardiff

based Amber Airways. A second 737-200,

G-BKMS, was ~ I s o leased in and the pair

operated IT charters from several UK

points. Amberair barely operated for one

seasonbefore itwas taken over in October

1988, by Bristol-based ParamOLlnt Air

ways. Paramount f lew mos tly MD-80s ,

although a single737-300 was also operat

ed. The ex-Amberair737-200s wereeven-.

tually returnedto their owners. Paramount

itselfceased operations in 1990, following

a financial scandal involving i ts owner 's

group of companies.

Inter European Airways had started

Cardiff-based 737-200 IT char t er opera

tions in May 1987. Utilizinga single leased,

ex-Maersk Air aircraft, Inter European had

been founded by a Cardifftravel company,

Aspro Holidays. Owned by the Asprou.

b ro th er s , Asp ro Hol id ay s special iz ed in

tours to Greece and Cyprus, as well as serv

ing traditional Spanish destinations. The

737 flew from Cardiff and Bristol for the

1987 season,being returned to itsownersatt heendof t ha t summer's flying programme.

lEA remained dormant for the winter, but

came back in s ty le in 1988, lea sing in two

brand-new 737-300s.

This time,operations continued through

the winter months and over the following

years more 737-300s wereacquired, as was

a single 737-400. In additionto Cardiffand

Bristol, newbases wereset up at Manehes

tel' and London/GatwickasAspro Holidays

greatly expanded i ts successful tour pro

gramme. AirbusA320sbegan to replace the

737-300sin 1993, joining Boeing757s that

had entered service the previous year.

As wi th Orion tbough, lEA was to van

ish as the result of tour company mergers.

Manchester-based Airtours took overAspro

Hol id ay s in 1993, r eb rand ing the tour

company as i ts low-cost s

European's 757s and A320s

by Airtour's own airline ope

International. The r emai

were returned to theirowne

Aspro contracts had beenco

Ai r UK Goes 'Leisur

While Air Europe wasstru

from charter to schedul

British scheduled airline,

moving in the opposite dir

operated a network of s

mute r an d tr un k servic

Britain and t o nearby poin

tal Europe with a large flee

props and BAe 146 jets .

In June 1987, Air UKannational, a charter broke

became the majo r inves to

charter company, to be n

Leisu re . Bas ing i ts el f ini

don/Stansted, Air UK Lei

ery ofthree second-hand B

in t ime to commence ope

1988. The first commercia

charters from St ans ted t o

and Rome, departing on 1

also opened from Manch

Midlands t he n ex t day ,

Rhodesand Palma, respec

The 737-200s were'repla

1989 by the first of an event

Series 400s.As well as oper

Leisure's expanding networ

al leasings saw some of t he

124

Orion's 737-300s took on B ri ta nn i a ' si d e n ti tyfo l l o wi n g the merger o f t h e two airlines in 1989. JennyGraddge

125



A NEW LEASE OF LIFE A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Novair's Series 400

CaledonianAirways , in 19

ilarly cottish themed carri

ated alongside each other

Gatwick. However, in Ma

renamed Novair Internat

The next yea r, a p ai r of B

was delivered to avail' In

operated on IT f ligh ts

Birmingham, Glasgow, M

ewcastle, upplementin

Unfortunate ly, Rank wa

with the profitability ofthe

ovair up for sale . After f

buyer, Rankdecidedto cut

operations wereclosed dow

at p ar t o f t h e BCal buy

Airways was Bri t ish Cal

charter subsidiary, Britis

Charter.Originallyformed i

nership with the Rank Org

Charter operated ex-LakerA

on IT charter ervices origin

by Rank to the defunct ca

19 2 bankruptcy. In 19 4, R

BCal's r ema ining shareho

branded the airline Cal Ai

while retaining the BCa l

When British Airways

own charter operator, Brit

eventuallydelivered asSeries400s, the first

a rr iv ing in 1991. In the meantime, four

eries 3 Os were leased from Maersk Air.

As the newer versions arrived at

Heathrow, the earlier-2 sweretransferred

to either Birmingham or Manchester, to

begin replacing the airline' urviving One

Elevens. Fora while, the aircraft wore either

'Birmingham' or 'Manchester' suffixes to

their t i tles, as the out tations were given

more autonomy under the British Airways

Regional Division banner. Later, the titles

were amended back to their original format,

although the Regional Division continued

to be responsiblefor the aircraft'soperation.

Airways, t a king over the Gatwick-based

independent in late 19 7, it inherited the

latter's order for the rival Airbus A32 .

Originally intended to replace BCal's fleet

o f B AC One-Elevens, the A320s were

del ive red to BA and initially entered ser

vice on t he Gatlvick network. However,

t he A 32 0 were soon moved to the

Heathrow base and replaced at Gatwick by

Boeing 737s.

In October 19 8, SA placed a largeorder

fo r up to twenty-four more 737s, with an

option to choose which variant would be

delivered at a laterdate. !)artof a largerorder

that included six wide-bodied Boeing 767s

and an extra 757, all twenty-four737s were

British Airwayshad heenverysatisfiedwith

their ' uper 737-200s'. When B hecame

the su cessful suitorfor British aledonian

BA 737 Expansion

BAF h ad t urn ed t o more conventional

cheduled and charters in the I970s, replac

ing their speciali:ed 'Carvair' aircraft with

turbo-prop Heralds and Viscounts, before

introducing One-Elevens as their first jets

in the 1990s. The 737-30 s displaced the

One-Elevens, which were finally with

drawn in December 2000.

British Worldspread their small 737-300 fleet between basesthroughoutthe UK.

G-OBWZ isseen at london/Gatwick. Aviaton Hobby Shop

7 37 -3 0 was acquired in 1999, soon find

ingitselfin demand withTitan'sc lientele .

A two -c la ss layou t was adopted for the

737, with eight bus in es s-clas s ami I I

economy-class eats , a ll in leather.

March 2000 saw the 737-300 appear in

the colours of BritishWorld Airlines. Three

aircraft entered ervice during the year on

IT and ad hoc flights from crew bases at

Stansted, Ganvick and Manchester. British

World had previously been known as

British Air Ferries, until the airline's name

was changed in 1993. BAFowed its unusu

al t i t le to long-running car ferry scheduled

services once operated by the company

across the English Channel from Southend.

More Stansted 737s

with EEAfrom March 1993 to p ri l 1994,

before the Greek company ceased opera

tions. Virgin then took overthe route itself,

w it h irbus equipment.

In 1992, Air K Leisurewas joined hy a

ubsidiary company, Leisure International

Airways . LIA was e tahlished to operate

long-haul charters with a sma ll f le et of

wide-hody Boeing767-300s, ba,ed at Lon

don/Gatwick. Fora while , operationscon

tinued separately, hut in 1996, Air UK

Leisure was merged into L lA . L IA was

now par t o f t he U ni je t t rave l g roup , a

major IT holiday operator. The 737-400s

were eventually disposed of, in favour of

more long-haul aircraft, although Airhus

A320s and A321s were la ter acquired tef

operate European IT charter services. LIA

lost its identity when Unij e t was hought

out by First Choice, another IT operator,and LlA was merged with First Choice's

own in-house airline, Air 2000.

Titan Airways, based a t S t an·ted, special

ized in contract, ad hoc and short -not ice

charters, the latteroften on behalfofother

airlines. Beginning operations in 19

with a sma ll f le et of Cessna twins, Titan

grew to fly horts 36 and ATR-42 turbo

p rops , a s wel l as BAe 146 jet·. A s ingle

--------'";G-

to South East EuropeanAirways, of Athens.

EEAoperateda small network of domestic

flights in Greece, with Fokker F.50 turho

props, hut i ts main activ ity was providing

aircraft and crews for Virgin Atlantic Air

way's Athens-London scheduled service.

Flying in full Virgin li\'ery, the 737-4 0 flew

Inter European Airways began operations with a single 737-200, G-BNGK, leased in

forthe summerof 1987. Richard Howel

other airlines' li\'eries, e,peciallyin the qui

eter winter month,. Malaysian Airlines,

Ind ian chedu led car ri er Mod iluf t and

anadian charter operators Odyssey Inter

national and Vacationairall took out short

lease, on A ir UK Leisure's eric, 400s. G

KLB wa, leased out on a longer contract,

G-BNZT'Flagship St Andrew' was one of thetr ioof 737-200s used to inaugurateAir UK leisure's IT

services in 1988. Va author

726 727



A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

The 737-300 featuredin the Dan-Airfleet from 1985.

G-BOWR was an ex-Orion/Britannia Airways

Aircraft. MAP

(Below) British Airtours' 737-200s were transferred

to 'new' charter subsidiary,Caledonian Airways,

revivinga respected airline name fromthe past.

Richard Howel

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Dan-Air's 737 fleet grew steadily overthe years,operating o n a n expanding scheduled network in addition

to charters. Va author

Novair Internationaloperated its 737-400s for onlya yearbefore the Rank Organizationclosed downthe

carr ier when it fai ledto finda buyer. Aviaton Hobby Shop

night-stopped at Madrid an

next dayas a BAoperat ion

The few retained aircraft

combined with BA's alrea

Gatwick short-haulbase.Th

operations were organized

sidiary, 'British Airways Etions at Gatwick', later th

ened to 'EuroGatwick'. T

737-300s were only retain

while,being returned to the

end of their lease contract

1994. More 737-400swere

Heathrow though , t o rep

increase the BA profile at

hub was developed. As wel

ordered from Boeing, BA al

ond-hand Series300sand -4

ofthe type increased.

BAe 146s, four BAe 748 turbo-props and

no less than nineteen Boeing 737s of vari

ous marks. Only three 737-300s and nine

737-400s were to be retained by BA. The

rest o f t he fleet, thei r crews and support

staffwould be rendered redundant.

As their IT charter contracts ran out forthe 1992summer season, the Boeing 727

200s and most of the One-Elevens were

placed into storage. The 748s, 146s andthe remaining One-Elevens were disposed

of as their scheduled routes were either

closed down ortaken over by BA. The end

finally came for Dan-Airon the eveningof

8 November 1992. The very last Dan-Air

fl ight was operated by Boeing 737-400,

G-BN K, on flight DA689, a scheduled

service from London/Gatwick to Madrid.

Departing Gatwick at 20.20, the aircraft

boost, when it h ad b een w it hi n days of

insolvency itself.

The Dan-Air management had finally

recognized the hopelessness of the situation

and began looking for prospect ive buyers

for their airl ine. Richard Branson's Virgin

group came close to buying the scheduledoperation, but, eventually, British Airways

bought Dan-Air f or a t ok en one pound.

Hardly the bargain i t sounds, Brit ish Air

ways also took on t he obligations for Dan

Air's not inconsiderable debts, as well as

responsibility for the welfare of its staff.Only Dan-Air's Gatwick-based scheduled

network was of interest toBA andal lchar

ter work would cease.

At the time of the takeover, Dan-Air

was operatinga diversefleet of twelve BAC

One-Elevens, seven Boeing 727-200s, four

BAe 146 jets on less-busy flights. Dan-Air

found i t very hard-going compet ing with

the established national carriers, despite

gaining an enviable reputation for profes

sional customer service. Dan-Air actually

gained a breathing space with the demise

of Air Europe, against which i t had com

peted on a number of importantGatwick

based scheduled routes. The transfer of

Air Europe's displaced passengers to Dan

Air gave the latter a welcome revenue

services that had been part of the compa

ny's act ivi ties for many years on a much

small er sca le , p roved expens ive. Even

once Dan-Air hads t a rt ed t omake much

needed changes in i ts commercial opera

t ions , i t soon became clear that it was a

classic, sad, case of 'too l i tt le, too late' .

Both the BACOne-Eleven and Boeing

737 f leet s were used on new scheduled

routes from Gatwick to Brussels, Dublin,

Lisbon, Madrid, Nice and Paris, with new

BA's Dan-Air Buy-out

British Airways found itself the new oper

ators of a who le n ew f le et of 73 7s fromOctober 1992, following i ts purchase of

ailing, Gatwick-based, Dan-Air Services.

A leading independent airline, first estab

l is he d in 1952, Dan-Air had suffered

severe financial problems throughout the

1980s. An attempt to switch the compa

ny's focus from charter to more scheduled

128 129



A NEW LEASE OF LIFE A ~ E I V LEASE OF LIFE

GB Airways' smartlivery was to disappearafter the airline signed up tobecome a'franchise carrier' for

BritishAirways. Martyn East

(Above) Transavia was tobaseits prosperity on the 737 for many years, -300s

joiningthe original -200s at Amsterdam. Malcolm L. Hi(Below) Lufthansautilized the 737-300 on their European serv

BA's 'Associated' 737s

The British Airways takeover of Bri tish

Caledonian also led to drastic changes in

t he operat ions of British Airtours. The

charter subsidiary was rebranded as 'Cale

donian Airways', taking on t h e identity of

one of BCal's original constituent airline.

Withcabin crews taking over BCal" cot

tish tartan themed uniform and image,

British Airtours fleet of Lockheed L-I II

Trimm and Boe ing 737 -200 s were re

painted in their own version of the grey

t op pe d BA livery, complete with a

heraldiclion paintedon the tail. The 737s

were eventually replaced by larger Boeing

757s and weredisposedof.

For many years, BAs predecessor, BEA

had been a ssoc ia ted wi th a sma ll a ir line

based at Gibraltar, a British territory on the

southern tip of Spain. Gibraltar Airways,its

title shortened in daily usc to Gibair, had

been founded locally , in 1931, to operate

scheduled service to neighbouring Spain

and Morocco. Postwar, BEA took a 51 per

cent share in the airline and Gibaircontin

ued to p rovide v ital loc al l in ks for the

island, as well as feeding trafficfrom North

Africa to BE' s services from Gibraltar to

London . Sma ll tw in -eng ined types had

steadily been replaced by single leased DC

3 and turbo-prop Viscount' overthe years.

Gibair laterbecame GB Airways and, from

Apr il 1979, s ervice s were ope ra ted f rom

Gibraltar to London/Gatwick. The new

service utili:ed 737-200 leased from Bri

tannia Airways, replacing a previous pool

ing arrangement using BEA/BA aircraft to

London/I-[eathrow.

The contractwith Britanniawasreplaced

by GB Airways flying their own 737-200s,

initially with three l ea sed in v ia Bri ti sh

Airway. From 19 9 the airline had moved

its headquarters and main base to Lon

don/Gatwick, although Gibraltar wasstill

an importan t po i nt on t he network. More

leased 737-200s replaced the original air

craft a nd G B Airways expanded quickly

with flights to Casablanca, Funchal, Mar

rakech, Tangier and Tunis from Gatwick,

with some services also being scheduled

from Heathrow. A Manche'ter-Gibraltar

schedule was operated, as wel l a s sched

uled services from Gibral tar to asablan

ca, Marrakech and Tangier. In the summer

of 1994, two of the airline's 737s were

gi v en 'GB Leisure ' ti t ies and operated IT

charters from Gatwick and Mandle'ter.

From 1995, GB Airways began operat

ing as a BA 'franchise' carrier, adopting

BA's livery, uniforms and flight prefix. BA

had actually sold its last shareholdings in

GB Airways that year, but maintained an

influence und er t he franchise contract.

Two ex-BA erie' 40 737 s were t r an s

ferred to join GB's own five 737-200s and

new routes opened from Gatwick to Mur

cia and Valencia, in Spain.

730

Elsewhere in Europe

The Trans European 'family' concept fared

as well as thatof ir Europe.The group suf

fered financial collapse in 1991. The Bel

gian and UK operations had added Series

300 737s to their original fleets of Series

200s. T R, in T urkey, TEA Italy, TEA

wit:erland, TE Cyprus andTEA France

initia lly survived the group 's coilaI' e ,

al though the Cypriot, French, Italian and

Turkish companies later suspended opera

t io ns . f te rTEA UK ceased operations its

operating authority was later used to estab

l ish a new company , Excal ibu r Airways ,

which operated Airbus A320s. The origi

nal Belgian company was quickly revived

a EuroBelgian Airline, again operating

737s.

In t he e th er la nd s, Transavia st 'adily

expanded their all-737 fleet, eventually

adding Series 300 737s and 7 57 . As well

as their own IT charterservice, Transavia

cont inued to be active in the leasing mar

ket, operating hoth eries 200s and 300s

for the Dutch nat ional carrier, KLM. The

flag-carrier t ha t h ad t ak en a f inanc ia l

interest in Tran savia was to eventually

take delivery of its own 737-400s, replac

ing a long-standing fleet of DC-9s.

A very short-lived Dutch 737 operation

saw asingle erie' 200 operated by Rotter

dam Airlines. The aircraft wa' leased from

TEA and flown on scheduled Rotterdam-

London/Gatwick services several times a

day from ovemher 1983, as well as some

IT work. The aircraft was far too large for

the available marketon the London route,

especially Jur ing t he traditionally quiet

winter season, and all operations ceasedin

March [9 4. A i r Hollandhad been estah

lishedin 19 5, operating IT charters with

a pai r of Boeing 727-200s. During a che-

quered career, Air Holland halted opera

tions for reorganization several times, but

survived long enough t o ope ra te t hr ee

737-300s over i ts various incarnations.

In Germany, althoughan early customer

for the r iv al i rb us i ng le -a is le t yp es ,

Lufthansa cont inued to utili:e their large

737 fleet, throughout their European and

domestic network. Iso in Germany, hoth

737

new and established charte

begun to introduce 737s in

dor reintroduced the type,

hoth Series 200s and -300s

at various times in the 19

Hapag Lloyd replaced t

727s and BAC One-Eleven

Germania, previously foun

Caravelles and 727s, intro



A EW LEASE OF LII·E

L-10 11 Tristars weretransthe network. The original

byfive more leased aircraft

was discarded in favour o

fleet of Airbus aircraft.

Long-established Thai

delivery of their first 737-2

plementing a fleet of H -

Other 737sfollowed, as wel

wide-bodie , as Thai's origi

work was expanded to

in ternational points . How

merged into the country'sfl

.\ n . ft .\II . t ral ia.

The network and fleet latergrew rapidly asAsiana wasencouraged by the Korean gov

ernment to be the country's 'seconddesig

nated carrier' afterKorean Air Lines.

In Hong Kong, Dragonair was founded

in 19 5 and began flights to Kota Kina

balu, with a ing le Boe ing 737-200 leased

from Guinne s Peat. ew route licence

saw the airline opening services to eight

points in mainland China ami to Phuket,

in Thai l and . a t hay Pacific, the major air

linein Hong Kong, took a financial inter

e st i n the bUlkling carrier and Lockheed

Elsewherein the Asian and Pacific regions,

rapid financialgrowth hadseen several new

operators emerging, with bot h t hem and

established airlines choosing the new ver

sions of the 737 as theirmedium/short-haul

airliner.

I n Kor ea , a brand new carrier, Asiana

Airlinesbegan regional and domesticoper

ation with a f le et of 737-400s. As well as

the 737s, anew international and long-haul

networkwas establishedwith Boeing 767s.

p ,.r.1 l u u n ~ DRAGONA IR

A loW LEASE OF LIFE

Eastern Growth

Hong Kong's Dragonair began operations with asmallfleet of 737-200s. MAP

Ansett chosethe 737 to modernize itsfleets in the 1980s. MAP

Antipodean 7375

Originally operating under registry, Air

Berlin greatly expanded their 737 IT char

ter services from other German cities, fol

lowingreunification. The reunification also

l ed t o Germania taking over Berlin-based

Berlin European UK, that had operated ITs

with leased 737-300ssinceApril 1990.

The New Zealand NationalAirway' Corpo

ra tionwasmerged with ewZealand's long

haul operator, Air New Zea la nd , i n 197 .

Ten 737-200s made the transition, along

witha fleet of Fokker F27s, More 737s were

delivered in the following years, including

severalSeries 300s.AlthoughNZNAC had

heen an early operator of t he Boeing 737,

ew Zealand's higger neighhour, Australia,resisted the arrival of the aircraft for some

time.

Originally, the Australianairline indu. try

was heavily regulated, with the two major

domestic carriers, Ansen and Trans Aus

tralia, beingforced to compete under very

restrictive conditions.Flights had to leave at

identical departure times, usingcomparable

aircraft. Originally,TAA had favoured buy

ing in Caravelles as their firstjets, and larer

lohbied to buy BAC One-Elevens. Howev

er, Ansen did not want the European

designs and, finally, both airlines ordered

fleets of Boeing 727s and Douglas DC-9-30s.

Eventually the regulations wererelaxed

and t he airlines were able t o en joy more

freedom in their equipment policy. Ansen

originally began importing 737-200s as

replacements for t hei r DC-9s i n 1 98 1.

ewer version Series 300s followed and

Ansen also bought Airbus A320s to oper

a t e on t hei r domesti c ne twork alongside

them. Ansen bought shares in a local

New Zealand-based carrier, ewmans

Air, renaming it Ansen New Zealand and

re-equippingthe airl ine with737 to bet

t er c ompe te a ga in st A ir ew Zealand.

BAe146s eventually replaced the 737s,

and anot h er c hang e o f owner sh ip a nd

name change saw Ansen ew Zealand

become Qant a s N ew Zealand in 2000.

Trans Australia changed thei r name to

AustralianAirlines in 19 6, the same year

they introduced the first of a large fleet of

Boeing737-300s to replace thei rown ear

lier jet . However , in eptember 1992,

Australian Airlines was bought ou t by

Qantas Airways and became the domestic

arm o f wha t had previously been Aus

tralia's international specialist.

base at Fredrchshafen in southern Germany. A co·

operaton agreement hadbeens gned with Lufthansa

coverng the Delta Air network from Fredr chshafen

and Stuttgart. International schedules served Geneva,

Zurch and the Channe Islands.

The acquisition of Delta Air by BA and the banks her·

aided amajor change in the commutercarrer. Renamed

Deutsche BA, the 'new' airline began commercial ser·

vces from Berln·Tege to Stuttgart and Munich, in

June 1992. An Initial fleet of three leased 737-300s

was joined by four more later in the year and new

routes opened to DusseldorfandCoogne.

The airlne's head office was moved, In 1994, to

Munich, althougha largeprogramme ofscheduledand

charter flights still opera ted f rom the Ber n base.

Smaler Fokker100s were leased in to supplementthe

737sand SAABs thatcontnued in operaton. The orig·

inal turbo·prop network was sod off in January 1997.

Soonreplacing BA completely, which coseddownor

transferred its Ber n·based facilities as Deutsche BA

grew,the 737-300 fleet contnued to expand IT charter

routes were opened for German travel companies In

1993and international schedulesopenedfrom Bern to

Nice, Oso, St Petersburgand Stockholm,and fromDres

den t oPars. New routes were opened in 1994 from

Munich and Frankfurtto Pars and from Munich to Dus

seldorf and Madrid London/Gatwick was l n ke d t o

Deutsche BA's network in 1995withflights fromBremen

andMunich.B erlin-Gatwick servcesbegan in 1996 and

the last Fokker 100was returned to its owner in eary

1998. Year 2000saw Deutsche BA operatng eighteen

Boeng 737-300s from bases at Ber n and Munich.

All Change at Berlin

Deutsche BA adopted 'Germanized'versionsof BritishA irways new 'WorldImages' l ivery for their 737-300s.

Deutsche SA

The reunifcaton of Germany led tofundamental changes

in the airlne servcesoffered fromBer n. At the end of

theSecondWord WarBern had been divided up, with

itswestern half bured within the boundares ofEastGer·

many. Orginaly, Air France, Amercan Overseas Air nes

and Brtains BEA had taken on thetask of l nkingWest

Ber n with t he res t o f t henew Federa Repub c. Later,

AmercanOverseaswastakenover by Pan Amercan and

Air France operated itsBern f ghts in associaton with

BEA,ater Brtsh Airways,underapoolng agreement.As

long asEastGermanyexsted as aseparate country,West

Germanregistered aircraftwere forbidden In its arspace

and,thereby,dened accessto Bern.

Air France eventualy ret urned t o t he Bern marke t

though, with the founding of a newcarrer, EuroBer n

France, in partnership with Lufthansa. Servces opened

in 1988 from Bern·Tegelto Dusseldorf, Hamburg and

Stuttgart,eventualy uti zing seven 737-300s. IT char·

ters also operated from Bern to southern Europe at

weekends. Over 885,OO passengers were carred In

1991, ofwhich 850,000 were carred on theschedued

servces. EuroBern wascoseddown in1994 after Ger·

man reunification had removed its manreasonto exist.

Pan Amercan's Bern serviceshad been disposedof

as partof its cost·cutting measures, but British Airways

had contnued to operate a Ber n base. However, BA

eventualy tooksteps to withdraw, but still maintained

a commercial presence underthe new regime.

A consortum, comprsing BA and three German

banks,acquired a sma West German commuter oper·

ator, Delta Ar, founded in 1978 By 1992, Delta's fleet

of SAAB 340s was operatng several routes from Its

132 133



A NEW LEASE OF LI FE

CHAPTER NINE

The Last of the Old Generation

There wasstill an identifiabl

a lower-capacity aircraft, neare

200 size, especially with sched

operators. So, in 1987, Boeing l

Series 500, basically a new ve

Series 300, shortened by 94in

the removal of fuselage plugs

(Belowllufthansa acquired 737-500s to complementthe larger -

i n i ts f l eet, and replace theolder -200s. Lufthansa

obvious success, the final Series 200 ver

sioncould no longer be updated, especial

ly with the original engine. Environmen

tal regulations were making it difficult to

economically ope ra te the jT8D-powered

aircraft within the new restric tions that

were becoming prevalent worldwide.

A New Short-body 737

Th e Series 200 version of t he Boeing 737

ended its 21-year production run in june

1988. Over 1,000 jT8D-powered 737s were

produced, including over 100 convertible

aircraft, fitted with cargo doors. Despite its

(Abovel The 737-500 launch customer was long-term client Southwest

Airlines. Steve Buntng

The Future?

As t h e 1990s ran their course, many of the

Boeing 73 7 s ope ra to rs were hav ing t o

rethink their operation. In particular, they

were having to address the worldwideobses

sion with deregulation and cost-cutting,

linked with often difficult financial circum

stances. To conquer these challenges, both

Boeing and the operators had to make fun

damental, dramatic changes to both thei r

basic philosophies and daily operations.

Nothing was likely to be the same again.

japanese use of the 737 had waned slight

ly a fter A ll Nippon Airways disposed of

their fleet in favour of larger types. Howev

er, ANA subsidiary, NKK (Nihon Kinkyori

Airways), continued to operate asmall fleet

of 737-200s on domestic services,alongside

YS-l IA turbo -p rops . KK was l at er

rebranded Air ippon. Southwest Airlines,

based at Naha o n t he island of Okinawa,

operated 737s on regional fl ights a nd t o the

main japanese islands. Later renamed japan

TransOcean Air, japan Air L in es t oo k a

majorshareholding in the company.

Thai Airways International, in 1988. Thai

Airways Internationalcontinued to expand

the 737 Fleet, taking delivery of i ts first

Series 400s in 1990.

Air Pacific, of Fiji, regularly upgraded

their small 737 Fleet, operated on regional

Flights, with new versions replacing older

aircraft as leases came up for renewal. Air

Vanuatu and Solomon Airlines also joined

established operators such :1S Air Pacific

and Air Nauru in operating smallfleets, or

even single 73 7s, of various marks, on the ir

Pacific region services.

QANTAS

• • I ~ t

THE SPIRIT Of AUSTRALIA

The -300 and -400 versionsof the 737 became popular and reliable aircraft in daily service worldwide.

Steve Buntng/MAP

734 735



THE LAST OF TilE OLD GENERATIONTHE LAST OF TilE OLD GENERATION

Braathens 737-500s operated a growing regional network, includinginternationalscheduledservicesfrom

Norwayto Newcastle inthe UK. MAP MaerskAir (UK) operatedtheir new 737-500son BritishAirways-branded scheduledservicesfrom Birmingham. Via author

Maersk Airnot onlyplaced

into their Denmark-hased

1993,Maerskhad operatcd

Maersk Air (UK) Ltd . T

Maersk sBritish Connec

hetween Stockholm, Gothc

a nd me a. Ever y momin

scats arerefitted into the ca

craftoperate IT charters to s

as well as a scheduleddome

Stockholm to Umea, in no

FAL.CONA'R• •••••••••••••••••

By 19 the wedish PostOffice had pur

chased the companyto ensure control over

its important pos ta l network. A fourt h

Electra joined Falcon and the operating

hase was moved to Malmo. In 1990 the air

taxi operation was sold and i n 1991 the

Electras werereplaced with three new Boe

ing737-300QCs.

Conversion of FalconAir's 737s frompas

senger to cargoconfiguration takes less than

an hour. Every evening the aircraftare re

configured to rake up to sixteen containers

and the a ircraf t opera te mai l servi ces

S£,DPA

•••••••• ••••••BRITISH AIRWAYS ~ ~ : : < i i

fleet into its ranks, moreof the aircraft were

Ica'ied out on contractsof \'arying lengths.

Sweden's Postal 'QCs'

In the 1960s, Falcon Air was founded at

Gothenhurgand flew as an air taxi compa

ny with a fleet of Cessna, Piper and

Beechcraftlight aircraft.The small compa

ny's operat ions were transformed in 1986

when the first of a fleet ofthree Lockheed

Electra freighter turho-props entered ser

vice on cargo and mail-carrying contracts.

The convertible 'ac' 737-300s ofFalconAir operate passengerflights by day and carrySweden'smail at

night. AViaton Hobby Shop

division was not part of the Braathens pur

chase and eventual ly ceased operat ions.

A fleet of Boeing 737-2 was included

in the inventory ofTime Air weden,which

also operated much largerTri tar. and DC-

s. Time Air weden opera ted IT chart ers

from weden and Finland hetween March

1991 and Fehruary 1993, when flights were

suspendedfollowing financial prohlems.

The candinavian region's hugest carri

er, the multinational Scandinavian Air

lines System, c am e t o operate the 737

almost in passing. Long known for operat

ing a large fleet of DC-9s on its European

regional services,SAS took overthe oper

ations of Swedish domestic carrier, Linje

flyg, in 1993. Linjeflyg had flown a purely'

domest ic scheduled service network in

Swedensince 1957 and utilizeda largefleet

of Fokker F2 s. In late 1990-early 1991,howe\u, the airline had taken delivery of

a numher of leased Bocing 737-500s.

As well as the domestic scheduled

flights, the 737-500salso operated charters

for Linjeflyg to Malaga, Rome and Zakyn

thos. No less than ten were dclivered to

L injd lyg and the last two direct to AS

after the takeO\'er. Prior to the merger, two

aircraft were suhleased to LOT, the Polish

a ir li ne. As A tr ie d to assimilate the ncw

Scandinavian Expansion

Braarhens certainly appreciated the eries

500's capahilities as a c ri es 2 00 r ep la ce

ment. The Norwegian carrier had already

placed f ive eri cs 400s i nt o 'en 'icc on IT

chart ers and hus ie r schedul ed servi ces

hetween i t. more impor tan t point. The

Braathens cries 500fleet was toeventually

grow to twenty-oneaircraft,ousting the last

of thei r Serics 200s. In neighhouring Den

mark, Maersk used the Series 500to expand

its scheduled network,especially from Dan

ish regionalpointssuch as Billund, as wcll as

finding ita useful aircraftfor its long-estah

lished charter and leasing husiness.

Braathens hadexpandedout of the Nor

wegianmarket in 1996 when the company

a cqui re d a 50 p er cent interest in Tran

swede Airways of Stockholm. Transwcdeoperateda networkof scheduled services as

well as char te rs, w it h a f leet of Fokker

F100s. Braathcns later mergcd the Tran

swede schedules with another Swedishcar

rier that it had acquired, Malmo Aviation,

under the name Braathens Malmo. Tran

swede alsoflew holiday charters under the

name of Transwede Leisure, with Boeing

737-200s, -300s aml-500s, Ica'edin for the

IT contracts over the years. The Leisure

aft of the wing. The new version incorpo

rated all the largeraircraft's improvements,

including the use of t he C FM 6 engine.

Before launching the cries 500, Boeing

had actually studied an even mailer ver

sion of the 737, originally designated the

737-250. The 100-seater eries 250 fai ledto attract orders and the proposal was can

celled in 19 6, infavour of thc eries 500.

Faithful 73 7 customer, outhwest Air

lines, hecame the launch customer, even

tually taking delivery of 25 Series 500s.

Braathens, Euralair and Maersk Air soon

placed orders of their own. A Ser ies 500

was the 2,000th 737 to he del ivered, f it

tingly to the original programme's firstcus

tomer, Lufthansa, on 15 Fehruary 1991.

The aircraft was also the German airline's

100th737.

The Series 500 soon found a niche foritself in the 737 family of a ircraf t. As a

replaccment of the older c ri es 2 00 , it

couldhe seen as ideal. ot everyonewant

cd thecxtra passengercapacity of the larg

e r er ie s 300and 400. The CFM6's hetter

fuel consumption and cxtra power ovcr

the ]T8D could just as wel l he translated

into more rangc or he tte r short-runway

performance, as in to theex tra load-carry

ing ofthe higger versions.

736 737



G-OBME wasin service with British Midland for only amatter of mo

seven ded on board it inthe Kegworthcrash. Via author

AIR2000

••• ••••••

formed when Birmingham based-Brymon

European Airways was 'de-merged' into its

original constituent parts, Brymon Airways

and Birmingham European Airways. The

two airl ines had been jo ined i n J989 , Bry

mon having opera te d s cheduled services

with a f leet of De Havilland Canada DHC

8 turbo-props from Plymouth and Bristol,

and Birm ingham European operating a

scheduled network from Birminghamwith a

fleet mostlycomprised of BAC One-Eleven

jets. The merger had not been a success,

with both units still maintaining largelysep

arateoperations.

Instead, Maersk Air, already a minority

shareholder, bought out t he Birmingham

based h al f o f Brymon European. Th e

southwest-based division, the original Bry

mon Airways, reverted to its oldname and

was bought out by Brit ishAirways. Jt wenton t o opera te its scheduled routes as a

wholly owned 'franchise ' carrier i n BA' s

name. MaerskAir (UK)'saircraft also took

up British Airways l iv er y, a s a contracted

'franchise' ca rr ie r , f ly ing f rom Binning

ham. Th e Danish parent company trans

ferred several Series 500s to the UK ser

vice to replace the old One-Elevens. As

wel l a s operating the BA flights, M<'lersk

Air (UK) ' s a i rc r af t a r e a ls o u se d fo r IT

charter work, in their own right.

British Midland's

Boeing Twins

UK independent airline, British Midland

Airways,was to becomethe maincustomer

for SAS's excess 737-500 capacity. After a

THE LAST OF THEOLD GENERATION

briefperiod in the early 1970s, when a trio

of new BAC One-Elevens were operated,

BMA had preferred to operate turbo-prop

aircraft on i ts largely domestic network.

Th e One-Elevens had been disposed of as

too expensive for BMA's then modest net

work. For some years af ter , apart f rom a

numbe r o f second-hand 707s f lown on

charter and leasing contracts, the airline

stuck to propelleraircraft. Th e Vickers Vis

count, a long with a handful of Dart Her

alds, Fokker E27s or Shor ts turbo-prop

types over the ensuing years, formed the

backbone of the airline'sfleet.

A s in gl e l ea se d DC- 9 b rought t h e jet

back to BMA's scheduled network in 1976.

Routeexpansion into moremajordomestic

services and the eventual openingof a larg

er international presence from London to

Europe saw moresecond-hand DC-9s joining the carrier. Th e first appearance of737s

with British Midland t it le s w as i n 1 98 7,

with the delivery of the airline's first Series

300, for opera tionon the busierroutes from

London-Heathrow. LeasedSer ies 200s also

operated briefly and BMA's first Series 400

wasplaced into service in late 1988.

As the British Midland 737 f leet grew,

the type was seen increasingly on scheduled

services from other b as es , a s w el l as an

expanded IT charter programme. I n addi

t i on to flying ITcharters on behalfofBMA,

spare 737 capacity was sub-chartered to

other carriers, in particular Air 2000, a n I T

charter carrier tha t then operated Boeing

757s and Airbus A320s of its own.

A ir 2 00 0 h ad actually l ea sed a single

Series 300, C-KKUH, f rom ILFC for the

summer season of 1989, and optionswe re

taken out on two 737-400s . Howeve r,

before confirming the order, Air 2000

decided on the Airbus A320 as i ts smaller

jet to supplement the 757s. Coincidental

ly, C-KKUH went on to be leaseu t o both

Linjeflyg, as SE-DLA 'Vaermland II' dur

i ng 1 99 0, and British Midland, as C

OBML (w ith whom it of te n opera te d A i r

2000 sub-charters) , f rom 1991 to 1997.

The increased use of the 737s soon leu to

the gradual runuown and disposal o f t he

DC-9 fleet and the first of the ex-Lin/SAS

Series 500swas l eased inby BMA in 1993.

Aer Lingus Fleet Update

Th e Series 500 was taken up by Aer Lin

g us a s replacement for the ir long-serving

Series 200. Having already replaceu theleased Ser ies 300s w i th larger 400 series

737s on thei I' busier routes, the Irish

national carrier neeu a lower capacity air

craft on its European network. The ageing

Series 200s woulu soon fall foul of envi

ronmental regulations, as woulu the air

line's quar tet o f BAC One-E levens tha t

hadbeen i n u se even longer than the 737

2 00 s. In f ac t, the 737 -200 s h ad b ee n

intended to replace the One-Elevens, but

the British je tshau continueu in use, f inu

ing a useful n icheon Aer Li ngus'sless busy

routes and as back-ups to the 737s.

Th e arrival o f t he 737-500s saw the

swift ueparture of the remaining 737-200s

and One-Elevens. I t a ls o s aw t he e nd o f

all-cargo and 'combi' services, with the

departure of the last 'QC' 737-200s. Fromthen on, t he airline's cargo was carried in

,

THELAST OF THE OLD GENERATION

Tragic lessons at Kegworth

Soon after the first pair of Seres400s entered BMAservice, the first aircraft, G-OBME. ground. Even more bad luckcame their way as, instead of open coun

crashed at Kegworth, while attempting an emergencylanding at BMAs homebase at havemade the crash moresurvivable, directly in the stricken 737-4

East Midlands Airport. The aircraft was operatng flight BD092, an evening scheduled M1 motorway.

flight from London/Heathrow to Belfast. Whie flying 20 nautcal mies southeast of After it struck thegroundand smashedthrough a fence, the aircraft

East Midlands, passengers andcabin crew notced smoke entering the cabin through on totheman carrageway ofthe motorway and contnuedacross it.

the air conditioning, as well as sparks coming out ofthe left engine. The flght-deck fortune there were no vehicles directy inthe aircrafts path as it carr

crew,CaptKevn Hunt and FlO Davd McCleland, alsonotced thesevere vibration and into the others de, finally coming to rest. its fuselage shattered,tow

smel o f smoke. Ashe disengaged the auto-pilot and took control of the aircraft, t he embankment.For ty -seven of the 118 passengersper shed in thecrash

Captain asked which enginewas causing theproblem. By an appalng seres of mis- havebeenmuch hgher,but fortunately there was no post-crash fre d

understandings thewrong engine, the right-hand one,was switched off. ofleakng fuelaroundthearea.As adirect resultofthe accident.emer

Declarng an emergency and turning towards East Midlands Airport, the piots redesgned, with more emphass on cockpit/cabin communicaton pro

attempted toincrease power on the left enginewhen the lowered landing gearcaused

more drag. They were genuinelyalarmed to fnd it gave no response and it wastoo late

to attempt to restart the rght-hand, serviceableengine. With the runway agonizingly

in sight andlned up, the aircraft wasunable tomaintain height and glded towards the

Boeing 737s, including -300 G-OBMA, eventually replaced DC-9s with British Midland Airways. MAP

738

G-KKUH was intended to be the first ofmany 737-300s operated by Air 2000 on European ITs. However, the

airline elected to orderAirbus A320s instead. Via author

739



THE LAST OFTHE OLD GENERATION THE LAST OFTHE OLD GENERATION

Boeing 737-200QCs, opera

chartersand scheduled ser

of Air France andAir Inter

reverting to cargo/mail op

night. After sl ightly rework

name to In te r C ie l Servi

more attractive to customer

work, the company name w

LAeropostale as more n ig

contractsweretransferred f

a nd A ir Inter. The L'Ae

grew to accommodate the i

load, with no less than fiftee

'QC' vers ions wit h l arge

opera ti ng t he ex tensi ve

cargo/postal network.

The owners of EAShad a

in the creation ofAir Toulo

operated Caravcl les briefly

newfinancing led to the app

Toulouse [nternational in 1

ex-EAS Caravel les. A sing

200 , a lso ex-EAS, eventu

from the Caravel les and a

s ionsawsix i nuse by the su

The expansion provedto be

Air Toulouse International

bankrup t i n June 1999. S

namechange followed refi

charters began under t he na

July 1999, withfour 737-30

The French 'Combis'

remaining seventeen aircraft were quickly

put t o use alongside the established Series

200s on t he European and domesti c net

work. However, Air France had also ordered

a large fleet o f t h e Boeing 737's rival, the

Airbus A320,instead ofthe larger737 vari

ants, and the Europeantypewassoon tofind

favour with the airline. [n 1997, Air France

absorbed the large, Airbus-oriented, fleet of

Air Inter (that had already been renamed

Air France Europe),and the Boeingsbegan

to beseriously outnumbered.

Before i ts demise, EAShad participated in

the establishment of a newspecialist oper

ator. Along with Air In te r and Transport

Aerien Transregional, EAS formed Inter

Cargo Service. Operating a p ai r of Van

guard freighter turbo-props, Inter Cargo

had opened scheduled freight services in

1987, f ly ing from Par is t o Toulouse, for

TAT,and toMarsei lles and othersouthern

Frenchtowns,for AirInterand AirFrance.

The Vanguard operat ion came to a tragic

end though, whenboth aircraftwere lost in

crashes within weeks of each other in 1989.

lCS wasreorganized though and restart

ed operations with a pai r of ex-Lufthansa

l " ' A EROPOSTA l E

independent , AOM French Airlines. Star

Europeleased two Boeing737-400sin the

winter season of 1996/97, but they were

replaced bytwo newAirbus A320s int ime

for the 1997 summer season. Corsair ini

tially operated 737-200s to supplement

their original Caravclle fleet, later replac

ing themwith largerSeries 300and -400s.

Air France i tself also took delivery of

a fleet of Series 500s, the first arriving in

1991. The original order for twenty Series

500s was l at er reduced by three , bu t the

F-GIXI hadbeen convertedto 'QC' configurationfor L'Aeropostale afterflying with AerLingus, Futuraand

Viva. Steve Buntng

Acromaritime was the non-scheduled sub

sidiary of UT A ( Un io n de Transports

Aeriens), Air France's arch rival on long

haul routes. Aeromaritime operated a large

fleet ofboth 73 7-300sand -400s on itsEuro

pean and orth African charter network.

UTA was purchased by Air France in 1991

and its fleet,and thatof Aeromaritime, was

eventually absorbed by Air France and Air

Charter. In 1992 Europe Aero Service flew

six 737s, both Series 200s and -500s, four

Caravel les and four Boeing 727s, on IT

charters and a rapidly increasing scheduled

network. However, EAS later ceased opera

tions, following financial problems.

Charter operatorsCorsair, Minerve and

Star Europe a lso f lew the 73 7 on the

French registry. Minerve was later merged

with Air Outre Mer to form a new, large,

programmes, Euralairoperateda number of

services on behalf o f A ir France's non

scheduled subsidiary, Air Charter. Air

France also leased in Euralair's 73 7s for its

own scheduled services and as a result ,

Euralair'saircraftoften wore variouscombi

nations of livery and joint titles.

A similar arrangement was contracted

by Air France with French independent

carriers, Acromaritime and Europe Aero

Service, for the use of their 73 7 fleets.

Aeromarit ime Ul I••••••••••

family, with A320sand A319s being ear

marked to eventually replace the remain

ing Boeing 737s.

More French Interest

Euralair, a French IT charter operator, had

operated the Series 200beforetakingdeliv

ery of i ts f irst Ser ies 500 in June 1990. [n

addit ion to its own charter and scheduled

\\''''

the holds o f th e passenger configured

fleets, or contracted-in freighter aircraft.

However, Aer Lingus's apparent faith

fulness to Boeing came toan endwi t h t he

introduction of Airbus A321s in the late

1990s. Airbus A330 wide-bodied airliners

had already replaced long-serving Boeing

747s on the airline's trans-Atlantic routes

from 1994. The successful introductionof

Airbus A321s eventually led to orders for

more examples o f t he Airbus short-haul

AerLingus 737-500s displacedthe lastof the long-serving -200s on the Ir ish carrier 's

European and domestic routes. Steve Buntng

~ u a sa..................

Boeing 737-3005 servedAeromaritime on Paris-based charter fl ights unti l the fleet was absorbed by AirFrance. Steve Buntng .

140 141



The Series 500 in th e USA

Although outhwes t A ir l ine h ad b ee n a

launch customer for the Series 500, there

was little other 'home market ' in terest in

the variant. One of the few majorcustomers

o f t h e 737-500 in the SA was 737 pio

neering operator, nited Airlines. The fir t

of an even tua l fleet of fifty-seven o f t he

smallerCFM56-powered737 enteredUnit

ed se rv ic e in la te 1990. n it edhada l r eady

taken delivery of the eries 300, of which

over 10 were eventually to be delivered.

The new 737 s ope ra ted a long side a f le et

of Airbus A32 s, later joined by slightly

smaller A321s, and a dwindling number of

fuel-th irsty Boeing 727-200s, operating

THELAST OF THEOLD GEl ERATION

times o f t he PeoplExpress takeover and

regular lapses into bankruptcy protection

haddone l i t tle to enhance the reputation

of theairlinewith the travelling public, let

alone the rest of the industry.

I twas to tak ea changeof ownership and

management to begin the turnround, but

new initiatives and policy changes finally

started to see Continental mak in g a r e

markable comeback from the mid-1990s.

The much criticized entrepreneur Frank

Loren:o, who had masterminded the origi

nal Continental(Texas Internationalmerg

er, sold mostofhis direct and indirect hare

holdings in Continental in 1990. The new

management team, led by new CEO Gor

don Bethune, concentrated on restoring

the eastern halfof the country, again aimed

at regaining lost traffic. eitherof the'new'

carrierswasa succe s and both were eventu

ally reabsorbed into the mainstream airline.

The 737-500 order was part of a massive

re-equipment plan, designed to see the dis

posal of the older, les reliable and uneco

nomic types. Continental Airlines' short

h au l n etwo rk was hampered by b ei ng

operated by a mixed bag of variants of sev

eral d ifferent airliner types, and badly in

need of standardization. The ex-Lufthansa/

PeoplExpress 73 7-I 0 were among the tar

geted fleet members, with the eries 500s

meant to replace them and older DC-9s as

soon as possible. Larger737 models, as well

as Boeing 757s, were also on o rd er with a

THE LAST 01' THEOLD GE:-<ERATIO

Southwestexpanded itsinfluenceacrossthe USA, especial lyin California, with three of itsbusyfleet

capturedhere at San Diego. Malcolm L. Hi

The 737 still featuredheavilyin AmericaWest'sprogramme, despite increaseduse ofAirbustypes inthe

Phoenix-basedairline's fleet. Aviaton HobbyShop

short and medium-haul inter-city services

throughout United's domes tic U netwo rk .

As well as providing invaluable local com

munications, the short-haul fleet fed pas

sengers into United's growing international

route system. Once replaced by the later

737 and Airbuses, the last o f t h e original

,cries 200 were finally disposed of after

over thirty years of faithful service.

Continental A irl ineswas the only other

major US customer for the Series 500. For

many years after its emergence from the

'merger-mania' of the 19 Os Continental

had t rugg led to survive. Long-running

labour-relation problems, the unsettled

Continental's long-suffering reputation as a

reliablecarriersupplyinga quality service to

i ts passengers. More emphasis was placed

on higher revenue business-class traffic,

w ith a IPW 'Business First' service initially

introduced on transoceanic flights.

Innovative promotions included the

a t temp t t o form new divisions, separate

from the mainstreamContinental Airlines

operation. 'Continental West' was orga

nized to take over the western network

and regain traffic lost t o a n increasingly

omnipresent Southwe t Airlines, and other

new lost-cost carrier. Later, 'Continental

Lite' tookovermore leisure-related routesin

142

viewto eventually replacing the remaining

Boeing 727s and McDonnell Douglas DC

9s and MD-80s over the following years.

Southwest and America

West Go Nationwide

Much more popular in the U A was the

Series 300, with Southwest Airlines, in par

ticular, using the type to service itsmassive

expansion through the late 19 Os and

1990s. In 1994, outhwet had acquired

Morris Air, which operated a fleet of 737

300s. Morris Air, which began services in

1992, was based a t Sa lt Lake Cityand flew

low-cost services throughout the western

U A. The purchase of their fleet and route

network gave Southwest a greatly increased

presence in the region. The airline's influ

ence in California was boosted even more

by the openingof a hubat Los Angeles/Bur

bank and Southwest Airline's success was

said to account for the progressivereduction

of service in the-area by Air and Delta.

The two national carriers had spent a

lot of money increasing their own ali

fornian profile by buying o ut PSA an d

Western respectively and their reduction

of Californian services was a major com

mercial v ictory for outhwes t. ou thwes t

irlines also expanded to the north and

east, developing new operational hubs at

hicago/Midway and Baltimore, far from

its Texan roots. ew high-frequency ser

vices linking Florida point replaced asim

ilar network previously flown by Piedmont

but later neglected by S Ai r.

Southwest's 737-500s eventually re

placed the oldest of the airline's 737-200s,

a l though ove r thi r ty 'Advanced' JT D-

powered Series 200s still remained in the

fleet. However, it was with the 737-30 that

Southwest based theirprosperity,with near

ly 200 of the variant in the all-73 7 fleet of

over 300 operational aircraft by the year

2 00.

Fellow low-cost operator, America West

Airlines, a lso expanded well outside its

geographical origins. De pite operating a

fleetrelying less on th e 737, with 757s and

Airbus types taking o n a n increasing per

centage of the workload, America We t

was still f lying over sixty 737-200s and

-300s in 2000. Although stillfirmly rooted

in the west, with major hubs at Phoenix

and Las Vegas, America West also opened

a base at Columbus, Ohio. The new hub

was opened to serve routes further east, as

we ll a southwards to Florida, and also

l in ke d up w it h the more western-based

services. A code-share agreement with

Continental Airlines also gave America

West acces' to more Texan markets, v ia

ontinental's Houston hub.

Western Pacific and

the'LogoJets'

ndoubtedly o ne o f t he mos t colourful

Southwest imitators firstmade itspresence

well and truly known when i t burst o n t o

t he US airline scene in 1995. Western

Pacific Airlines was originally formed to

exploit the under-used Colorado prings

Airport. Denv r s n ew airport is sitednear

ly forty miles from the city centre, to the

north. Residents south of Denver found it

much more convenien t to usc Colorado

Spring's closer facility. As Denver fares

were traditionally high, no t helped by a

local surcharge imposed on every ticket to

143

help pay for the new airp

Springswasa low-cost airlin

to happen.

We tern Pacific 's founde

Beauvais, had a long history

with regional carriers in the

t he USA. Originally an

Bonanza Airlines, one o f t h

West components, Beauvai

to run his own consultancy

became involved ina propo

tal-Western merger. Beauv

ing membe r o f t he group

America West Ai rl ine s a s

based airline's chairman unt

One innovation that cau

ling public's attention from

Western Pac if ic 's 'LogoJet

Although the idea of using

advertising purposes was no

there had been several spo

and regional promotional

preceding years- actually s

liner as a f ly ing b il lbo ard w

on the theme. First custome

the revenue-boosting mea

Broadmoor, a five-star Col

resort hotelowned by Edwa

a major investor in Wester

lines. The Broadmoor was

by Colorado Tech, a tech

Even the city of Colorado

promoted itself using o ne o

aircraft. Most dramatic was



TilE LAST OFTHE OLD GENERATIO,TilE LAST OF TilE OLD GENERATION

••••••••••N303FL

design featuring the natur

scenery of America'sWest.

Despite growing pains, Fr

survived, carrying2.56 millio

only itsthird year. The rout

encompassedboth coasts,fro

Bos ton, a ll point s s erved v

hub . I t was Front ier that h

merging with troubledWest

wisely backed out of the deal.

another low-costscheduled

tor, Vanguard Airlines, took

shareholding in Frontier.Va

a similar network, albeil on

Founded to take advantage ofContinental

Airline's drastic downsizing of its once

substantial Denver pr sellCe, Frontier

operated an initial f1eet of Boeing 737

200s, la ter joined by - 30 0s . A " we ll as

reviving t henameof t he region ' still well

respected pioneer local carrier, Frontier

made a name for itselfin its own right with

its eye-catching livery. Although the fuse

lage remained plain white, with only the

airline's t i tle and it' motto, 'The pirit of

the West' , i t was raised from the mundane

by the ta il design. Each aircraft 's ta il sur

face was painted with a different graphic

In Ju ly 1994, a n ew Frontier Airlines had

started scheduled operations from Denver.

A New Frontier

Theattractive tail designs of Frontier's 737s areunique to eachindividual aircraft,depicting flora,fauna

andthe geographyof the American West. Steve Buntng

desperate move, Peiser moved the opera

t io n t o Denver's new International Air

port, which put i t i n d ir ec t competition

with several industrygiants.Western Pacif

ic did not stand a chance. After an abortive

merger attempt with another carrier,We"t

ern Pacific Airlines was closed down on 4

February 1998.

I I . :

(Above) WesternPacificadopteda moresoberl iveryoncethe logojet

programmewas cancelled. Aviaton Hobby Shop

(Top) Fox Television rented space on Western Pacific's 737-300s. Aviaton Hobby

Shop

--------

Television of t he space on ex-USAir 737

300, N949Wr. Fox had Western Pacific

pain t t he aircraft wilh its popular televi

sion cartoon characters 'The Simpsons'.

F rom 2 A pr il 1995 , Western Pacific'sf1eet of 737-300s linked Colorado Springs

with Kansas City, LasVegas, LosAngeles,

Oklahoma Cityand Phoenix. San Francis

co joined the network in May, and Chica

go/Midway, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston,

Indianapolis, ewYork/Newark,San Diego,

eartle , Tulsa, Washington-Dulles and

Wichita were a ll added by t heend of the

yea r a s more a ir c ra ft became available.

The Logo]et programme was expanded

w it h t he swi ft ly g rowing, a ll 737-300

equipped f1eet. everal Colorado ski resorts,

Las Vegas casinos, car-hire companies and

insurance firms all willingly laid out large

fees for the privilege of having their name

o n t he side of a Western PaCific airliner.

There werea handful of aircraftoperated in

a 'standard'Western Pacificlivery, as well as

on mos tly narural metal 737 thar pro

claimed the a ir line 's a im to help i ts cus

tomers 'Beat the System'.

At i ts peak Western Pacific was operar

ing no less rhan eighteen Boeing 737-300s.

As wel l as providing a much-needed

increase in passenger figures for Colorado

Springs in its own right, Western Pacific's

succe'sat t racted other airlinesback to the

airport, anxious to claim their share of the

available traffic.

End of theDream

However, although i ts h igh-profile and

unique style of service was attracting pas

sengers, Western Pacific Airlines was far

f rom p ro fi t ab le . Eventua l ly the main

investors grew impatient forprofits and, at

t heend of 1996, installed a new manage

ment team. Beam'ais remained chairman,

but withlittle orno authori ty and no inf1u

ence over the new managers. The new

team was headed by Robert Peiser, who

promptly scrapped the Logo]et programme,

in an at tempt to attract a more business

oriented, higher-revenue, customer to the

airline. Employee morale and service tan

dards plummeted asdebtsbuiltup . Ina lastAlaskaAirlines had spreadits influence over routesfar removed from itsnorthernorigins.A largefleet of

737-400s was acquired, with MD-80s,to servicethe expandednetworks. Steve Buntng

744 745



THE LAST OFTHE OLD GENERATION

The 737 and the Southwest'Wannabes'

as wel and its route network soon stretched as farnorth as New Yor

ing a loya folowing, the airlne ceased operatons in 1997, folow

Pro-Airwas establshedwith ahead office in Seatte in 1995. How

much further east that the newairlinemade aname for itself.when

atons finally began in July 1997.Pro-Airset up its manhubatDetro

airport, putting two new 737-400s into service on a low-fare netwo

included Atlanta, Baltmore, Chcago, Indianapols, New York, Ora

and Seatte. An extra 737-400 and twosmaler 737-300s aso joine

craft pair as service was expanded. However, in 2000, Pro Air h

removed by thefederal authorities, citng operatonal and maintenan

and al operatons were brought to ahalt

Even shorter-lved was Los Angeles/Long Beach-basedWinairAir

Rchard I Winwood, Winair was originaly based at Salt Lake City as

When 'scheduled' services began from Long Beach in 1998, theyw

designated as 'direct-sales charters'. The f leet of 737-200s, later

Seres 300s and 400s, operated from Long Beach to Las Vegas, Oak

and Salt Lake Cty. However, after only eight months of 'scheduled'o

lne ceased operatons in July 1999, citing lack of investment as thec

cial difficulties.

Air Souths short-lived operationutilized 737-200s on a busy schedule

coast. Malcolm L. H

The spread of the low-cost carrer, worldwide as well as inthe USA. hasformed amajor

part ofthe storyof the 737 in the last years of the twentieth century and beginning of

thenext. The contnued success ofSouthwest Airlnes, AmercaWest, andothers,did

not go unnotced. Therewere many willing tosink their reputatons andmoney into the

newstyleofair travel. However, as always in thetough commercialworld, there were

as many, if not more, faiures as successes.

Of the enthusiastc exploiters of deregulaton, the previouslymentoned Air Florda,

MidwayAirl nes, Presidental Airways, Sunword InternatonalAirways andWestern

Pacifc were onlysome of the unlucky hopefuls thatfel by the wayside. The lkes of

AirCal, Morris Ar ,New York Air and PeopExpress were at least taken over as going

concerns, with most of theiremployeeshavng somesort of future tolook forward to.

Other enthusiastc workforces were less fortunate.

Eastwind Airlnes, based at Greensboro, North Carolna and Trenton, New Jersey

began operatons in 1995. The second-hand Boeng 737-200s were later joined by

brand new later versions on a network that covered routesfromFlordato New Eng

land. Owned by UM Holdings, Eastwind initially enjoyed local success, especialy at

Trenton,with many of its passengers switching fromnearby, butovercrowded, Newark

and Phiadelphia Airports. Unfortunately, the eary traffic growth coud not be main

tainedand, after UM Holdings supported the airline while an unsuccessfulb d wasmadeto fnd a buyer, the airlne operaton was closed down in 1999.

Another 1995start-up was Air South, that began operatonswith leased Boeng737

200s, operatng a low-costnetwork fromCoumba, South Carona. Initially fying south

wards toF orda cites va points in Georga, Air South eventualy turned its eyes north

M N U ~II I I I II I I •• • I I. I I"

THE LAST OF THEOLD GENERATION

MarkAirfai led in its attempt to rival the giantAlaskaAirl ines. Steve Buntng

from KansasCity, butany full merger plans

between the two were later abandoned .

Vanguard's own re-equipment plans took

the form of l ea sing in MD-80 s to rep la e

their much older Boeing 737-200 aircraft.

Although very atisfied withitsail-Boe

ing 737 fleet, withseven -200s and seven

teen -300sin service in2001, FrontierAi r-

lines chose not to orde r new versions to

replace them. Instead, in October 1999, it

announced an order for two Airbus type"

the l l4-passenger A31 and 132-passen

ger A319. Forty-six orders and opt ions

were taken o ut o n th e two types , w i th

planned delivery for la te 200 I.

More 49th State 7375

Alaska Airlines had operated a handful of

737-200salongside its Boeing 727s for sev

eral years. However, with the tri-jetbecom

ingmore of an economic liability, the 737

beganto feature more in the airline\, future

plans. The car ri er h ad s tar t ed to expand

wel l out side i ts t r ad it ion al Seattle and

Alaska-oriented markets since acquiring

California-based Jet America Airlines in

19 7. The takeover o f t he Los Angcles

based airline gave Alaskaaccessto a much

more southern-based marker. This formed

the basis of a route expansion programme

that now saw the airline operating as far

south as Mexico, as well as rou te s f rom a l

ifornia to the mid-west. Jet America had

been in ex i tence ince 19 1 and operated

eight MD- O. More o f t he McDonnell

Douglas twin-jets were acquired by Alaska

Airlines following the takeover. As well as

the MD- Os though, Alaska eventually

acquired no le s than forty ofthe largerBoe

ing 737-400s, to replace the last 727-200s.

Despite the bankruptcyofWien Air Alas

ka, another operator stepped in to replace

them in the busier domestic Alaskan mar

kets. MarkAir had originally been founded

as a specialist cargo operator, Interior Air

ways. Later renamed Alaska International

Air, the airline became famou for itsworld

wide ad hoc charter services wi th its fleet of

LockheedHerculesfreighters. Five convert

ible737-200sinitially opened scheduledpas

senger services from Anchorage to several

points in Alaska. The first 737s were later

joined by anotherSeries200C, two737-300

and three 737-400s. The route network was

extended sou th to inc lude Chicago , Las

Vegas, Los Angeles , e \\ ' York, Portland,

an Diego , an Francisco and cattle.

Unfortunately, the company wassoon losing

moneyonthe newservice andfinallyceased

operationsin 1992.

MoreWorldwide Presence

The CFM 56-powered 73 7 versions were as

popular worldwide as their JT8-D predeces

sors. In South America, the large 737-200

fleer- ofCruziero and VARIG wereamalga

mated when the two airlines were merged

under the VARIG name in 1993. Over thir

ty 737-300s eventually jo ined the fleet,

operating over the vast regional and domes

tic Brazilian network. VARIG subsidiary,

Rio ul took delivery of a fleet of 737-500s,

as well as a singleSeries300. Rival Braziliancarrier, VASP, also supplemented its Series

200 with 737-300s. ao Paulo-basedinde

pendent, Transbrasil began replacing their

Boeing 727-100s with 737-300s from 1986.

In Africa, Kenya Airways supplemented

its small fleet of 737-200s with four eries

300. eighbouring Air Malawi and A ir

Tanzania both ope ra ted a ing le 737 -300

a nd A ir Afrique and Came roon Airlines

both fly small fleets of Series 300 on their

scheduled services. Further north, Egyptair

replaced their eries 200swith cries 500s,

as well as introducing Airbus A320s and

A321s. orth African national carriersAir

Algerie, RoyalAir Maroc and Tunis Air all

supplemented or replaced their earlier 737

with CFM56-powered versions.

Pakistan International Airlines in tro

duceda fleet of Boeing 737-300s on domes

tic and regional flights , f ill ing a niche

between the wide-bodied international

fleet of Airbus and Boeing types, and the

turbo-prop Fokker E27s and Twin Otters

flown on localservices.The Indian Airlines

Corpora t ion had chosen to replace their

737-200s with Airbus A320s and passed

many of t he surplus Boeings on to a n ew

subsidiary, AllianceAir, which operates the

aircraft on low-costdomest ic services.

Malaysia Airlines had remained faithful

to the 737, introducinga largefleet ofSerie-

300s, along with several Se

trio of smaller Series 500s. N

independent airline, Transm

al so o pe ra te s ev er al o l

Although Singapore Air l

longer operated the Boe in

sidiary Tradewinds operated

from 1990. Tradewinds' nam

t o S il ka ir i n 1 99 2 and t he

746 747



Behind the 'Bamboo Curtain' THE LAST OF THEOLD GENERATION

Brazi l's majordomestic operators, VASP and VARIG

were long-establ ished operators o f the 737 on their

regional services. Both picturescourtesy ofSteve

Buntng

Although remaining firmly underCommunist control. mainland Chna began amajor

programme ofregionalzaton of itsairline operatons in the mid-1980s. Unt then,the

Civ AviatonAdministrationof Chna (CMC) hadbeen solely responsiblefor theoper

aton of Chnasvast domestc and international network. CMC hadoperated a large

fleet comprsing amixture of both Western-designedand Russian-produced airlners.

Many ofits more importantdomestc schedules wereflown by a fleet of Hawker Sd

deleyTrdent jet airlners,bought fromthe United Kngdomin the eary 1970s.

CMC's first Boengshadcomprsed anorderforten Boeng 707s, for use on the inter

natonalnetwork, placed after the USAand thePeopes Republc of Chna signed trade

agreements for the first tme snce theCh neseCommunists hadcome to power. Boe

ing 737-200s had entered service in 1983, originally imported tobegn the replacement

of some of the remaining Russan typessuch as the IL-18 turbo-prop andTu-154 jet

CMC aso acquired anumber of McDonnel DougasMD-80s,including some actualy

buit underlcence inChna.McDonnel Dougas had originaly hoped to establsh apro

ducton lne for the MD-80seres in Chna and provdedparts for severa aircraft after an

agreementwas reachedwith loca manufacturers.However, in theevent,only ahandful

were completed before the project was abandoned.Boeng, though, sgned contracts

with Chnesecompanes for theconstructon of aircraft components.Factores in Cheng

du, Chongqng, Shangha, Shenyang and Xanare now majorsubcontractors for Boeng.

The dissolution of CMC into smalercarrers was preceded by the creaton of a

new independent carrer,Shanghai Airlnes, originally founded bythe local municipal

government. However, al the other 'new' Chnese domestc airlnes were created from

t he od regional divisions of CMC. A 'Big Three group of Chnese airlnes soon

emerged, with Air Chna, t heod CMC international division based atBei ng, Chna

Eastern based at Shanghai andCh na Southernbased at Guangzhou, easiy becoming

the biggest andmost important carrers. Nonetheless, the smaler divisionswere soon

rapidly expanding under their new freedoms, promotng theirown regional identities.

Under the newl beralzed system, even more independents were founded to take

advantage of the increasing traffic.

The first new independent toappearwas Xiamen airlnes, soon folowed by the lkes

of Shenzen Airlnes, HainanAirlnes,Wuhan Airlnes, ChnaGreatWal Corporaton and

manyothers. As well as the reassigned CMC fleet. more aircraft were imported to

equip the newcarrers,including 737sof varyingmodels,many on leasing contracts as

well as outright purchase.Amercan typesdd notenjoy amonopoly though, as sever

a Chnese airlnes opted forAirbus aircraft, and even a handful of themoremodern

Russan types, suchas the IL-86 andYak-42, made an appearance.

As in any rapidly expanding, competitive, commercial situation, both winners and

losers would soon appear. By the turn of the century thediffering fortunes ofthe new

airlnes were becoming apparent. Both 'associateagreements andmergers, of varying

degree, soon started appearng between the airlnes in an effort to minimize duplca

ton and maxmize effciency. Outright takeovers and even moremergers were soon

bengmooted tobrng the numberof airlnes downto amoremanageable state.

.-akistan

••••••••••

(Below) Pakistan International introduced a f l eet o f 737-300son to both i ts domestic and internationalroutesfrom Karachi . PIA,via author

(Above) China Southern was one of thenumerousairlines that appearedthroughout China following the dissolutionof

CAAC. Steve Buntng

(Topl CAAC's737-200s initially passed to thenew Air

China. MAP

148 149



THE LAST OFTHE OLDGENERATION THE LAST OFTHE OLD GENERATION

The 737 also formed the initial fleetof UkraineInternational Air l ines whenthe new independent was

formedto rivalthe localex-Aeroflot Directorate. Air Ukraine. Steve Buntng

Russian Revivals

Transaero, a new Moscow-

dent,not associated with th

was founded in 1993. Ini

ex-BritishAirwaysBoeing

Aviv,Transaero swiftlyexpa

Russia itself, the Ukraine,

S ta te o fEstonia, Latvia and

Ukraine International

operation with 737-200

Guinness Peat, that had a

the new a i rl ine , in 1992. I

tition with the ex-Aerof

now orerating as Air Uk

goneon toopera te 737-300

or ig in al - 200s. A ls o in

AeroSvit flies regional an

services with a fleet of 737

All the Baltic ta tesspaw

tors. Estonia Air began ope

flag carrier in 1992, eventu

737-500s, alongside a flee

turbo-props. RigaA irlines o

founded in 1992, to operate

on international and regio

airline's name was changed

but the carrier ceased orer

Lithuania's newcarrier, Lith

wasorganizedout of the old

aldirectorate, takingon itsn

days before Lithuania reg

dence . Eventua lly, Ser ie s 2

500s alljoined the Lithuanin the former R, the airline scene was

changed out of al l r ec og ni ti on . ew ly

formedrepublics wereswift to establishtheir

own national carriers and new independent

airlines also sprangup to provide comreti

tion. For the most rart,the established local

directorate of the once giant Aeroflot sim

ply broke away from the old regime and was

renamed, usually with the oldRus ian-built

f leet. Most outstanding excertions were

alairlines of Bulg::lria, theCzech Republic,

Poland, Romania and the Slovak Repub

lic. The cries 500, esrecially, seemed to

f il l a niche on their thinner routes, with

the larger models also makingan aprear

a nc e o n bus ier s ec to rs . In the C:ech

Republic the economy thrived enough to

see the es tab lishment o f new char ter air

lines. Two of the new Czech airlines, Fis

cher and Travel Service Airlines, selected

Boeing product, with the larger CFM56

737s their model of choice.

After breaking up into new republics

and federations, the former Yugoslav

nations also set about forming their own

carriers. J T began rebuilding itself as the

flag carrier ,for Serbia , bringing i ts 737

300s back into service once international

anctions were lifted. Croatia and Mace

donia a ls o p la ce d 7 37 s into service,

although Croatia Airlines later replaced

their leased 737-200s with Airbus tyres.

Break-Up of Aerof lot

rerlaced by Airbus and Fokker narrow-bod

ied tyres from 1998.

With the fall o f t h e East European Com

munist regimes in the early 1990s, a huge

market opened upfor the Western aircraft

manufacturers. Ever since t he e nd o f t h e

Second World War, most of the airlines of

the 'Iron Curtain' countries had relied on

Ru ia to provide their aircraft needs. The

factories of Antonov , Ilyushin, Tupolev

a nd o th er s, h ad p ro du ce d everal cred

itableaircraft overthe years, at reasonable

cos t to the Warsaw Pact nations.

Western aircraft hadmade some inroads

in to the Warsaw Pact countrie , although

the'e were fel\' and rarely sustained. More

liberal Yugoslavia hadoperated a Western

built fleet, starting with Convair pror-1in

ers in the 1950s. Poland's national airline,

LOT had bought Vickers Viscount turbo

rrors ::lnd Romania's TAROM ore r ated a

largefleet ofBAC One-Eleven jets,as well

as Boeing 707 on long-range flights. Hun

gary's MALEV was one of the first to

imro r t t h e 737, when e ries 200 s were

leased in as early as 19 8, to begin the

rerlacement ofTupolev Tu-134s andother

Russian tyres. Series 300, -400 and -500

737s followed the in itia l leased fleet into

MALEV service.

The later, CFM56-powered, 737 al so

found favour with the reorgani:ed nation-

East European Revolution

~ l . E V \ -\ungar\an P\\\"\""\cs

•• •••• • ••• ••• •••

Hungarvs MALEV pioneeredthe introduction ofthe 737 inservice with air l ines ofthe former communist

nations of Eastern Europe. MAP

Croatia Air l ines began operationswith Boeing 737-200s from theformerYugoslavrepublic. Malcolm L. Hi

150 151



THE LAST O F T H E OLD GENERATION

The 737-400 brought new standardsof comfortto Aeroflot'spassengers and crews

used to themore 'basic' amenitiesof Russian-buil ttypes. Aerofot

Looking to Boeing's

Other Boeingairliner prog

ed the 737 team w it h a ho

ments that could be incorp

basic aircraft to c rea te ye

oped73 7s. 0 less than five

redesigns for a newaircraft w

by Boeing. Eventually, how

sion was made to proceed wproposal that comprised a 7

more effic ient wing. The

commonality with the curr

also meant that Boeing wa

the expensive recertificatio

that was entirely new. The n

initially designated the '737

An adv isory a ir l in e g ro

with contributions from cu

One of the more surprisin

the rejection by the group

of 'Fly-By-Wire' technolog

America West, Uni te d a nd US Airways

ope ra te d t he ir A ir bu s fleets alongside

established Boeing737s. All three airlines

had a ls o p la ce d o rd er s f or the s l ighdy

smaller A318.

The Airbus threatto Boeinghad grown

f rom a mild annoyance, in the earlydays,

to a major worry. Over the years, Boeing

had suffered its share of industrial prob

lems, development and production delaysthat had also contributed to some loss of

customer confidence. Another serious

rival was the last thing Boeing needed.

Although the CFM56-powered 737

models had certa in ly gone some way to

offer some competition to Airbus , i t was

recognized that there wasstill roomfor fur

ther improvement to give Boeing back its

lead. [n particular, the 737 needed to fly

higher, faster and evenmore economically

i f i tw as t o continue to offer anycompeti

tion to Airbus.

CHAPTER TEN

The Next Generation

US Airways, as the rebranded USAir had become. wassti l l a major userofthe Boeing 737 in America.However.

the airline had alsointroduced Airbus A318s. and A320s to replace the Boeings. Malcolm L. Hi

Higher, Faster - and Cheaper!

By the I990s, the increasing threat to

Boeing's market-base by the European

Airbus consortium was causing a great

deal of concern in Seattle. The A320

model in particular, Airbus's nearest rival

mod el t o t he 7 37 , w as s el li ng i n great

numbers to airlines that had traditionally

considered Boeing first. Not surprisingly,the European carriers began to favour the

Airbuses. Air France , Br it i sh Airway s,

Luf thansa and Sabena were among the

once loyal 737 customers that c ho se t o

replace thei r o lder models with A irbus

products.

Export sales, valuable as they were, were

one thing, buteven in the USA itself large

fleets of AirbusA320s werebeing flown on

domestic routes. America West Airlines,

Northwest Airlines, United A irl ines and

US Airways operated the largest numbers.

The decision to offer the CFM56-powered

versions of the 737had proveda greatsuc

cess,as well as giving the wholeprogramme

a much-needed new lease of l ife. Howev

er, the competition, especiallyfrom Airbus

[ndustrie, wasstill increasingly eating into

Boeing's sales figures. Yet more improve

ments were needed to get Boeingback on

t op . I t wa s t im e t o move on again t o t h e

next step, to the nextgeneration.

further modified to Aeroflot-Russian Air

lines in June 2000, to emphasize the air

line's commitment to deve lop ing its

domestic and CIS services, as well as its

continued international presence.

Aeroflot became a 73 7 operator in

1998, leasing in the first of an initial fleet

o f t en Bermudan-registered Boeing 737

400s. The 737s were introduced onto the

European network, as well as the more

important domestic and regional services

th roughou t the CIS. Over 130 destina

tions in seventy countries a re served. [n

2001, as well as the ten 737-400s, Aeroflot

operates a modern fleet that includes two

Boeing777s,four Boeing767s, eleven Air

bus A310s and a single DC-lO, as well as

over seventy Russian airliners.

To the Future

(Above) Aeroflot Russian Air l inesheralded ina

new era with theBoeing 737-400. Aerofot

were reorganized as Aeroflot-Russian [nter

national Airl ine s , a n ew joint-stock com

p an y i n 1 99 2. The Russian government

s ti ll h e ld 51.17 per c e nt o f t h e stock, the

rest of the shareho lding b ei ng h el d by

Aeroflot's employees. The old Moscow

based Aeroflot international scheduled

operations were taken under the new carri

er's remit, as were routes throughout Russ

ian territory and to other former members

of the USSR, now theCommonweal th of

IndependentStates (ClS). The name was

Boe in g 7 57 s i n i ts f le et . Unfortunately,

Transaero came close to becoming a v ic

tim of its own success, as route expansion

and other costs soon started outstripping

i ts revenue. Painful downsizing and reor

ganization fol lowed a ncar-bankruptcy;

however, by 2000, the revitalized carrier

had recovered enough to be serving more

than th ir ty domes tic and international

points with a fleet of 737-200s.

The airline operat ions tha t remained

under the Aeroflot-Soviet Airlines name

152 153



To EFIS Or Not EFIS

Another innovation Boei

include in the 'NextGener

new avionics and night-dec

developed for other aircraf

airliner range. ot all the

tomers wanted the new-st

though. Southwest, especia

remain with EFIS (electron

ment sys tem) , a s f i t te d to a

since all but the very fir t

~ \ r c

scheduled and charterflghts, with boththe -100 and -200versionsbe

theyears. DC-8s payed abrief part in the airlne's operatons follow

Icelandair and Lofteider, a leading independent low-fare Icelandic a

however,more modern 757s and 737stookoverfrom theolder tri-jet737 al-cargo operatons.

Another leasing specialst was establshed in Iceland in 1986. Air A

large fleet eventualy included severa 737s that were operated on

tracts and IT charters in their own right In 1991, Islandsfug, operato

and a handlng and maintenance faci ty, opened scheduled service

natons around Iceland usingaDornier turbo-prop. In 1998, asingle

open IT flights from Kefavik to Endhoven, Manchesterand Rimini.

had been joined by two -300sand leasing servceswere also operate

ofIcebird Airlnes.

Furthersouth, theAzoresarchipelago hadbeen served by thesch

of SATA Air Acores, its own airlne snce 1947. SATA concentrated

lnks between thePortugueseisland groupwith a fleeteventualy co

Dornier turbo-props. A new wholly owned subsidiary, SATA Internat

whenthe assets of a faied localcarrer,OceanAr,were taken over. In

natonal was awardedscheduled routes to mainland Portugal.Usng

737-300sand Airbus A31 Os, SATA Internatonal alsoundertook cha

boththe Azores and Portugueseresort areas to the UK and Europe.

LAc;HAM.

{SLANDSF UG

••••••••

BAY 1

Mid-Atlantic 737s

MD-80/90 neet with ' ext Generation'

Boeing 73 7s. Boeingdid not have itall their

own way with AS though, as orders were

alsoplacedfor AirbusA321s, the European

rival to the 757, and wide-body 330 s and

A340s were also ordered to replace Boeing

767s on A 's long-haul nights.

The first -700 new on 9 February 1997.

By the time the first aircraft were entering

Southwest Airlines service in early 1998,

the order book for the 'Next Generation'

737s had reached a staggering 900 aircraft.

Two island natons whoseonce strategically advantageous positon in themid-Atlantic

had ledto their becoming wel-equipped for supportng air services were to become

home to residentfleetsof 737s. BothIcelandand theAzoresarchipelago had original

lybeen developed as importantrefuel ng stops for trans-Atlantic traffic lnking t heo dworld with thenew, but were lateroverfown as technology improved. Meanwhie,

their local populatons had come torecognze theadvantage of air travel. both localy

and as ameans to remain connected with theoutside world.

In the north, Icelandair had been providing scheduled services to the island's scat

tered communites, and lnking it to bothEuropeand theNorth Amercan continent for

severa decades.However,the mainscheduled carrier was not to be the first Icelandic

operatorof the737. Staffof a faied charter carrer, Air Vikng, formed a new charter

airlne, Eage Air (Arnafug). in 1976. Initially operatng Air Vikings pair of second-hand

Boeng 720Bs, Eage Airf lew IT and adhoc charters fromIceland, mainly toSpansh

resortsand toGermany.Eage Air alsobecameinvolved in leasing work with its 720Bs,

sending them off on short-term contracts to other carrers in their own slow season.

Icelandairbought amajority shareholding in Eage Air in 1979.Underthe natonal air

lne's control, scheduledservices were opened from Kefavik toAmsterdam, Dusseldorf

and Zurch, usng a737-200 that replaced the720Bs in 1981. The737 wasalso used

for the establshed charternetwork and leasing servces.Unfortunatelyf nancial prob

lems started to besetthe smal airlne and it wasc osed down by Icelandair in 1990.

Icelandair itself, known localy as Flugfelag, preferred to utilize theBoeng 727on its

Islandsfug operates its own IT programmefrom Iceland, as well as offerng leasingserviceswith its 737s. Avaton Hobby Shop

hort-body Series500,rolled out in Decem

ber 1997. Launch customer for the -600was

candinavian Airlines ystem, which

seemed t o have gotove r its apparent reluc

tance to operate 73 7s afteracquiri ng the ex

Linjenyg -500 aircraft, most of which had

beenpromptly l ea e d o ut . A o rd er ed no

Ie s than thirty-eight Series 600s, in addi

tion to placingorders for fifteenSerie OOs

and a pai I' of -700s. Optionswereheld on no

less than sixty-eight other 737s. The airline

planned to eventually r ep la ce its D - 9/

the launch order in la te1993. Inveryba-ic

term the eries 700 was the Boeing 737

300, which it replaced on the production

line, with the new features. The first -700

wasrolled out in December 1996.

Six months later, the firs t Series 800,

which replaced the -4 ,followed in June

1997. The - 00 was first ordered by Ger

man charter air line Hapag Lloyd. Unlike

the -700, the Series 800 does incorporate <I

further s t re tch over the Series 400. This

allows an ITchar ter configuration of 189

passengers. To permit the higher capacity,

the over-wing emergencyexits were total

ly redesigned to be upward hinging units

on all the new 737versions, in placeof the

original inward-opening type.

ext t o be launched, albeit somewhat

out o f numerical sequence, was the Series

6 00 , a 'Next Generation' version of the

(Below) HapagLloyd ordered -800s for itsextensive

programme ofIT charters from Germany. Steve Buntng

Launch Orders

miles in the first' ext Generation' mod

els. To compensate for the larger wing, the

dorsa l f in and vertical stabilizer were

lengthened and the span of the horizontal

srabiIizer was extended. These measures

werealso required to allow the use of high

er-powered CFMB56-7B engines. The

new version o f t he CFM56 eng in e was

designed with 15 per cent lower mainte

nance costs and 8 per cent lower fuel burn.

CFM International went to great lengths,

offering t o be come a ri ok-sharing partner

in the project, in return for the exclu ive

r igh t to provide engines for the new type.

The first of t he ' ext Generation' 737s

was to be the 737-700. Southwest pia ed

73 7. This had beena major new-technolo

gy f ea tu re u ed by Airbu s in sel l in g the

A32 . FBWhadbeen uccessfullyde igned

into Boeing's new long-range, wide-body

type, the 777, and Boeing had seriously

considered installing it on the 737-X.

Instead, the advisory group members, in

particular outhwestAirlines, weremore in

favour of retaining the 737's basicsimplici

ty as wel l as commonality with previous

models.

The major new feature, a larger, 'high

speed', wing had a 25 p er cent increase in

area, with a span increased to 112ft 7in

04.3m).The tip cord of the old wing was

extended and a whole new wingbox was

designed. More room for fuel was provided

by moving the rear spar aft. 0 Ie s than

3 per cent more fuel could now be car

ried, allowing a range of 3,2 nautical

(Abovel The Boeing 737-700 was difficult to distinguish purely by sight from the 737-300. Southwest

painted the -700's f lap hinge fairingsbright orange to help ground crewstell the two apart. MAP

154 155



THE NEXT GENERATION THENEXT GENERATION

The continued usc o f th e EFIS format

would provi de commonali ty , and a ll ow

Southwest greater flexibility in crew assign

ments and simplify conversion training.

Nonetheless, the newer system, PFD/ND

(primary flight display/navigation display),

originally developed for the Boeing 777,

was wanted by other operators. Many of

these customers already operated similar

equipment on other aircraft in their fleets.

Inresponse to the differingrequirements,

Boeing solved the dilemma by developing

anew CDS (common displaysystem). The

use of six Honeywell multifunction liquid

crystal displays allowed the primary flight

display and navigat ion data to be tailored

to the airline's needs, in either format, as

required.

The Douglas Factor

In 1997, the unthinkablehappened in that

Boeing's greatest competi tor, ever since

the days of the 247/DC-2 rivalry in the

1930s, vanished overnight. Even more

unthinkable was that the company, the

McDonnell Douglas Corporation, was

actually boughtout by Boeing.

Douglas had soundly beaten Boeing in

the pre-war competition for the world's air

l iner marke t. I ts main r ival t hrough the

1940s and 50s had been Cali fornia neigh

bour, Lockheed. They had mat ched each

other model for model through the Douglas

DC-4/6/7and elegant Lockheed Constella

tionseries.As thejet ageapproached,Lock

heed had placed all i ts ai rl iner eggs in the

turbo-prop basket, and been disappointed

with the sales figures for its L-188 Electra.

As a result , Lockheed had actually bowed

out o f the airl iner market al together, con

centrating mostly on military projects until

it produced the L-lOll TristaI' wide-body.

Although the aircraft was an operational

success , w it h many examples bui lt and

enjoyinglong careers with a number of car

riers, the L-lOll was alsoa financial failure,

unabl e t o fol low up on its early promise.

Instead of Lockheed, Douglashad found

i tself upagainsta rejuvenated Boeing and

an enterprising Convair in the competi

tion for the US jetliner market. Convair

was eventually to admit defeat up against

the two giants and the Douglas DC-8 had

come a v er y poo r s ec ond to t he Boeing

707. The expense of its jet ai rliner pro

grammes was a major fac to r i n Dougl as 's

merger w it h McD on ne ll , t o produce

MDe.The Long Beach, California-based

manufacturer had been increasingly strug

gling to survive as Boeing and, eventually,

Airbus sales had encroached on its traditional markets and customers.

The wide-body DC-I0 a ir li ner had

enjoyed an early success, but sales suffered

aft er a number of accidents blighted the

type's reputat ion. The long-esrabl ished

DC-9 short -haul jet hadsold very wel l, but

later, stretched, MD-80 versions suffered by

comparison with the 737-300/400/500

seriesand newAirbus narrow-bodied types.

Re-engined and updat ed MD-80s were

being produced, as the MD-90 series, but

werestruggling to reachviablesales targets.

As wit h Boeing, MDC was not o nl y

involved in commercial airliner produc

tion, although, a ls o l ik e Boe in g, it was

probably its most public activity. Involve

ment in aerospace projects in the fields of

missile technology, satellite, military and

space-flight programmes, amongst others,

also occupied the company, but none of

them were making it much money either.

As MDe's financial problemspiled up, the

situation worsened dramatically and there

was a genuine possibility that the much

revered company would collapse com

pletely. Eventually, Boeingstepped inwith

the proverbial offer that could not be

refused, and absorbed MDe.

MD-95 to Boeing 717At t he t im e o f t he takeover, MDC was

producing the MD-ll, an enlarged and

longer-ranged version o f t h e DC-I0, and

the stretched MD-90 series of twin-jets.

Although acknowledged as one of the

world's quietest jets in service, andin t o its

third year ofproduction, the MD-90 was a

direct competitor to the 'Next Genera

tion' 737s. So it came as no great surprise

when the even tua l closure of t he MD-90

production linewas announced by Boeing.

However, curiously, in 1998, Boeing did

decide to continue development ofone of

the newer MD-90 derivatives, the MD-95.

Much smaller t han t he MD-90s in ser

vice, the MD-95 was closer t o t he size of

the older DC-9 series and in

the advantages ofthe new t

less dense routes. Boeing re

design as the Boeing 717-2

ued with i ts development w

operator, low-cost schedule

j et , had p laced a definite o

order was i n the balance,

busy reinventing i tsel f

grounding by federal autho

fat al c rash in F lori da by on

30s. Atlanta-based Valuje

merged with anorher low-fa

Tran, that flew several Bo

from Orlando.

The resulting 'new' AirT

the order for fifty o f t he

intending to standardize on

i ng was eventually reward

orders and opt ions from TW

carriers worldwide.

717 and the 737-600

The decision to proceed

95/717 was even more of a

100-120-passenger ai rcrafthe capacity and performan

version o f t he 'Nex t G en

The 717 was seenby Boein

rival to the new 'regional

been making their appear

routes. Passenger capacitie

bardier/Canadair from Can

Brazilian-built local jets, d

o

Douglasand lockheed worked tirelessly to outdo each otheranddesignthe ultimate piston-enginedair l iner. The results

were therobust DC-7 (top) andaestheticSuperConstellation series (above). American Airlnes CR Smith Museum/Aer LingusTheBoeing 717 sti l l bore a str iking resemblance to the DC-9 l inefrom which it was directly descended.

Dnlythemuch largerengines make identification easier. Aviaton HobbyShop

156 157



TilE NEXT GENERATION THE NEXT GENERATION

The 'Next Generatioth e Major US Carrie

A major coup for Boeingwas

less than 100 Series 800s f

Airlines. ince disposing of

-200s and -300s in the late 19

had relied on its large num

and Fokker100s to supplem

200s in its narrow-bodied

800s entered servicefrom Am

and Chicago hubsduring 1ments for the ageing 727s.

The American Airlines

twenty first-clas passenger

economy class. Both cabin

seating units, designed to o

bar support and legroom,

headrests , as well as teleph

ports at every seat and

video monitors th roughou

The delivery of the fiftie

00, N951AN, to Americ

by the aircraft beingpainted

1960s 'Astrojet' l ivery. A B

started charter operations fr

in 1997. Owned by wedish

Apollo Resor, ovair initial

Lockheed Tristar andone A

both long and medium IT

Four new ' ex t Genera

eventually took over theA

Novair' operations expand

• : rznl/Rir•••••• 'i .' .

737s into service. Denmark's terlingEuro

pean Airways had been bornfrom the a h es

of a long-established carrier, te r ling Air

ways, t hm had ceased operation in ep

tember 1993. Originally founded in 1962

by Tjaerborg Reiser, a large Danish travel

company, Sterling had gained an enviable

reputation asa quality charter carrier and

was operating charter services from most

candinavian countries, aswell as serving

its home marker. Its original DC-6Bs had

eventually been replaced by a largefleet of

Caravelles and in turn these werereplaced

by Boeing 727-200s and 757s. Sterling's

fortunes began ro wane in the early 1990s

and a takeover bid by France's Europe

Aero Service f ai led in 1993, eventually

leading ro te r ling Airway' bankruptcy.

The 'new' te r ling European Airways

began commercialoperations inMay 1994,

wit h a fleet of s ix Boe ing 727 -200 s.

Ithough on a much smallerscale, the opermions were similar to the original airline's,

flying IT charters from Copenhagen to

Mediterranean re ·orts . A Norwegian com

pany, FredOlsen, took a95 percent sharein

ter ling European in 1995, immed ia te ly

implementinga modernization programme.

Two 737-300s were acquired, followed in

1998 by the first of an order for five -800s.

The 727s were converted to freighter con

figuration and operated on contractcharter

for the T T o rgan i:a tio n.

or connected inanyway to the defunct

UK 737 operator ofthe same name, ovair

I'

- '....-- .. _- . --

A. wella the multinational SA and or

way;, Braathens, o ther cand inav ian air

lines soon placed the 'Next Generat ion'

Denmark's IT Saga

Deutsche BA and fellow charter carrier

LT ,as well a' it own ·ervices. Dutch car

r ie rs KLM Roya l Dutch Airlines and

Trans<wia, the la tternow asubsidiary of the

former, took delivery of 73 7-800sfor use on

their European networks, supplementing

earlier versions. The 737 -800made itsfirst

appearance in the Caribbean with the

delivery of the first of a sextetof aircraft to

BWIA West Ind ie s to supplement and

eventually replace their fleet ofDC-9and

MD80 types.

pan ishleaders in the IT chartermarket,

Air Europa, as well as operating a regional

and long-haulschedulednetwork in itsown

right, took delivery of - OOs to upplement

the smaller -300s and -400s in the fleet. A

new sub'idiary, Air Europa Canarias, wa

established in 1999 to operate two o f t h e

parent company 's 737-300s from Gran

Canaria. Mov es w er e a ct ua ll y m ad e t o

merge Air Europa into Iberia, itselfflyingthree -400s in itshuge, varied, fleet, butthe

mergerwas finally calledoff in early 200l.

Futura International also took delivery of

the -800 for panish-based IT work. Five

w er e i n use f or the 2001 summer season,

operating with the earlier -400 series.

The highcapacity -800 found itselfpopularwith many chartercarr iers. Novairoperatethemfrom Sweden

to sunniercl imes in southernEurope. Aviation HobbyShop

Airline in 2001,foI'entry inroservice that

summer on th e Seattle-based airI ines' US

regional and Alaskan network.

The large orderbook for the'Next Gen

eration' versions of the 73 7 meant tha t the

new typ e were soon spreading their wings

on a ir r ou te s a ll over the world. Both

scheduled and charter, established and new

Boeing 737 operators were soon taking

delivery of the -700s and -800s. Pioneer

737 airline, Braathens was an early -700

operator, placing the first ofan order for fif-

teen inservice on i ts o rweg ian and Euro

pean ne twork in e ar ly 1998. German ia

replaced its-300s with -700' extGenera

tion' versions, opera ting on behalf of

••••••••• E C- HBZ

• (Belowl Futuraintroduced a new livery with thearr ival oftheir 'Next

Generation'737-800s. MAP/Aviation Hobby Shop

The 'Next Generation' Goes

into Service

outhwest Airline's, a nd t he wor ld ' , f ir t

Boeing 737-700 ' ext Generation' com

mercial flight took place on I January

199. N700GS operated Flight II from

Dallas/Love Field ro Houston/Hobby and

on to Har l ingen , all within Southwest's

homestate of Texas. The first Hapag Lloyd

737- entered service from Germany in

time for the 199 summer season o f I T

charters. placed the -600 into sched

uled ervice in t he a ut umn o f 199 , on

routesfrom Scandinavia ro Paris. The first

production -900 was delivered to Alaska

-_..,--- , : z , ~ # : , A - - ~ - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . c ; : : : : : : = Z ! ! ~ ~ i I . ~ r : . ~- - ~ ~ .

the turbo-prop Brasilia, Dornier's jets,also

developed f rom a turbo-prop design, were

all increasing. Pas enger loads of 70- 0

were now possible on th e larger versions of

what had originally been perceived justas

stretched businessjets, and i t was this mar

ket d,at the 717 was aimed ar.

The 717 -200 first flew on 2 September

1998. Fouraircraftwere eventually used in

the test and development programme and

certifi ation was granted just under a year

later on I eptember 1999. A propo ed

717-I ver sion , r educed in s iz e ro car ry

eight-five pas senger in a mixed -c la s lay

out, was being considered to offer further

competition ro the 'regional jet' types.

(Above) BWIA ofthe Caribbeanbecame a new 737 operator with the -800.

Aviation HobbyShop.

158 159



ernizationplan, Finallyman

offits post-merger reputati

anJ disorganizeJ operation

was soon winningawarJaft

renewed style of service, Th

ing ex-LufthansajPeoplExp

anJ all the -200s, as well as m

(Be/ow) N951AN turned headswherever it appeared on Ame

in itssmart 1960s 'Astrojet' livery, American airlines C,R, Smth M

767

President-elect George W, Bush anJ his

entourage from Austin, Texas, to Washing

ton DC, following the delayeJ announce

mentof hiselection victory,

Continental Airlines placeJ largeorJers

for the 'Next Generat ion' 737 moJe ls as

part of a massive re-equipment and moJ-

. Con t i nen ta l

• • • • • • • • • • • • ••

TilE NEXT GENERATION

Continentalplaced its 737·800s on transcontinental service from itsHouston andNewark hubs, as well as

shorter, high-densityroutes, Aviation Hobby Shop

been painteJ inlate 1950sstyle in 1999, to

celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Amer

ican'sjet service, anJhaJ proveJ very pop

ular. The 737 'A trojet' attracteJ similar

attention anJ, on 17 December 2000, only

two Jays aft er entering revenue service,

N951AN was chartereJ to carry the new

(Opposite) American air l ines introduced many upgradedpassengerfeatures

with their 737·800s, American Airlines C,R. SmilhMuseum

A.

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The Delta Shuttle replaced its long-serving 727-200s with 737-800s on thehigh

frequency, no-reservations service between New York, Boston and Washington.

Aviation Hobby Shop

DC-9s and all the 72 7s in the fleet, were

eventually replaced by t he 'Next Genera

tion' 737s. In addition, over sixty737-300s

remained, alongside the nearly seventy

737-500s, over thirty 737-700s and over

fif ty 737-800s in service, with nearly forty

other 737s of various versions on order.

The improved performance of the 737

700 prompted Continental to study plac

ing the version on trans-Atlant ic service,

on theNew York/Newark-Shannon route.

However, increased traffic demands saw

larger 757s being utilized by Continental

instead. onetheless, loha Airlines

placed its 737-700s on new Hawaii-main-

land routes t oOakl and and Las Vegas, an

unprecedented distance for the aircraft

originally envisaged as a short-range, pure

ly inter-cityairliner.

De lta p la ced t he 737-800 in s ervic e

alongside its fleet of eighty 737-200s and

-300s. The larger -800s were ordered to

replace the airline 's last 727-200s. As well

as mainline services, the 737-800s also

replaced the older Boeing tri-jets o n t he

no-reservations 'Delta Shut tle' between

New York, Bostonand Washington, which

Delta had originally purchased f rom Pan

American.

Midway Revival

Yet another 'revived' regional airline in

t he U SA was Midway, which restarted

THE NEXT GENERATION

operations from Chicago in 1993 with a

fleet of Fokker 100s. The Chicago net

work failed t o make money, not least of

all because Southwest h ad t ak en the

opportuni ty of the original Midway Air

lines' absence t o deve l op a highly effec

t ivenew hubat Midway Airport. Instead,

the new Midway Airlines upped sticks in

1995 and moved its headquarters to

Raleigh/Durham Internat ional Airport ,

in North Carolina. Raleigh/Durham had

been developed a s a n ew Eas t Coast hub

by American Air l ines, bu t t he large air

line found i ts e ffor ts f rom there to be

unsuccessful and withdrewmost of itsser-

vices. Identifying an under-utilized niche

catchment area, Midway set aboutestab

lishing a new network f ar f rom i ts M id

west roots.

In itial results were promising and the

Fokkers were joined by Airbus A320s on

busier routes. Unfortunately, once again

Midway was threatened with serious finan

cial problems, after overstre tching itself.

The Airbuseswere returned and a newstart

made with the Fokkers. In 2000, newBoe

ing 73 7-700s arrived along with new Bom

bardier/Canadair Regional Jets, destined to

replace the long-servingFokkers. Nine 737s

andno less than twenty-fourCanadai rs were

in use in 2 00 I , a lo ng w it h s ix r em ai ni ng

Fokkers. As well as locallyoriginating traf

fic, Raleigh/Durham acted as a hub for anet

work stretchingthroughou t the eastern half

of t heUSA.

162

Theundoubtedsuccessof SouthwestAirlines' low-fare

services dd not go unnotced in the halowed board

rooms of Amerca's majorairlnes. Theywerelosingtraf

fic to Southwestand its copiers on most fronts and badly

needed to regain the lost passenger revenue. One solu

ton that was adopted by somewas an 'If you can't beat

'em, join'em' attitude.

In 1994, United transferreda number of its 737-300s

to a new low-fare subsidiary, Shutte By United, which

took over a number ofWest Coast routes. Operatng a

low-cost phiosophy, with onlybasc on-board facilities,

Shuttle By Unitedwas later renamed United Shutte and

expanded with more737sbeing moved into the fleet as

a largeorderfor Airbus A318s and A320s was delvered

to the parentairline.

Delta set up Delta Express, again a wholly owned

subsidiary, in 1996, specifically to combat Southwests

entry into theFlorda vacaton markets. Ths tme 737

200s were usedto equip the new division.

USAirhad become US Airways i n 1998, in a major

rebranding exercise. The same year, it set up its own r

low-cost operaton, MetroJet, based at Baltmore. Also

establshed to directly combat Southwest Airlne's

expansion into its traditional markets, MetroJet wasequipped with 737-200s, againtransferred fromthe par

ent company.

Durng 2000, United made an offer to buyout US Air

ways that had contnued to make losses despite improv

ing its servce reputaton after t he name change.

Although at an advanced stage in negotiations, United

caled off themergerin mid-200l.

In the UK, Brit ish Airways was f ac ing t he loss o f

domestc and European traffic to new low-cost opera

tors, Ryanair and easyJet. In response, a new Lon

don/Stansted-based subsidiary was establshed with

leased 737-300s.Named Go Fly, the newcarrier began

scheduled flights fromStansted to European and domes

tic points in 1998.Sixteen destinations were served by

2001, and Go opened anew baseat Bristol, inthe west

of Engand, laterthatyear. However,also in 2001, Britsh

Airways decided that Gos operaton was notcompatble

with its own imageas aquality service provider andput

the airlne up for sae. After considerng several offers,

British Airways sod Go t o t he low cost carriers own

management.

KLM UK, previously Air UK and renamed after the

Dutch airlne had bought a majority shareholding, was

suffering from the competton with its Stansted-based

scheduled services after Ryanairand Go Fy moved in. In

retaliation, in January 2000, KLM UK transferred eight

BAe146s to a new low-fare subsidiary, named Buzz. A

totalof fourteen routes fromStansted were in operaton

by 2001 and the BAe 146s were joined by apair of Boe

ing737-300s on the busier services.On the other sdeof t he world, Freedom Air Interna

tonal began operatons from Auckland in 1995.Wholy

owned byAirNew Zealand, low-fare schedules operate

alongside charters, notonly within New Zealand, but

also across theTasman Sea to Australa. Despite serv

ing a relatively sparselypopulated region, FreedomAirs

pair of 737-300s found themselves in demand, notleast

whenDaitasNew Zealand suddenlyceased operatons

in 2001. Freedom Airs a ircra ft , a longside Air New

Zealands own737s,operatedextraservcesto subst

tute for the defunct carrer.

The Big Boys Fight Back

(Topl us Airways transferred several 737-200s t o i t s new low-costMetrojetoperation. MAP

(Middle) Although Go Fys operationfromStanstedwas asuccess, Br itishAirways decidedto selloffthe low-cost subsidiary. Aviation HobbyShop

(Bottom) The bright yellow 737-300sof Buzz supplemented alargerfleetof BAe146s. Aviation Hobby Shop

163



THE NEXT GENERATIONTHENEXT GE 'ERATION

Boeing 737-700s were acquired by Midway Airlines to increase capacity on their Raleigh/Durham-based

services. MAP

-70 s, withtwelve on order

nenral/Copaalliancewasfo

Chilean airline, Avanr Ai

operating as AeroChile,

the company was later

Aereas Chi1canas, and re

1997. Domestic schedul

operatedthe length of Ch

737-200s until operations

in Chile i n p ar tn er sh ip w it h a Chilean

investment group. Aero Conrinenre Chile

operate eight 737-200 on i t domestic and

regionalservice from Sanriago.

A 4 9 p er cent shareholding in Copa Air

lines, of Panama, also a long-standing 737

operator,was bought by Conrinenral inMay

1999. Copa began the replacemenr of their

fleet of 737-200s with 'Next Generat ion'

services that eventually included an inter

national network that s tr et ch ed a far as

Miami , i n a dd it io n t o dome t ic ervices.

Aero onrinente soonbecame Peru'smajor

airline operator and in 2001 wa flying five

737-200s, a single -100, three 727-100 and

evena wide-body 767, as well a twO Fokker

F.28s and a sma ll f le et of turbo-props. In

1999,a newassociateairlinewasestablished

Aviateca joined forces with three other Central American airlines underthe GrupoTACA banner, while AeroContinente of Peru also established a local subsidiary in Chile. Both pctures courtesy of Aviaton Hobby Shop

I=_..~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : ; ~ = = ' ······•···•·••·•·•····••··•. •: ::::-:--_II,._N\27GU - - AVIATECA

Aerolineas Argentinas came up aga in st a

new low-cost rival when a previously small

commuter a ir line , LAPA (Lineas Aerea s

Privada Argenr ina s) , sold o ff i ts f le et of

turbo-props and placed it first second-hand

Boeing737-200 into servicein 1993. LAPA

experienced rapid growth, offeringlow-fare

services throughout Argenrina in d ir e ct

competition with Aerol in ea s. More 737

200s were gathered from various sources,

laterjoined by new Boeing 73 7-700s.

In both Cent ral and South America, a

number of carriers formed new alliances to

combat the growinginfluence of mainline

U c ar ri er s i n the region. TACA lnrerna

tional Airlines, the nat ional carrier for EI

Sal vado r a nd Hondu ra s, h ad ope ra te d

737sfor many years. In the lare 1990s, the

neighbouring operat ions of Aviateca(Guatemala), LAC A (Co t a R ica ) and

ICA (Nicaragua) were brought under

the TACA influence, to co-ordinate their

operations in the region and on routes to

the U A. The combined fleets comprised

a mixture ofboth Boeing and Airbus types.

A new associate airline, TACA Peru, was

set up tooperate two 737-200s from Lima.

A ls o in Per u, Aero Continente began

operations in 1992, initiallyfocusedon char

terworkin suwort of oilexploration in the

northeast of t he country . In July 1993, two

727-200s and a 727-100 openedscheduled

threat , CanJet, Royal Airlines and West

Jet Airline were 737 opera tor amongthe

independent airlines all claiming their

'rightful hare' of new route authorities.

WestJet hadbeen established inCalgary in

1995, and wasflying twenry-two 737-200s

on low-fare scheduled s ervice s in the

r eg io n by 2 00 I . F iv e 'Next Generation'

Series 600s were on order, as were no less

than thirty-one 737-700s.

Royal Airlines orig inally began opera

tions with twoBoeing 727-200s, as a char

terairline in Montreal in 1992. Scheduled

services were opened, with s ix 737 -200 s

operating alongside the airline 's Airbus

A310 wide-bodies and Boe ing 757 s. In

2 01 Royal was acqui red by r iv al charter

and scheduled carrier Canada 3000, that

nursed ambitions to become the new 'second force' once CAL disappears. CanJet

opened i t schedulednetwork, from Toron

to to Halifax, Ottawa and Wind or in ep

tember 2000,with apairof 737-200s. Seven

-200swerein use withCanJet by mid-200l.

Liberalizationsaw the growth of newopera

tor s in both Central and outh America,

as well as the consolidation of old ones.

Meanwhile, South of the

Border

All Change in Canada

In Canada, t he long-established, major,

737 operator Canadian Airl ine s Inrerna

t ional, was to loseits identity in a takeover

battlethat i t lostwith arch rival AirCana

da. Through 2000 the CAl fleet of 737

200s was repainred in basic AirCanada liv

ery, although still with Canadian titles and

logo o n t he fuselage. In 200I, the merger

took even more effect as the first totally

repainted 737sstartedappearing, with the

CAL identity finallydisappearing.Borh Air

Canada and CAl had begun the process of

replacing their older short/medium-haul

fleets withAirbustypes, a process likely to

continue in the yearsfollowing the merger

with t henew enlarged carrier.

An exception t o t he merger process wasCAL's subsidiary, Canadian orth. Provid

ingvital socialservices in the arcticregions

ofCanada with twoconvertible737-20 C ,

Canadian North was old offin eptember

199 , before the merge r, to o rten -a Inc , a

h ol di ng c om pa ny 1 p er cenr owned by

native anadian communities.

The Air Canada/Canadian irlines

International merger was pounced on by

Canada's own growing b and o f low-fare

operators as a chanc e t o exp and t he ir

influence. iting the size of the newly

en larged Ai r Canada as a monopol istic

764 765



THE NEXT GENERATION

ao. . ...,fJ l l 'OO

_---....

(Bottom) Airbus A320s displaced 737-300sand -400swith the rebran

midland bmi. Avaton Hobby Shop

(Below) British Airways Boeing 737s are eventualy to be replaced b

types. Via author

The growth of the Airbus threat was pressed home to Boeing with th e d ec is io n o f H ow eve r, one prodigal return tothe 737 fold was Britannia Airw

Britsh Airways not to orderthe 'Next Generaton'737sfor its Europeanroutes. Instead. replaced their last 737·200 in1994, with the much larger Boeng 757

amixed orderwas paced for Airbus A318s. 319sand 32os. to eventualy replace the airlne's narrow·body aircraft. Although the757s offered the flexibi

earler 737 models. British Airways' franchise associate, GB Airways, alsoplaced its b e o f operatng both long and short-haul charters, lke the wide-bo

first Airbus A320sandA321 sin service in 2001, planning to replace its seven737s with

an identical numberof Airbus aircraft.

Still expanding its European and UK domestc scheduled network, Britsh Midland

Airways declned Boeings offer of 'Next Generaton'737s,choosinginsteadthe Airbus

A320 and A321. The Britsh Midland Boeing 737·30os and ·4oos were tobe disposed

of, although the 737·500s would remainin the fleetfor the tme being. The airlne's

namewas modifed, and a new lvery and imageunveied, as 'british midland bmi, in

preparaton for trans·Atlantic Airbus services in 2001.

British 737 Disappointmentsand Revivalcheduled operat ions from B om ba y in

1992, withscheduled flights to Mangalore

and Cochin, later adding Goa, Jaipur and

Trivandrum. Lufthansa provided backing

for anotherof the first newIndian carriers,

Modiluft, which began scheduled domes

tic operations with ex-Lufthansa 737-200s

in 1994. Unfortunately, East Wes t a nd

Modiluft suffered numerous operational

difficulties and ceasedfly ing in 1997.

Much more successful were the 737

operations of Jet Airways and Sahara Air

lines. Both new carriers began scheduled

services in 1993, competing with Indian

Airl ines on domest ic services throughout

ModiLuf t ... .. -:.

deregulation in t he American style was

resisted, there was usually enough liberal

ization to allow the limited en try of new

blood i n to t he local airline industry. The

well-proven, widely and cheaply available

Boeing737 was often t hecho iceof equip

ment for the new operators.

[n the FarEast, in itial growth inan eco

nomic boom had been swiftly followed by

recession. [n the Philippines, a number of

new independent carriers had been estab

lished and grew quickly. Of the numerous

new independents, Air Philippines and

Grand International Airways both built up

large fleets of 737sonly to have their new

The Series 800 f ou nd a n ew home with

Mandarin Airlines of Taiwan. Mandarin

had orig inallybeen formed asa subsidiary

of China Airlines to takeover schedules to

Australia and Canada. However, a change

in p ol ic y saw Mandarin switching its

at tent ion to domest ic and regional fl ights

after t he opera ti ons of Formosa Airlines

were taken over in 199 9. A 73 7-400 was

joined by five -800s on the busier flights,

with Fokker E100 jets and Fokker F.50 and

Dornier 228 turbo-props operating lower

capacity services. Ch ina Airlines itselfalso

Further East

- ~ "Despite strong backing from lufthansa, which provided i twith 737s, Modiluftfailed to survive. Avaton

Hobby Shop

took delivery of Series 800s, wi th thirteen

ordered for i ts shon and medium-range

services.

Korean Air i nt roduced f if te en 737 800s, to begin t he repl acement of older

Fokker and McDonnell Douglas types.

Otherwise, Korean Ai r operat ed an all

wide-bodied fleetofAirbus A300s, Boeing

747 and 777s.

Low Cost Goes Global

When the rest of the world followed the

USA's deregulation lead, many new a ir

lines sprang up t o t ake advan tage of t he

new o rd er . Even where wide-reaching

markets vanish overnight, Even the giant

Phi li pp in e ir L in es i ts el f was f or ce d to

cease operations temporarily. Eventually,

t he economic c limate imp roved in theregion, but often roolate for theonce hope

ful new carriers , many of which had been

forced toseverelycut back their operations,

Mixed fortunes also met new indepen

dent airlines on t he Indian subcontinent.

Competition for the Indian Airlines Cor

poration was actively encouraged by the

government in the early1990s and a num

ber of new operators rose to the challenge.

[AC had already transferred most of its

737-200s to a newsubsidiary, Alliance Air,

based at ew Delhi . Eas t West Airl ines

began Boeing 737-200 and Fokker E27

India. By 2001 both were operating large

fleets of 737s, Jet Airways flying ten 737

400s, seven 737-700s and nine 737-800s,

with n ine more -800s on order. Saharaoperated an all-737 fleet of t h ree -400s,

two -800s and single examples of t he -200

and -700 versions,

New 737s in the EasternMediterranean

Liberalization alsoallowed growth in char

ter markets, as well as the scheduledservice

sector. A boom in holidayresort develop

ment sawTurkey, especially, spawna num

ber of new ITcharter carriers, dedicated to

166167



THE NEXT GENERATION THE NEXT GENERATION

British 737 Disappointmentsand Revival continued

Sahara Airlines enjoyed greater success thansome new Indiancarriers, eventually operating several versions ofthe 737. MAP

........................ TURKISH·•••••••••••••••••••

Both national carrier THY-Turkish airlines and leading independentIstanbul Airlines took delivery of 'Next

Generation 737-800s. Both pictures courtesy of Steve Buntng

-- ....... -- .....

joined by two 727-200s. The airline hadbeen establshed totakeover IT charters pre

viously contracted to Newcaste-basedAmbassador Airways, which had ceased flying

that November. Ambassador had flown Boeing 757s, 737sand A320s, butthe bankruptcy of its travel company owners hadled to its downfall. Sabre tookover the 737s

and theGatwick and Manchester-based contracts that Ambassador had flown forother

touroperators.

The 737-200s were leasedout in 1997 to Peach Air, a subsidiaryof Caledonian Air

ways. Peach Air initially flew the Sabre 737-200s and a Lockheed L-l0l1 Tristar

leased fromAirAtlanta Icelandic. ThePeach Air operations came to anendin Novem

ber1998 and Sabre disposed of the -200sat the end of the lease contract. However,

Sabre had contnued to expand its own charter operations and the 727-200s were

being replaced by new 737-800s, the first of which had entered service earlier in

1998. Two ofthe Boeing737-800s wereleased outto Miami Air, of Florda, during

the winter of 2000/2001. In 2001, following its acquisition by LibraHol days, Sabre

was renamed Exce Airways, beginning operations under the new title in May,oper

ating a fleet of six 737-800s.

(Belowl Sabre Airwayswas renamed ExcelAirways in 2001, Aviaton HobbyShop

G OK ON•• , , 1 1 1 , • , • • ' ' ' ' " ' ' l ! ~ ~ : ' j o . ; , ' ' : -

also in the Britannia Airways fleet, the airline soon found it required a lower-capacity

aircraft for less well-travelled routes and tohelpdevelopnew markets notable to sup

portthe largeraircraft.Three 1BO-passenger Airbus A320s were leased from Irsh charter carrer TransAer to

serve on thinner IT routes, in the late 1990s. However,any hopes that Airbus mighthave

chershed that thiswould lead to a directorderfrom Brtanniawere soonto be dashed.

In 199B, Brtannia's owner, Thomson Internatonal, took control of Swedish touroperator

Frtdsresor and its own charter airlne Bue Scandnava. The Swedish IT charter carrer

was rebranded as Brtannia Airways AB and took on the Br t sh a ir ne 's ful identty.

In 199B, a single737-800was leased by the Swedish operaton, fromDansh IT car

rer Sterlng European, and operated alongside itsthree Boeing 757s. Thesame year,

Britannia in Luton announced a $270 million order for fve more 737-800s, to be oper

ated by both 'Britannias'. In 2001 threewere inuse with Britannia ABand theother two

entered service with theUK-basedoperaton.

The 737-800 alsofound favour with another UK IT carrer,Sabre Airways. Originaly

formed in December 1994, Sabre had opened operatonswith apair of 737-200s,later

(Above) The 737·800made its first appearance in BrtanniaAirways'colours with the

Scandinavan subsidiary, Britannia AB, Aviaton HobbyShop

768 769



erving the new re ort areas. In addition,

new leg i lation allowed the growth of

independent scheduled airlines t o c om

pete against Turki sh Ai rl ine s. Bo th the

long-established state carrier ami the new

arrivals made good use of available 737s,

both new and from the second-hand and

leasing markets.

THENEXT GENERATION

lines, originally established by Aer Lingus,

and unExpress that is backed by Lufthansa

and Turkish Airlines. In addition , KTHY,

the Turkish Cypriot airline, began 73 7oper

ations in its own right in 200I,after leasing

inTurki h Airlines 'a ircraft of various types

for many years. Aswell a flights fromTurk

ish-held northern ypru, a number of IT

199 . Those tha t chose the 737 as their

main equipment include Axon Airl ine

(two 737-700s), Cronos A irl ines (four

737-300s and two 737-400s, Galaxy Air

way (one 737-400and one 737-500)ami

Macedonian Airlines (Greece) (one 737

400). Olympic Airways continued to be a

loyal 737 ope rato r, f ly ing the original

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The BBJ and Beyond

New Cypriotindependent, Helios, began flying IT charters with asingle 737-400. Aviaton HobbyShop

Ex-airline 737s sometimesfound new lives as executive aircraft. N147AW was originallyAloha Air l ines

N729A 'King Kahekill'. Unusually, it later returned to airline workwith America West. Jenny Gradidge

A leading l igh t among the new inde

pendents was I stanbu l A i rl ine s , which

commenced operations withCaravelles in

196.lnitiallyconcentratingonchartersto

Europe, Istanbul la ter established a sched

uled domestic network, introducing the first

of a number of 737s in 19 8. By 200 thefleet consisted of nine 7 37 , o f t h e -300,

-400 and -800 e rie and a single 727-200.

Unfortunately, the Turkishauthoritieswith

drew Istanbul's operating certificate on 2

Augu t 2000,followingmounting financial

problems, and the airline ceased flying.

Other private Turkish airline followed

Istanbul 's p ioneering lead, many of them

utilizing 737s. Bosphorus Air, Holiday Air

l in es , u l tan Air andVIP Air all in trodu cd

737s before succumbing to financial d iffi

culties. Moresuccessful have been the Boe

ing737operationsof ir Rose, PegasusA ir-

cha rte rs ope ra te f rom mainland Turki sh

resortsto Western European points.

Independentsouthern Cyprusalsoeven

tually allowed a n e xp an si on o f private

competition with the establi hed national

carrier, Cyprus Airways. As was becoming

usual, tour companies were the majorityshareholders in the new enterprises, using

the capacityto feed the expanding holiday

re orts o n t he i lanel. The dormant TEA

(Cyprus) was revived in 199 and renamed

Hel ios Airways . A ing le 737 -40 opened

charter flight to Europe from Larnaca,

with 737-800 set to be delivered shortly

afterwards. A yearlater, the LouisTourism

Organi ation established Capital L A ir

lines, flying leased 737-700sfrom both Lar

nacaand Paphos.

Greece experienced a pos i tiv e exp lo

s io n i n independent airlines in the late

170

cleven 737-200s as well as one 737-300

and twelve 737-400s. The national air

line 's subsidiary , Olympic Aviation,

became an early customer for the Boeing

717-200.

OneMore Step

The widespread acceptance andcommer

cial succes of the' ext Generation' 737s

hadgone a long way to re-e tabl i h Boe

ing andhe lp i t f ight off the growing Euro

peancompetition. Longpassing the mile

s tone of the most p roduced je ta i r l ine r o f

all time, Boeing was still looking at ways

of imp ro vi ng t he p opul ar a ir cr af t a nd

keeping i t i n i ts well-earned numberone

position. Even more surpr is es were in

store.

The BBJ

The use of Boeing737s as corporate trans

ports, either as 'Flying Boardrooms' or for

more utilitarian private u se , h as been a

long-standing practice. The 737 wa far

from the only large transport aircraft to beusedthis way.A numberof ex-airl ine BAC

One-Elevens were converted in the early

197 s, as w er e Boe in g 72 7 a nd e ve n

longer-range 7 7 /7 20 and DC- - a t t he

end of their airline careers. The majority of

the 'private' 737s had also once been air

liners, although a handful were delivered

to private or corporatecustomers straight

off the production line.

In july 1996, Boeing took the decision

to marke t a designated executive version

of the' ext Generation' 737, the Boeing

Business jet, or BBj. Developed from the

700 series, the BBj was to combine the

737-700 forward and rear fuselage wi th the

centre section, wing and landing gear of

the l ar ge r - 80 0. p to nineextra fuel tanks

can be fitted into the cargo hold space,

rarely n ee ded on exe cu ti ve missions,

bringing fuel capacity up to a maximum, 905 gal lon s. In te r io r a r rangements

offered range from first-c ia s sleeper seat

arrangements,to ultra-luxurious combina

t ion o f lounges, conference area, bed

rooms, shower rooms, and so on , to suit the

cu tomer's requirement.The BBj is devel

opedand marketed by a separate division

within Boeing, in recognition of the very

different market as opposed to the estab

lished airline customer.

As well as private and corporate-based

work, BBjs operated bySwisscarrier, Pri

v atai r, a re a lso u sed on VIP quality tour

171

ami charter work in all-firs

ration. Occasional worldw

ate over several weeks, wi

tion being providedin toph

ervice standards on boa

This is in add i tion to P

lished business as an execproviding ad hoc and contr

transport with a Boe ing

BBjs and a single 757.

The first BBj, N737BZ, w

Rentoninjulyl99 andfir

tember. The fir torderswere

eral Electric , for two aircr

2000, over seventy BBjs h

by private individuals, co

ernment agencies and mil

around the world. The BB

Boeing 737-800airframe, f

offering even morerange an



THE BBJ AND I 3EYO D THE BBJ AND BEYOND

• • •RYANAJR

• • • ••••••••••• J

The BBJsoonfounda readymarket. N737MC isoperatedfor General Electr ic by Atlas Air Inc. JennyGradidge

'Next Generation' in theMilitary

A s in gl e 73 7-700C, the first convertible

version ofthe 'NextGenerat ion'series,was

delivered to the U av)' in 2 00 0. Desig

nated t heC-40A in av) ' s e rv ic e, the air

craft is expected to b e just the first of many

to eventually replace the large fleet of

9Bs with the SN. The C-9Bs, a convert

iblemilitary transport version of the DC-9,

havebeen in service since the 1970s. Con

tinuing th ' 737's long-established roleas a

preferred VIP aircraft, one -800 is operated

in th isrole by the Taiwan Air Force.

Australia committed itself to a n o rd er

for seven 737 Airborne Early Warning and

Cont ro l (AEW& C) aircraft. Fitted with

a mod rn mul t i ro le radar array giving 36

degreecoverage, the new militaryaircraft

would bebased around the BBJ airframe. A

dispute between the S authorities andBoeing over release of confidential and

ensitive technology h as t ai le d the pro-

gramme, but interest has also been shown

in the new aircraft by the governments of

Turkey a nd o ut h Korea.

The Low-Fare Vision inWestern Europe

Aer Lingus found itself challenged in Irish

markets by one particular new 'upstart',

Ryanair. Beginningscheduled operations in

19 5, witha single, 1 -passenger, Embraer

Bandierante, over a route from Waterford

in western Eire to London/Luton,R)'anair

skilfully explOited the emerging low-fare

market and grew rapidly. Originally con

centrat ing on services from regional Irish

pointsto Luton,Ryanair introduced larger

BAe 748 t urbo-props and, later, One

E le ve n j et s. A Dublin-Luton route was

opened in 1986 and Ryanair increasingly

turned its attention t o n ew low-fare ser

vices from Dublin to regional UK and

European point s, of te n in competition

with Aer Lingus. Operating fourteen air

craft of four different types, Ryanair man

aged to lose £20 million in two years.

A new management team complete ly

ove rh au le d t he airline in 1990-91,

relaunchingthe airline as the first of a new

breed of European 'no frills' airlines, along

the Southwe t Airlines model. Just five of

t he n i ne t een routes then in operationwere retained and all turbo-prop aircraft

weredisposed of. With an all-je t fleet of six

One-Elevens, Ryanai r managed to make

i t fir t-ever profit.

The fir t 73 7s, second-hand eries 2 0 ,

were leased in by Ryanair from 1994 and

the fleet increased steadily, replacing the

last One-Elevens. Eventually,a econd base

wasset up at London/Stansted and low-fare

routes were opened from there to both

domestic and European points. These most

ly served under-used airports such as Prest

wick for Glasgow, Charleroi for Brussels,

and Beauvais for Paris. By 200 I, thirty-six

737s, including fifteen 'New Generat ion'

737- OOs, wer e i n u e by Ryanair. In 2001,

Charleroi was designated as Ryanair's next

regionalba e,withplanstobasetwoaircraft

a t t h e airport, south of Brussels.

Ryanair can also be credited with bring

ing theconceptofthe LogoJet to Europe.A

Western Pacific Airlines, in t he USA, had

done before it,Ryanairofferedits aircraft on

the open market as 'Flying Billboards' .

British car manufacturer,Jaguar, was oneof

the first customers, producing a very pleas

ing result. Other ear ly cus tome rs to tak e

advantage of the publicity opportunities

included T he S un and News of the World

newspapers, Kilkenny Beerand Hertz.

easyJet at Luton

The Luton-based easyJetairline was foundedby businessman telio Haji-Ioannou, in

1995. Two Boeing 737-200s were used to

open low-fare Lu ton -G la sgow a nd

Luton-Edinburgh schedules in November

that year . More rou te were opened, with

international servicesbeing introduced and

expanded as the initial -200 aircraft were

replaced bylargerSeries300s. In 199 a 40

per cent shareholding was bought in TEA

Switzerland, the ex-Trans European sub

sid iary . ince the demise ofthe Belgian par

ent company, TEA Switzerland had c on

tinued to operate as an independent IT

Ryanair's 737-200sreplaced the BAC One-Eleven,the Boeing fleetquickly expanding as new routes were

opened. Steve Buntng

HertzRent-a-Car was oneof many companieswill ing to payto useone of Ryanair 's 737s asa f l ying

billboard. Aviaton HobbyShop

172 173



Virgin Expresss variousdivisionsmet with mixed fortunes,with theFrench andIr ishoperations being

forced to retrenchor close downaltogether. Va author

THE BBJ AND BEYO, D

Initially, like the British-basedaircraft,easyJet Switzerland's 737s worethe company's UK reservations

telephone number. As technologyprogressedand theinternetbecamea majorsource ofdirect bookings,

theair l ine'sweb addresswas substituted,fleetwide. The first ofeasyJet's'Next Generation' 737-700s were

deliveredin early2001. MAP/Aviaton HobbyShop

774

charter carri er f rom Basle w it h a f leet of

73 7-300s. When easyJettookcontrol ofthe

company, the name was changed to easyJet

witzerland and operat ions moved to

Geneva. Scheduled low-fare flights opened

from Geneva to the K.

A new UK easyJet ba e was deve lopedat Liverpool, in the northwest of England,

opening up a cont inental network that

h ad not b een available from the c it y i n

many years. Between them, easyJet and

easyJet w it zerl and were operat ing over

twenty 737s i n 2001, operating twenty-

eight route between eighteen destina

tions. The first of a substantial order forover t hi r ty , ew Generation' 737-700s

had recent ly been delivered to begin the

gradual replacement of the -300s. In 2001,another European easyJet operational base

was established at Amsterdam.

Enter Virgin

Trans European's replacement in the Bel

gian charter market, EuroBelgian Airlines,eventually entered the scheduled market,

serving leisure-orientated destinations. In

Apri l 1986, the Virgin Group acquired a

controlling interest a nd t he c om pa ny

name was changed t o V irgi n Express .

THE BBJ AND BEYOND

Operating a European network comple

mentary t o V irgi n Atlant ic's London

based long-haul service, Virgin Express

operates to eight scheduled destinations

from Brussels.VirginExpress was alsocon

tracted to take over t he opera ti on of anumbe r o f Brussels-UK schedules for

Sabena. Operating a f leet of seven 737

300s and four 737-400s, charter services

also continue with ad hoc flights through

out Europe andto Africa.

A French operator, Air ProvenceChar

ter, wa taken over i n 199 ami rebranded

as Virgi n Express France. A handful of

s heduled European ervices were opened

but the French carriersoon reverted t o a n

all-ITcharter operation. Evenmore unfor

tunate wasVirgin Express (Ireland), whichstarted scheduled Shannon-London ser

vices, using Stansted, in December 199 .

The tansted route was later extended to

Berlin and Shannon-Brusse ls and han

non-London/Gatwick flights alsoopened.

Virgin Express (Ireland) actually beat off

early competi ti on on the London routes

from AB Ai rl in es , a K operator eventu

allyflying One-Elevensand 737-300s on a

low-fare network from Gatwick. However,

the Irish operation remained unprofitable

and was put up forsale. Five 737-300s and

two 737-400s were i n servi ce when t he

775

airline was closed down in 2

ing to find a buyer.

AB irlines had started

the early I990s, asA irBristo

pora te hu tt le on beha lf of

space from its Filton facility

to Toulouse in connection

contracts. Air Bri st ol set u

based subsidiary, AB Shann

One-Eleven and , a f te r l os

contract , concentrated on

scheduled network from Lon

Stanstedand hannon unde

AB Airlines. The limited s

work wa to take in fl ights

bon and ice, as well as

fl ights to London and Birm

was not st rongenough to suser. Despi te switching to m

Boeing 737-300s, to supple

ing One-Elevens, AB airline

ations in eptember 1999.

Shortly before closing d

l ines signed an agreement

based Debonair, for code-sh

tain key routes. Debonair f

on its network from Luton,

AB Airl ines 737-300s took

t i tles for t he j o in t operatio

also ceased operations a t a b

time as AB Airlines.



CityBird's 737-400s arrived as the airline shifted itsoperational focus away fromlong-haul schedulesto

European ITcharters. MAP

TilE BBJ AND BEYOND

AS A IRL INESI

The small route networkof AB Airl ines was unable to supportthe 737-300s. G-OABL previously servedwith

VASP. in Brazi l ,and Jet Airways, in India. Aviaton HobbyShop

Followingthe currentfashion, Virgin Blue'saircraftdisplaythe reservationswebsite address. MAP

776

Virgin Down-Under

Much further afield, Virgin turned itssights

on Australia, it elf indulging in an airline

deregulation and liberalization programme.

Earlier attempts at introducing low-fare

ope ra tor s in Aus tr al i a in the early 1990s

had swiftly failed. Compass A i rl ine com

menced scheduled low-fare serviceslinking

the major cities on both the east and west

coast of Australia from t h e e nd of 1990.

Airbus A300s were leased from Monarch

Airline of the K, but heavy losses forced

the airline to cease operations a year la ter.

Compass was revived in September 1992,

w ith a mal l fleetofMD-80s, but lasted only

until the following March, whenthe airline

wasfinally closed down forgood.

o other candidates came forward to

exploitthe Australian low-fare market for

several years, with Ansett and Qantas

remaining the main domestic scheduled

service providers. However, in June 2000,

a new operator, Virgin Blue Airlines, of

Brisbane, took delivery of t he first of five

Boeing 737-400s. ine ' extGenerat ion'

737-700s arc on order to replace the initial

aircraft. Established by the K-based Vir

gin Group, owners of Virgin Atlantic Air

ways andthe European Virgin Express air

l in es , V ir gi n B lu e was unab le t o start

THE BBJ AND BEYOND

commercia l operations until August, fol

lowingdelays in receiving its Air Opera

tor's Certificate. Brisbane-Sydney services

opened first, on 31 August, followed by

Brisbane-Melbourne on 7 eptember.

Bri bane-Adelaide flights were opened on

7 December, some six weeks earlier than

originally planned.

CityBird

After the ale of EuroBelgian t o t he Virgin

G ro up , t he Belgian a ir l in e' s o rigina l

owner, Victor (-lassen of Ci ty Hote l s, s et

up a new carrier, CityBird. At first City

Bird opened scheduled low-cost, long

rangeservices to the SA, Caribbean and

Africawith a fleet of wide-bodiedMD-l!

and 767s. Many routeswere later flown in

association w it h a be na , o f te n in the larg

er airline's full colours.

However , a change in direction saw

most of the scheduled services being

dropped on economic grounds, although

long-range charters were s ti ll operated.

Instead, a fleetof 737 -3 Os and -400swere

acquired and moreemphasis wasplaced on

European IT charter to Mediterranean

and orth African resorts. Three - OOs

were on orde r for 2001 delivery.

777

The 900

ot content with the extra

- 00 over the -400, Boeinge

an even l arge r 737 , in the

Serie 900. The large t 737ve

the Series 900 received its F

tion on 17 April 2001. Th

(42m) long -900 is an imp

40ft(12.2m) longer t han t he

more than a thousand mile

longer range. The formal cer

been delayed by six weeks b

to i t f l ig ht cont rol s and an i

seal system. Unexpected v

been discovered in the eleva

a red es ign o f th e e le va to

strengtheningof the tab.Two

part in the certif ication

between them logging 649 f

296 flights and 156 hours of

An even further stretched

-900X, was beingstudied and

to the -900's current custo

Airlines, Continental Airlin

Korean A ir. Curiously, the -9

longer, was not certi fied to ca

the pa senger capacity o f t h

would be restricted until im

gency evacuation systems an

couldensure the off-loading



737-900customers, KlM and Alaska Airl ines al ready operated l arge fleets of 'Next Generation' 737s,

KlM -800s, and Alaska -700s and -800s. Aviaton HobbyShop

capaci ty ava il ahle in the s am e t im e as

smallerpassenger loads.

The Losses

Considering the proliferation o f t h e 73 7

throughout the world, its sen'ice has heen

remarkahly trouble-free. Pure statistical

prohahility dictates that there wou ld he

THE BBJ AND BEYOND

incidents, hut most were minor. Among

the best-known except ions are t he A ir

Florida and British Midland accident

outlined earlier, o ne d ue to adverse

weather and a p re ssured c rew a nd t he

other possibly down to unfamiliaritywith

new technology. Both were also possih ly

attrihutable, at least in part, to shortcom

ing s in c rew training procedures then in

use, s i nce much improved a s a resul t of

178

the tragedies. Of course, accidents did

happen. As with most aviation tragedies,

human factors and errors of judgement

played their part i n a h ig h proportion of

t he i nc ident s . H ij acki ngs and sahot age

a lso fea tured in 737 hul l los se s and acci

dents. Actual st ructural or control prob

lems more d irect ly concerned wit h the

aircraft i t se l f a re rarer , h ut t he re h av e

heen incidents.

I n 1 9 1, a Far EastAir Transport 737 was

los t due to s truc tu ra l f ai lu re in f ligh t, i ts

break-up blamed on corrosion in the lower

fuselage. All 110 occupants perished on a

dome tic scheduled flight from Taipei to

Kaohsiung. The aircrafthad disintegrated at

22,OOOft (6,700m) and the wreckage was

sca tt er ed ove r an a re a of 5mi (8km). In

19 , an Aloha Airlines 737 lost most of its

forward cabin roof in-flight, at 24,000ft

(7,315m). The high-time aircraft had spent

most of itscareerislandhopping from Hon

olulu with Aloha; the frequent and higher

than average number of cyclesand the Paci

fic atmosphere eventually weakened the

fuselagestructure. Most of the forward cabin

wallsand roof, from the floor level upwards,

peeled away following the failure of the

cracked structure. One cabin crew memberwas lost, but everyone else on board sur

vived, mostly thanks to prompt action and

superb airmanship by the pilots. The fact

t hat t he rest of t he aircraft held together,

underpowerandat altitudewith mostofthe

forward cabin walls missing, still sayssome

thing for the basicsoundness of itsstructure.

Following the incident, Aloha withdrew its

other highest-time 73 7s from service.

One Morning at Manchester

The 737's JT D engines gave l i t t le cause

for concern overthe years, with few cata

strophic failures. The Pratt & Whitney

engine was also used on several other air

craft types, very successfully. On one occa

sion though, the failure of a combustion

chamber outer casing blotted the engine's

otherwise enviable record. O nl y t hr ee

other cases of combustion chamber rup

ture had previously been recorded in over

300 million hours of operation.

On the f ateful d ay , 22 August 1985,

British Airtours 737-200, C-BCJl, 'River

Orrin' was assigned to an IT holiday char

ter from Manchester toCo r fu . A ful l loadof 130 pas senger s, p lu s two infan t s, two

pilots and four cabin crewwere on boardas

'J l began its take-offrun shortlyafter7am.

As the aircraft reached 140mph, theouter

casing of the compression chamber on the

number one engine split and 'petal led'

apart. The outer casing had ruptured along

a c ra ckcaused by thermal fatigue. A fuel

tank access panel on the l ef t w ing was

punctured bydebris and escaping fuel was

ignited by the now burning engine.

On hearing the thump oftheengine fail

ure, the crewconsideredthey were dealing

TilE BBJ AND BEYOND

with a tyrefailure and abandoned the take

off, turningonto a taxi-way. Unfortunate

ly, as well as delaying the evacuation, the

turnoff the runway alsoplaced the a ir r af t

fu elage downwind of the rapidly increas

ing fire o n t he wing. Smoke was immedi

ately blown i nt o t he packed cabin, con

tributingto the passengers' panic. The fire

entered the rear cabin in twenty seconds,

the tail section burning off and fa lling to

the ground within a minute .

Despite one of the forward doors jam

ming momentarily, the cabin c rew in the

forward cabin did a magnificent job of

evacuating the frantic survivors, assisted

by the flight-deckcrew. In the r a r s e ct ion ,

thecabin staffmanaged to open the doors,

but , cou rageou sly igno ring t he ir o wn

chance to escape, remainedon board to tryand begin an evacuation. Unfortunately

both were overcome by the smoke and

flames and perished along with fifty-three

oftheir passengers.

The tragic consequences of t he Man

ches t er acci den t brought a n um be r o f

problems to Iight. Earlier cracks o n t he

same u ni t h ad been repaired and other

JT Ds on other British-registered aircraft

werefound to have similarcracks, leading

to some aircraft being grounded until full

inspections and repairs could be initia ted .

The composit ion of passenger cabin fur

nishings was examined and regulations

tightened, poisonous fumes from burning

upholstery having contributed to many of

the deaths. eating was also rearranged to

give better access to emergencyexi ts, and

floor-level lighting, to guide anyone

caught in a smoke -f i ll ed cabin, became

compulsory. A debate concerning supply

ing smoke-hoods to passengers continue

to rage, although they a re now f it t ed for

cabin-crew use to assist in evacuation.

RudderInvestigations

Two other accidents focused attention on

the 737's ruddercontrol system. In 1991, a

nited 737-200 plunged i nt o t he ground

on a f ligh t to Colorado Springs, k illing

everyone on board. In 1994, a USAir 737

300 on approach to Pittsburgh, rolled over

without warning and dove straight to the

ground, againinstantly killing all the occu

pants. In both incidents, the aircraft hi t the

ground so hard t ha t t he wreckage was

buried everal feet intothe earth. Bothacci

dents had investigators stumpedfor several

years. There wer as many differences as

179

similarities between the two

ories abounded, especially w

firmed rumour spread that

an important tr ia l witness

the Air flight.

Although the accidents

officially blamed o n t he a

issued several precautionary

ommending various modif

ruddercontrol system, to pr

ble reoccurrence. In newair

wasredesigned. Interestingly

as yet, unexplained loss ofa

over the North Atlantic in

stances, the Egyptianauthor

the 767 's pitch control yste

with the same 'level of ex

analysis' that had been app

rudder control system.

Into the Future on W

ever l et i t b e s ai d that, a

tion, there is anysuch thin

, High-fly ing birds know f

they can turn up their wi

they soa r b et t er . Manki

insists on inventors, paten

so i t was not untiI the clos

twentieth century that the

ly applied to mechanical fl

The constantly rising p

the main prodforaeroe!yna

ly take advantage of the bir

'secret'. In the U A, in the

wasstarted under thedirec

Dr Richard Whitcomb, foc

ing the principl to reduce

t ion . In September Boeing

ion at Wichita was award

to design, produceand test

based on Dr Whitcomb's re

A KC-l 5 was f it t ed wi

in May 1 97 9 and first flew

July. Over fifty flights wer

t he e nd o f t h e programmethe theory of a performanc

aerodynamic extension. A

saving on fuel wa s ho

winglets, but t he military

failed to embracethe resea

theract ion was taken.

However, the fuel avin

ignored and winglets fin

appearon smalleraircraft,

utive jet designs. The Boei

the first large aircraft design

significant winglets. The

extensions added aerodyna



\

THE BBJ AND BEYONDTHE BBJ AND BEYOND

OK-FGS was t h e l a s t -400 Series andlast 'Classic' 737 built, del iveredin early 2000. MAP

Also in 2001, Boeing an

wouldbe moving its corpo

outof Seattle. Althought

Seattle areawould continu

o f t he company's aviat io

with t he ex-MDC facilit

Seattle would no longer b

This was decided in order

pany's projects in other a

ble to th senior managem

tua ll y, a ft er much deba

chosen overother candida

Louisand even Wichita.

End of an Era - 3

averse t o appear i ng in S

t i sements in an Elvis P

Even when the airline ha

orange hot pantsera behi

a more businesslike imag

aged to i n troducea certa

own outgoing personality

Ever since, in fact , he h

Southwest Airl ines' fou

King, 'Rol li n, you 're cra

design, the most dramatic change was the

main fuselage colour. 'Canyon Blue'

replaced the 'DesertGold', over a slightly

modified red and gold lower fuselage. The

overall effect is meant t o ref lect a desert

sunrise orsunset.The aircraft interiors also

recei ved a make-over , w it h orange and

blue leather seating installed. Repainting

and refit t ing of t he en ti re 340 aircraft in

the fleet is expected to take ten years, but

three aircraft wil l remain in the tradition

allivery to reflect the original three Texan

ci ties served, Dal las, Houston and San

Antonio. The first aircraft to wear the newcolours were two' ext Generation' 737

700s, N793SA, 'Spirit One' and 794SA,

'SpiritTwo'.Possibly even more dramatic was the

announcement of the impending retire

ment of Southwest Airline's long-serving

Chairman and mentor, Herbert D. Kelle

her . Kel leher had been the guiding hand

behind Southwest - a nd its not insignifi

cant input into the development of most

versions ofthe Boeing737 since the 737

200 'Advanced' series. One o f t he last

great airline 'Showmen', Kelleher was not

In 200I , Sou thwes t , as part of its 30th

anniversary celebration, unvei led i ts first

major livery change since operat ions had

begun. Other than a relat ively minor

change in the positioning o f t h e airline's

titles, undertaken qui te early in the air

line'shistory, the Southwest 737shad con

t in ued t o c ar ry their orange , red and

'Desert Gold' colours t h roughout t he

years. The obvious except ions to the rule

we re a l ong l in e of special 'promotional'

schemes. Beginning with aircraft paintedt o r ep re se nt S eawo rl d' s f amou s k il le r

whale 'Shamu', various other designs were

taken up by individual aircraft, usually

promoting the different US states served

by Southwest as its network grew. Ameri

ca West alsoadopted similarschemes with

their aircraft promotingthe airline'sroutes

andeven local sports teams that chartered

the aircraft for tours.

However, Southwest'sadvertisingagency,

GSD&M, ofAustin, came upw i th a n ew

design for the wholefleet, in honour of the

anniversary. St il l based on t he original

End of an Era - 2

'Spirit One displaysSouthwest'snew livery, a radical departurefromthe established scheme.

Aviaton Hobby Shop

End of an Era - 1

The very last o f t he 'Classic' 737s was

handed over to CSA Czech Air l ines in

January 2000. OK-FGS was the lastSeries

400, of 486 of the variant. The last of 389

- 50 0s bui lt h ad b een d el iv er ed t o A K-

Air ipponinJulyl999andtheiastofthe

most popular of the second-generation

737s, the 1, 112th-300 was handed over to

Air ew Zealand in December that year.

From t hen on , all 737s producedwould be

o f t he 'Next Generation' versions, the

-600/700/800/900 or 'BB]'designs.

.'" ...

on 29 May 1998. The fuel savings were

justas greaton the 737 and many BBJ had

them fitted, some on the production line,

some retroactively. Wit h t he success of

the winglet-equipped BBJs, Boeing pro

ceeded to offer the option on airline 737

800s. The fi rst customer to take this up is

South African Airways, with their first

'Wingleted' aircraftdue to fly a t the time

of writing. American Transair, Hapag

Lloyd and A ir Berlin have also ordered

the modified 737-800s and a 'retrofit '

programme is being offered t o prev ious

customers.

'Winglets' began appearing on BBJs, laterbecoming an option on air l ineaircraft. Jenny Gradidge

effectively increasing the wing a re a

al though only adding a minimum extra to

the actual wingspan. Airbus had adopted

small win gle ts for the A310 and

A320/321/318/319, but also fi tted larger

versi ons t o it s l at er w ide-body des igns .

McDonnell Douglas fi tted winglets to i ts

MD-Il and Globemaster t ransports and

even in Russi a, the IL96-300 wide-body

tookup the idea.

The BBJ version of the 'Next Genera

tion' 737 was offered with the option of

new design 'blended' winglets and a 737

800 made the first flight with them fitted

780 787



k t" automat i t icketmachin dispens thousands of t ick ts veryday

The worldwide prolifer

ing 737 means that t he re

ports of any size that do n

larvisi tby the typemost d

Even the oldermodels, ma

s ti ll i n frequent use, belie

t he ir m ode rn lines a n

accommodation. Thirty

introduced the type to the

Iic, the Iike of Braathens

nited still feature the a

fleet, albeit the later vers

early 400 different ope

lines, privateand corporate

and government authorit

737s. Evena briefoutline o

past and presentoperators

sible without producing s

Those covered in t h is boo

a flavour o f t hc 737's ve

effect on day-to-day air tr

throughout the world. W

t ig e i n te rn at io n al s ch edu

bulk travel holiday charte

intcr-city shuttles, f rom si

ups to fleet numberswell i

thc 737 fulfi l all their very

Any deci "ion as to wh

Gencration' will be the 'L

l ies in the future. Whatev

cations or developments a

in any new versions to co

certa inly be here f or a f ew

I twi ll hc doing what i t

do - working hardday afte

reliably earning its keep.

Thirty Years and Climbing

THE BBJ AND BEYOND

The 35 th anniversary of the Boeing 737's

f ir t f li ght is not far off. Boeing originally

envisaged a probable market fora few hun

dred unit s. To da te , over 5 ,000 have been

orderedand the 737 canconfidentlycla im

its place as one of the world's most suc

cessful commercial a i rc r af t . I t urvived

being a late-comcr on t o the s c ene , i t sur

vived moves to sel l i t off to J apan when

sales figures dipped, it survived fuel crises

and industrial unrest, a s wel l a s commer

cial and politica l manoeuvrings.

(Below) For overthirtyyears, countless airline

passengers aroundthe world haveenjoyed safe,

comfortable airtransport on the Boeing 737. Lufthansa

(Opposite) HerbKelleher was never averseto

helping out Southwest'sadvertising department.

Here, in oneof hismoresubdued appearances, he

promotesSouthwest's then revolutionary 'Quicket'

machines. Southwest va Tm Kincaid

(Bottom) In a dawnscene repeated at different

airports,with differentair l ines worldwide, United

Shuttle andSouthwest737s areprepared for

another days work , inthiscase at San Diego,

California. Malcolm L. Hi

<CI

c:-e

(;;CI

:t

::l0U)

'0>-I/)

Q)

1::30(,)

"0Q)

• c:

8-Q)

a:

783

t Ex cutiv or PI asure class,

F l . ~ S O ! ! ~ ' ! } ! ! ~ ~ !and spirits high!

OURQ IC "MAC I ES

EMORE RELIABLE THAN OUR

CHAIRMAN.



EARLY 737s - COMPARISONS WITHTHEIR CO TEMPORARIES

APPENDIX I

BAC

ONE-ELEVEN 500

Early 737s - CODlparisons

with their ConteDlporaries

BOEING 737-100

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

107ft (32.6m)

93ft 6in (285m)

2 x RR Spey512

1,420mi (2,285km)

99-119

Via author

AEROSPATIALE SE-210

CARAVELLE 12

185

Via author

114ft 3 ~ i n (348m)

100ft 3in (306m)

2 x P&WJT8D-15

575mi (925km)

120-155

MAP

Via author

133ft 2in (406m)

108ft7in (331 m)

2 x P&W JT8D-1

1,380mi (2,220km)

90-130

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

DASSAULT MERCURE

BOEING 727-100

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typicalr ange

Seating

100ft2in (305m)

93ft (283m) 1

2 x P&WJT8D-9A

2, 136mi (3,437km)

115-130

93ft 9in (286m)

87ft(265m)

2 x P&WJT8D-7

1,150mi (1 ,850km)

99-107

Length 118ft6in (361m)

Wingspan 112ft 6in (343m)

Engines 2 x P&W JT8D-9

Typical range 1,580mi (2,542km)

Seating 104-139

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typicalr ange

Seating

Via author

BOEING 737-200

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

Jenny Gradidge



Ir ...

EARLY 737,- COMPARISONS WITH THEIR CO T E ~ I P O R A R I E S

FOKKER F.28-4000

Length 97ft 1Y.n (29.6m)

Wingspan 82ft 3in (25.1m)

Engines 2 x RR Spey555

Typical range 1,162ml (1,870km)

Seating 75-85

Via author

HS 121 TRIDENT 2

TUPOLEV Tu-l04B

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

EARLY737; - COMPARISONS WITHTHEIR CONTEMPORARIES

131ft 5in(40m)

113ft 41n (345m)

2 x AM-3M-500

1,305mi (2,1 OOkm)

70-104

Aviaton Hobby Shop

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

Hawker Siddeley, via author

MDC DC-9-30

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typical range

Seating

Via author

114ft 9in (35m)

98ft (29.9m)

2 x RR Spey512

3, 155ml (5,075km)

70-100

119ft 3r.:ln (364m)

93ft 5in (285m)

2 x P&W JT8D-7

1,725ml(2,775km)

99-115

TUPOLEVTu-124V

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typicalrange

Seating

TUPOLEVTu-134A

Length

Wingspan

Engines

Typicalrange

Seating

110ft 41n (336m)

83ft 9 ~ i n (255m)

2 x D-20P

760ml (1 ,225km)

56

Aviaton Hobby Shop

122f t (372m)

95ft 21n (29m)

2 x D-30-2

1,243mi (2.000km)

70-80

Via author

INFIERlFauo

186 187



THE 737.100-900

Steve Buntng

Aviaton Hobby Shop

737-600

Length 102ft 6in (31.2m)

Height 411t 31n (126m)


Gross Weight 143,OOOIb (64,865kg)

Range 3,509mi (5,646km)

Seating 110-132

Macom L. Hi

737-500

Length 101lt 9in (31m)

Height 36ft 6in (11.1m)


Gross Weight 125,200lb (56,790kg)

Range 1,800ml(2,896km)

Seating 110-132

737-400

Length 119ft 7in (364m)

Height 36ft 6in 111.1m)

Iingspan 94ft 91n 128.9m)

AGross Weight 150,500lb (68,270kg)

Range 2,487mi (4,002km)

Seating 146-170

2,136ml (3,437km)

100ft 2in (30.5m)

37f t 1 in (113m)

115-130

93ft (283m)

128,0001b (58,060kg)

36ft 61n (111m)

139,0001b (63,050kg)

1091t 71n (334m)

1,860mi(2,993km)

128-149

94ft 91n (28.9m)

Wingspan

Length

Range

Height

Gross Weight

737-200

Lufthansa

Height

Length

Seating

Jenny Gradidge

Range

Seating

Wmgspan

Gross Weight

737-300

Steve Buntng

APPENDIX II

The 737, 100-900

737-100

/ Length 93ft 91n (28.6m)

Height 37ft 11n (113m)

Wmgspan 87ft (265m)

Gross Weight 111,OOOIb (50,350kg)

Range 1, 150ml (1 ,850km)

Seatmg 99-107

788 789



"

C-9R 172

I"1C-I 10-1

DC-2 11,

[ lC- I I I ,

41 ,49,5

IX:-4 156IX:-6 16,

»,57,6

IX:-7 16LX:-, 16-

155,157

IX:-9 7,1

50,51,5

91,96,1

124,130

159, 16I"1C-IO 88

I)ragoll,ur I"D\,lll\lnd,Lcw

"'",chdd 1-FH-227 '

Ftl1Ulll AIr

Far Ea . t l ' rnA

178 -9

F l d t r . 1 An,l

(FA.-\)

10', 17Fedl'r,lll:.xp

Fmn,ttr 1S,

hr . l Chtlll:e

FI . chn 111

Fltchl Engl l lt

A . t . ~ t ; l FltlrllLI EXpR

Fluctcbc ISFIolllg Ticer

F,x:h··\X·lIlt

Fokker Il\

E2i 16, 1

107, 11

1'2'61,616';,1'

1'5,' 126

I ' l l ' 122

166hlrd Trtlllll{

F\lrInlh.1Atr

Frce. t,un At

Frll'dklll,Kl

FrlIdrl' . t r 1

Fr1l111lr Alr

tJ

FnllltlCr'\lr

ht.lllll\.·r Iln

Futuri l 122

Eagle Aor 10E,lgk AIrway

E,N\.·rn Air

2S, 85. H

E< Il'rtl Atr T

Ea r e r n Pron

E."' \X'e ...t A

E.I. twlnd Al

e,I'I)el 162

E.G & G. \

Eglrl"or 97

EI.-\I 114Eldorado OtEml'r,lkl Alr

Emplrc Alrll

E cx ImCrtl,

E lt.llll.l A t r

Eur.ILur 136

Euran<l (Lll

EuroRt:lct,1Il

EuroRt: r l ln F

Eurot l,l t \ \" l (

E l i n l l X ' A l r ~ ElIrln\tlrkl 1

EXl:al thurAt

Excel AIr\\-a

n . I I l ~ A l r S\.·r\'l(l· . 44, 1( '5. Il'7. 112.

1 2 , 9

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I' ' ;Dm-" l \ ~ k l r t h l ' 91

Dc I 1.1\ IILl l ld ( mIII1 {)11(:6TWin

Oller 6'. 147I'\: I -LI 1I111d 1)111, - '6C pml'l

12 11, I S l S, 44 ';, ;9,97. Il'7

P1111411cr,,,, 4S

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{)elt'l A i r 1 , 2

J)lIt1 Air L lC ' " S ' , S i , 9 7 , IIi IS.

141, 162

PETA 'l'

Dl'llhdll' :\cr \l. p' I\ . l' 124

1""I"he I lA 112, IS,

nl'll",dll' Lill i I LIl . l 21

I)l·llt . (hl'r t \ \ .' r t l1I ly1 21

I\lllll'I\·tr,lll'll111 IlL'

l\\lI,t.:Lh Alrd,llr ( \ l l l l P , I 1 l ~ 7,1(\

17 ", I S6 7

Clll1lWOIlt\trlllll'' ' ' so, 112Cal l' ld.1 k 1 164

C'Ill'ld.lIr Four 42

Canadt,ln Alrllnl''' 'Int"rn,ttltHlal

94-S, 112, 164C.Ill,ldl.lll I onh 164

Can,IJI.1llP"Ul1l Air LIIll « '""

Aor) 50, S6 7.94

Can)el 164

Carll,ll LAlri l I ll ' ' ' 170

Caner, Ron 59

CASA 124

Ccntral A IrilIlC'" 67

Cl'ntra] B r l o .h Columht,l t\lrwily'"

49C F ~ 1 1111lrnIIItIIlll 101,154

CFMS6 101 2, 116 142, 146 7,

151 4

Ch;lllcngl'r Atrlllll·. 6) 6

Ch,lIlu' \'tlughl (:t)rp\)rallllll

Ch,lIlncl Alrw,I\ ," 44Chlll,l Atrllll,·. ~ L \ 166

Chlll,l E" ...r l· r n 14S

Chill;! Cirt."H \VIII Corf '\ ) r ,Hhl l l 14S

Chmil Snllthnn I4S

Clldlord 177

ClI ' lI'lll·l . 177Cm-FIYcrExprl· . 12S

CI\"t! A\.'rtlll,HItl('" 1\1.lrd H. \9,

66--7,72, S7

(1\"11 A\"I,t1ltlil Allnllllt. lr.lIltltlllf

Chma 14'CI\"II A\"I.ltlPll r\lllh\lrlt\ I('S

Cl.lrk . \m HuhIIY" \oi" 1('6

COl11p. . Alrw.I,,'" 177

Cnndllr F111gdln . r 71, Sol 1,1

Ctlnllt.'u.ur 122

CUI1II1llnl11 Atrhnl· . 17. i2, 7S, .st.92 1,96,112,1421, 14S,

1 61 2 , 16S, Iii

C\lll\'.llr (' \ ' ·H0 16,21. 66

(' \-440 2 0 , "

C\'-';,Sl' 25 7,66-7,92 1C\'-6l 67

C\'-640 49C \ ' - " 0 1 7 , , 1 , 9 4

CV-990 15, 17,94, 122

COPA A"lmc" 165

Cor . m 141

Cll l l \o . lltlltd,lY" IL'H, 112

CO l ' \' ,Errol 105--6,122

CtllJrt Lllll'A\"liliIOn IHCr,llld,llI,Rt lhlrt J IIH

Crtl<llll Atrlllll'' ' ' 150 I

Crtlllt,hAtrlllll'' ' ' 17('

( : rU:I l 'r t l 146

CS.A C:l'(h Alrlllll·. ISLI IS?

(:ull,lrd E,I"!c Am\, I \, ' " 41 6

( ~ u n l ' " ( '·46 49

( \ 'rnl'" AlrwIY" 17( '

Ca lAi r Intl'r1l.llhlll,d 127

(:.lkdt,ltll'UlAIrway. 46,127,

129 10,16'

C : 1 l 1 \ r Il 1 (\'lltr,11Alrlllll· . )l) 40

C,lht"rllla PlIhl t (UI dl t l l· .

(:tlIl11n" . l I l i l N,15

797

Index

49 5L 7I, ,5, 94. 107·H, 112,

114, 155, 171727 16,2(\-1,2l. 2;, n 28, 1I ,

1 4 S , 19,41,5>, )9, 61, 65--<"

79, H2 M, H6 ", 91, 91-7, 99,101. 1045, 107, 112 114,117-2L\ 129 111-1,142 146,

1)9,162,164-,16' ,I7I,IH5

747 12. >5,8 ,,2 ,91 2,91,

97-" I 2 , 1 40 , 1 66 , I i9757 88,101 1,109,112,122,

12S, 127, 110, 11H, 142, 152,

161,164,167 -8,1717671012,1157,152,155,165,

16i, 179777 152,154,166

7j7 102 47N7 101

H-I H,ll

10-17 II

! l-29 22, 12!lA7 nH-52 14

H&W ~ I o d e l lC-40A 172C-97/KC-97 1 2. 1 2

KC-115 ~ , I l 14.12.101, 104,

179

~ h , , - I e l 2~ t l l d d ,

~ h l c l 4 ,

T-4>-" 110l\x'lIlg Bu. tn\ . Jet Iii -2 IS0

1 1 J \Vtllt.llll E" s. IIBomh.lrdll'r R l J I I 1 1 1 jl'l 16.?

l \ l I l ,m: , }Atrlmc . 2: !S

I\l"'phnru :\I r 170

Bri l,l thl ·n .?\ , 41 -2.62- l, 6h- i I.' l ' . 116, IS, 9, "1

Fklllllt Alrw.1Y . 1 7 2 S, =0 6S,

72 1,75, ,7 ' ,91, 11921

Rrall. l l l l, Rt lh'. l rd 129

Rn . 11l1 17S Brll,lIlnl;l 12,42 "

4S 6, 4H S7 ~ , 6 " 10,

Brtl,lIllll,lAlrw,ly'" 2 ~ . 41 7 , 57 -H.

6'-9, Hl-S, ILI ,107-S,

112 11,116,125,110,167-8

Brttt. h Al' rmp,ll l ' BAc 146 9H, 104,

119,124,126,128-9,112,

162 1jl'blrC,llll 9H

Brl ll h AIr f- l rrl l" 127

Brt tl h Alrtllur . I l " ' ~ , 116. 127.

129 ll\ 179

Rn,,-h AI"' ' ' )' 101 In 10, 1121 1 7 ~ ~ , lSI, 151, 162-1, "5, 1 ~ 9

RrUl h C,tk·dtllll.1Il A t r w . l ~ ' " 127, 1,0

Bntl h t : ,II l '. hllll,1Il (:hartl'r 127

Brt ll h E , ! l Illll·rtlilllllll'll Alrlml· .

44 SBrlll . h Ellru!""l lllAlrwlY" I)t 44 ),

Il'l, I>l\ 112, 1 ~ 6Brtll . h ~ 1 t d l . l I l d Alm.I\". 106. 112.

11'-9, 167,I i ~Brtll . h On: r" l I " A t r w , I ~ ' "

Cllq<Ir1I101l II 12.15 17. ~ 6 ,42, 44S, S7 , 101

Rrt ll h UllIlcd . \m\ .I\ , ' " 44

Brt lt h \ ,(Inrld Alrll l l l ·. 127

Hro\\ 11, \Xl1l l r II

Rnlll\lll Am\.IY'" I ' ~Hrym\ln Eur')I'I.".1ll ·\trw.I'-'" IlS

Burh·. E" P.IUI 67

Hurr,1\)11 S 9 , 9 2 - ~HlI: : 162 IB\X'IA\ (fl . t 11l lle

.15S--lJ

111\( One-ElcH'n 7, I ~ - 19. 245,

ll, 19,44. 46,50,61 2,65,71,

79 'l \ ~ l , '6,101 5,107·-H,112,119,121-9, III 2,11',

151, 1712, 17S, "5

HiI",HII FluJ:J:l e1I"lhllt 1 0 ~ - 9HEA :\tr tour. 10,

IX·IU\-II. b"lw,mJ R 14'

I ~ r l l l l EUr\ll"llIl LI\: 1,2

lx-thull\.·,<"\lr\lnn 14.?

Htrllllllj.!h,ltll Euwpc,1llAlrw.l\"" I , ~HI AIr T r . l I l " ' l ~ l r l 17

Bhll· ' -Ll l ldll l I \"I1 167

1\t)(·11lL:.-\lrTr,m",plm s-9,11

1\X lllg '\lrpl.lIl\.·C\ltllp.lll\ 7. S . 9 .II

40A ,

sL"\ l)

2479 II. I S I S6

lLi II

1I4 II 12

17i 12 . 1 67-7 1027L'i ' . 1 2 Il, lS Ii, 1920,29,

12,45 6. 49Sl \ 71,79, ,2,

'4 5, , 7 , , 97 , ILl, 101 4,114,11', 14S, 151, 1)7, Iii

717 157, 1 7 l ~7 2 0 / 7 2 l ~ ! l 1( IH2L I, 2" II 4,

AuCd 109,116-21,147,159

Atr<.:,lllm"l'. llnl'nt . 116

Atrllll\.· nercglll.mon All S7 - "

Alrlllll' Plio",' A . I"lltItHm (ALPA)

214Alrtuur 12S

t\lrw'ly Illl\.·rnathltl.11 ( ~ , m n t112 14,116,124

ALt,l.rAorlme, 14,94 5, 146, 158,

1 7 7 ,

1\\;t ... J Iml'rIlilllPlul AIr 146

Alu,Iir,I 15,47

All N'rron AIf\\"a\' 50,64 ·5, 114Allcgh<"l1\ Aorlme, 27, 104 5

AII"mceAif 147,166AIII . tHl 501l 'ngl l l l ' 27,66

AII . I'lIl· ]n . ur,lIKl · 71

AlohaAlflme, 6S 79,162,171,179

Amh . <idor 1\ IrWiY . 16H

Amh\.·r 'l l r 125

Aml'rl l,l We . 1 Alrl l llC'" lJS 112.

142 1,147, ISl, 171,181

Amcrll.ltl Atrlllle. 6, II. 17 19.2, .

72. ~ 7 , 117 21 , 124 IS6IS9 ( )1

Am\·rI(,1Il AlrW,I\ . 10- II/\!ll\.·rI(,1ll hn. lllu· ( jruup 109

Aml'rI(.1ll <. )n'r"'l'' '' ' ' AlrllIll'' ' ' 1 ~ 2Aml'rI(.1llTr,m . Air ISO

ANI' '\or "!Irr"n I14, IS0An"'l'lI :\lrllIle . 1,2 ,. 1ii

An-eIlAN.-\ 61

An"'l'tt N \ . · \ \ Z l 1 11 J 1,2

AIl . lU \'('orldwt. k 109

Anhlllt\\" -\l\:·24 t)7

A O ~ 1 hl· lllh AlrlIIlC" loll

:\pnllll Ih· . nr lit.)

An:\ll1,1 Atrlllll·. 6)-6

:\rk\.1 1 14 ISArn,lllllJ.: IS:

A , I I 1 ;\.trlmc 1\2

A p ro I l o !, d "y 1 2 )

AtII" AIr 172

ATR 42 126All"lrI1I1ll Alrhnl· . Il2

A\'.IllIAlrl1m Ih=;

t \ \ "I ,K\ l 47AnilClUHl (d

An,IIlGt 2), )4. 7H

An,l I l' L ,t 164 5

A\' i ; l tHm Trddl·r. ' (:arvillr 49 , 127

Aviogellex III 12

Axoll Alrlllll·. 170

AR A.r1lnl·. 175 6AB Sh,mlllll1 1i5Ahcl.lj!AIr\\.IY. 97

A<rLing, , ' 21, 44,49 S0, 62-1,6"

70 I. 97, 1 0 ~ , 122,11" 140,170, 172

Al'n . 141

Acrltntl' Elrl',mn 49, 1:;6

AlfO '- ~ h d l · . l r l < l " 165

Aero ( \ l I l II l lCl1 l l ' 164-5Acm COIl1l11l..'11Il' Chdc 165

A<ronol 7,151-2,187

Al'mltnca . ArgC11t1l1,I" 79, 164Al'nlt l lOlr lt l l l1 L' 140- IAcnl"p,Kc Indu . trtc . A"'''l)(I,ltitm 24Acm",prlll<1k 124

Al .'roS\'I1 151

ACflllOllr 109Aor 2000 126,118-9AorAlg:T1e 70,80-1,114-15,146

AirAnglta IH6Air AtIII1Il klLlIldl1.: 155, 16"

AlrAtltlllll ... 114

Air !X·lgllllll 97. 122AirRerlll) 1L!. ISO

AirBn"lol 17--\If C hfof11,1 55 6,72, 109. 116':ur C1nIJ,I 164

:\ If Ch.\rrcr I 'l lA . r Chm.) 14:-

o\lf bop.II'lI" 122Air EUf\lr.1 1 21 2 , 125. 159\ IT Eurorl' 101--6. 101'\-9, 116.

120- S. 1 2 ~ , I"

Air Europe Exl'n . 1.?2" 5

-\Ir EUnlJ1." ( ~ G l l l d l n . 1 \ - I . \ ) .?2

. \Ir FI\md1 10,,7 lk,96, 10t\--9, Hi,

Ii,

Air Fr,lllll' I" 15,49, S6, 9i, 100,

124,112,140-1, 1;1

: \ . l rU.l I '<ln S0

!\or1I"ll.md III

Air 111lr S6-7. 141, I S 5

AIr ~ b d , l l . : , I " ' G l r , ~ OA,r ~ L u l Au II

A,r M.d , \"1 146

Air 1>LtIt" 114 IS

Aor N,uln, 80-I, 114AorNe \\" Zc,dand 61,112,162,180

A Ir N o r w , I ~ ' 122

AIrOutrl ' ~ k r 141

AIr Paulll: IHAir PhlilpJ'llle. 166

Air PrO\"l·nll· Ch,lrter 175

AIr R\hl' 170

AIr Slll,ll 97.99

AIrSnll lhwe. t 71

Air Sp<llll 4 ~A tr SlIn . 11111\ Hs

Air T,lll:,llll,1 SO. 146

Air Tpulllll"'eImlrIl,ItHm,11 141

AlrTr,l l l lSi

Air Tr.Ul"pnrt A . \x:I,uhm 01

Amerll,t 24

Air Trlll"I<lrt \'('orlJ liS

AifUK 12S,162Air l 'I\: Llt . ure 1 25 6

Air Lkr.llnl· 151

Alr\'.Ulu.llu IHAir \ ' tkl l lC 15)

AIf \\,._, 2" 41

Alr7,llre S0

-\Irhll'"Indll . t rt c 1 24

.-\1(\' ~ S , 91,124-5,166,177

A1I0 124 Ill, 152 IS5,164 1"-'

A l l ' 146,1)1,162.167. IH0

-\119 140,146, 167, 1 ~ 0,\ 120 119, 1 24 7 , 110, 112, I 1"

140-2,146-7,151-4,159,162,

167 ' , 1 , 0

AI21 126 14l \1 4 2 146, 167 "0

All0 ISS

1\140 ISS

112ft 71n (34.3m)

41ft 2in(12.5m)

162-189

174,200lb (79,020kg)

129ft 7in (395m)

3,383ml (5,443kml

Length

Range

737-700

Length 110ft 4in (33.6m)

Height 41ft 2in (125m)

Wmgspan 112ft 71n (34.3ml

Gross Weight 154,5001b (70,080kg)

Range 3.751mi (6,035km)

Seating 126-149

Aviaton Hobby Shop

Height

Gross Weight

737-800

Aviaton Hobby Shop

Seatmg

Wingspan

THE 737.100-900

790

- --

Aviaton Hobby Shop

737-900

Length 138ft2in (42.1m)

Height 41ft 2in (12.5ml

Wingspan 112ft 7m (34.3ml

Gross Weight 174,2001b (79,020kgl

Range 3, 158ml (5,081 km)

..Seating 177-189



Galaxy Airway> 170, 190Gare>. Mark T. Jnr 54GATX/Booth Aircraft C()rronnion

55-6. 109GB Airways 130. 167GB Lel>ure 130GeneralDynamics 17

General Ekctnc 101. 171-ZGerman,a I31-Z, 158, 190Gdlf,llraf Airway . 130

Cllner, Gerald 91

GoFly 16Z-3G,xxlman, lIarry 105, IZZGrandImernarional Atfway:- 166

Gr < " J oe 59Gucrn:lcy Airlines 122

G l l i n n c ~ s Peat Aviation 109,122,

133. 151

GulfAir 80,97

Gurdll1<lll, G.r. 85

Ham,111 AlrltnC:l 148

H"JI-!o,mnoll, Stc!o:- 172I L1l1111lO!1 Aero Manufacturing 8

Handley·Page IIPR·71 bald 45,

IZ 7 1 38lIapag Lloyd 131, 154, 158. 180Ilarnson, ChriS 106, 116

1lassen, Victor 177Ilavc1ct L ca :- 1 g 1 12

II lWillI.nl Alrhru;s 65

IlawkerS,ddcley IZ4liS (BAc) 7 48 7 9, IZ9 133.172Tndent 44-5, 103, 148, 186

Hdl\)s Airways 170I kn . on Alrl1l1L'S 118

Hhpanlil 122

Ilphd'l)' Alrlll1CS 170Ilolt)e, Gerh",d ZZ 51

Ilon:on Travel 83,106,109. IZ5Huhhard, Edwlrd 32

Ilughc .... Iltm',lrJ 11

Ilukk. J Kenneth 55

Ihma 15.47,63.122,159

kl'hmJ Alr1tL . 155Icdand,llf 155

Ilymhm 11·189711·86 14811·96·300 180

Indl<l1 A.rllIle.., Cmpor,ltlnn 79, ~ 2 ,147. 166

Indo!1C an Air Fllrcc 110

Indn!1CS ) GovernnH':l1l 110

I n l < l ~ U n L CI f C C l rn u p 101) 109

Irllq.:rlrld Alrcr"fl CorpOr< ltDn 109

Inter C aq : J Servlcl 141

InlerCid ServlCc 141

In l r Europe,m Alrwayl 125 6

Il1Iertlug ZI. 187Intenor Alrwayl 146

Intern,1I10n,11 Air Tr 1'1por!

A»oua"oo (lATA) 47,49

Intcrn,Hl\lnal L ea " F 1 1 t )C C

Corl '"ra"on(ILFC) 109.114.116,138

Intern.lIlim,11 LCNlreGrnup 109,

I ZZIr,m All 80.97

Ir Am\,ly'" 80,97

I>land>tlug 1551.. lanhul Alrlll1l 1 69 7 0

j-pan Air Line'! 134

j p,1l1 Tr,m ...O c " 1 1 AIr 134

JetAmvay' 166.176jet America Alrlmc_, 146

J ug o' m ' n ... ki Aero Tr<1 1pnr! (JAT)

111-1 Z 151

Junker,JU·5Z ZI

JU·88 ZIJunker ... Lufl\l..rkehr 21

Kelleher.llerhert D. 71-Z. 75.104.181-Z

K l n y A l r w a y ~ 146

K l w b on , Alan II. 54

Kmg, R"lltn 71-Z, 181KLM Royal DUlch AlrllI1t" 130,

159,177,186,190

KLM UK 161

K or - m Air 166,17?-8

Korc<ln AIr L I l 1 l . . ' ~ 133

KTI-IY 170Kuhl, E11d 51

Kuwair Alr\<lYs 80

LACSA 164L ' A e r o p o ~ r < . - l l e 141

Lake CentralAillme, Z3 Z5-7, 37

LakerA,m'ay, 44, 57. IZ7LApA 164LCIurc Imcrnatlonal Allways 126

Llhra Holiday, 168

Ll"ca' Acn_'-Hi Ch c<Jn<Js 165

LmJetlyg 136-8, 155Lilhllanl<ln Airlme" 151

Lockhccd AlrcwflCo, 156-7

Constellat,on 18,2O-Z. 33-4. 39,41-3,47.49, 5Z 156

CI30 I bcule> 49. 146L·188 Elecl,a I Z , 1 7 , Z3-4, 33,40-1,53,55,61,88,116,157

L·IOII Tmwr 83, 103-4, 130.133, 136, 159. 168

L"ftlelder 155Lorenzo, Frank 91-3, 142

LOTPolbh Alrlme> 136, 151LOl ... T O l l r t ~ m Organll,Hlon 170

LTU 63. 159

Luflag ZILuflhatba Z0-3, 30, 36, 51-Z, 58,

60,68.71,83,90-1,104, liZ,131-Z, 135-6,141-Z.153.161,166,170, 183. 188

Luxall 97, 100

M,lCedonwl1 Alrlll1lS (Grecce) 170

M,ler,kAir 107. 109, II Z IZ5IZ7. 136

M,ler,kAir (UK) 137-8M , a y < l 1 A l rw ; - Y' 3 6

M , I L 1 Y ~ I < I - S l l 1 g a p o r l ' Alrlllx", 24. 36,

04,77, 184M , l b Y ~ I , i I " l Alrlme Sy ... ICI 78--9,

I Z6, 147

M,llay'I,iI"l A I r < lY' 36

i rb v IlunglrI.lI"l A lr m l 1 150-1i r d mo AVl,II10n 136

1\I,lIldann A r 1 " 166

M,lrllll1\l.. 110

tv!.lIkAIl 146tv!"111 ZOZ Z8 39

404 Z8, 38 , 5 9 , 68, 118

McDtmncl1 D t Ug l " Alrcr.lftCo,

156 7MD·II 122.157.177,180

MD·80 75.9Z· I, 104. 116. 119,IZ4, 14Z, 146, 148, 157

MD·90 157Mdlherg, Dave 51-3Mellherg, W,II1,lm E 5Z-3

M l r id lc ln ' 1 22

M n J 1 162->

MCXlC.ma 23-4

Me) Air Tran ... p or l 8 4

MI<1I111 Air 168

Midway Ar1l11e> (I) 96,147Midway AlIllI,"> (Z) 16Z-41\tmcrvc 141

MlW>try of AVIHlt" l 44

Moddufl I Z6 166

Mohawk Aillme, 39, 104-5Monarch Alrlme> (UK) 107-8, liZ

Monarch Alrl (US) 65 -6

Mom,All 14Z 3 147

Mu>e Al l 75-6Mu c Michael 75

Mu c M. LlIn,lr 72-5

1\1yer Wdh,lm 54

N,ltlOmdAerol1lunc ... & Space

Admll1l ... tr<lon (NASA) ,S,

86, 179N,lIIonal Air T r; 1 ... pnr! 8, II

Nanonal Alrhnl ... 23,87,96, 185

NcwY"rkAIr 93,96. liZ, 147N W Z e< l 1 d N,1I10nal Alrw;!yl

Corp"r,H,,,n(NZNAC) 50,61-Z, 13Z

Nl'\,'man. A ir 1 ,2

NICA 164

Nigerl,lAlr\\,ly" 80Nihon KmlHlrl Airway... (NKK) I H

INDEX

N,hnn (NAMC) YS·II 38,59,68,

118, 134

NOGA 110Nord Z6Z Z5-7Norda;r Z3 33,56-7,61,94Nortcrr<J 164

Northern Consolidated A i r l l n e ~Z3-4.34

Northwest Alrl" lcs 87,124, IS,NorlJer IZZNorway A l r h n e ~ 122

Novalr 159

O Vi r InternatIonal Airways

127-8

Oce<lnalr 155

Odyssey lnrematlonal 126

OlymllCAlrw"y, 97, 170Olympic AViation 170

O'Regan, Martrn 105-6,IZZOrgal"lzal ion of Oil Producmg and

ExpornngCountricl (OPEC)

83-4,101Ort"n Airway, 106,108-9.l iZ.

114, 116.IZZ, IZ5Overc<ls Aviallon 42

O:ark Alrlme:'! 53

Pacific Aero ProduCb Company 8PaCIfic All Lrne, Z3 Z7-8, 37.

40-1,55

Pacific Air Trampon 8-9, IIPacific Aviation Holding C()mp<my

109PacifC Norrhl rn Alrlmcs 33--4,61,

94Pacific Southwest Alrlll1el 23,28,

37.39-41.53-4.72.88.104.

117. 143PacIfic W I . . ' ~ t e r n Alrlme ... 23,33,

48-9.56,61,94,119

P k s t 1 " Inlern,Hlonal Airway... 112,

147. 1491\111 American \X/orld Alf\vayl 11-

IZ. 15,34.87.96-7, IZ4, 13ZP,ramOUI"( Am\'ay ... 125

Peach All 168P Cj a ... ll' I A Irl11"lC' 170

Peiser Roher! 144-5

PcopIExprc' " Alrlmcs 89-91,98,liZ. 14Z, 147, 161

PereIra, Wdhcun L jnr 54

Pcrrolmr I 10

Pettlr. Roger 89

PhlllpplI"lc Air L l " e ... 166

Piedmont A lr l " l c s 2 3, ,7-9, 53, 58-

9,68-9,104, liZ, 117-19.143PlcJmnnt Commuter 118

pLUNA 108Polanl Alrcmft Le,hmgCorpnrillhll"l

119Pran & Whllney 8

JT8D 19,31.59,64,86. 101-Z,135-6,143,179

Wa> 1 1 0Prcsidcnllal Airways 98, 147

P rl d l n t l E xp r s " 98Pnv,H,m 171

r r o ~ A l r 147

Putnam,Iloward D, 75

Qanla> 55, 13Z, 134, 177Qanta ... NewZl,lland 1,2, 162

Quehecall 94, 108

Rank Organl:allon 127-8Red Drilgon Tril\cl 112

Renick. L ud 5 4Rldlr 151

Riga Alrlll1el 151

RI"Sui 146R"I b Royce Spey 63RJ500 101

RotterdamAlrl1lll· ... 130--1

R"yalAirMaroc 80. 146Royal Airline ... 164

Royal Brunei Alrlnl 80Ryamltr 16Z, 171-3

SAAB 340 13ZSahena 15,49,97,99-100, 153,

175, 177

192

Sahrc A l f \ \ ' < I Y ~ 168

SaharaA Irltne> 166, 168SAIISA 80SAT 131

SATA AllAcores 155SATA Internauonal 155

Sauclta 80, 8Z. 97ScanJm<lvlan A i r 1 i n e ~ System

(SAS) 15,41,85,136,138,

155, 158-9, 189Shanghai A I r " C S 148

Shcnzcn A i r " l es 1 48

Short Bros & Harland 63

330 IZZ36 0 1 ZZ IZ6Sandringham 12

Sdkalr 147Srng"poreAllltne, 77,79,88, 147SkutnlCk, Lenny 89

Skyway, 4Z

SNECMA 101

SNOMAC 86SNpL86

S"helalr 97, 100SOCICta Aerc<lMedacrr' "l (SAM)

47

S o l o m n n ~ Alrlll"le' 134

South African A l r \ \ ' a y ~ 23,65,79,

180South Ea ...r European AIf\\ays 126

Sourh\\,c ..,1 Alrlml (Japan) 134

Southwcst Airl" lc ' (US) 7 ,71 -7 ,

88.104. l iZ,135-6, 14Z-3, 147,154-<i 158, 16Z. 172, 181-3

Spantax 47, IZZStar Elropl 141

SH:r111g Airways IS9, 184

Sterlmg European Am\ay" 159,168SWUI Alrlmcs 8S u d ~ E ' l { Avii-ltlnn 18

SE·ZIOCaravelk 7.13-6,18,41,

49,53,71,79,84-6,97,114.

131-Z, 141, 159, 170, 184Sud,1n Airway... 80,97

Sultan Air 170

SunExprc . ' 170

S U I" l { r d InlernilllOnal Airline .liZ, 114, 147

Sup<ur 109

S W I S ~ , u r 15,84-5

TAAG Angob Alrlll"le' 80

TACA Imernilllonal Alrbne: '! 164

TACA Peru 164

TAE 47Taman Air FnrCl..' 172

TANAlrltne> 80TAPAi r Ponugal 114

TAROM 151

Texa AernntlllllCS C Ol nlS ' "l 72

Texa AIr Cnrpnratllll"l 75,91-"

liZ

T xa... I nl r n, O n <l 1 A l r l l l " l l ' ~ 73-5,

77. 89,91. 93, 14ZThd'Airway, 80, 131Th,ll Alr\\ay... Internarum,ll 1,,--4

Thoma . Cook Travel 107

Thom!onGroup 83, 125

Thnm ...on I rCrn<1r( " lal 167

TIIYTurk"h Arrltne, 169 70

TIFA 85lime Air Swcden 1,6

lIt,lI"l AII\\ay... 126-7

Tjaerhorg RClser 159

Tr<ldcwl1d ... 147

TramAu ... lralia Atrlll1cI 61, 132

T nl " E u rn p a 47

Tmns Elrope;- " Am",ly" 84-6,97,

114. IZZ 130, 172-3

CYl 'n" I30, I 70Francc 130

Italy 130SWII:er1<tnd 130. 172U K I ZZ , 130

Trans Tex;:- A l I w < l Y ~ 72· 3Trans \Vorld Airlines (TWA) 23.

66,83,87. 157

TranlAer 168

T r a n ~ a e n l I51-2

Trmb..ur 61, 94

Tran.""·la 84-5,88. 103, 108, 114,1 30 I . 159

Tramhrcbll 146

T r a n ~ c o n t l l " l e n { a l & \X/esrcrn Air

10-11Tmnsmdc Air Senlcc 147

Transport Aenen Tmn: rcglOnal 141

Tr.mSl'H A l r h n e ~ 75-6

Tnmswedc A m v a y ~ I 36

Tran.:wcde L e l ~ u r e 136

Travel ServIce Airlines 151

Tunl>air 85. 114, 147TupokvTu·104 7 1 87Tu·IZ4 7.187Tu·l34 7 liZ, 151, 187

Tu·154 148TUR IZZ 130Tlrho1l1eca B a ~ r o n 27

UkramcInrcrnauonalAlrllncs 151

UM Iloldll1g, 147Unul"l Aeromanlllne de Tr(llbpOrr

Aenenne(UAT) 13

Unllll"l dc Tramporrs Acncm 141

UnliedAir Ltne, 9-11, 16-18. ZO,ZZ-4, Z9 33,39 , 41 , 5Z-3,64,68-9,84-5,87-88,93,96-7,

101.104. liZ. 14Z, 153. 16Z,179, 183, 188

UnlledAlrcmft& T r a n ~ p o r tCorporation (UATC) 8-11

United Expre's 98Unllcd S l < H e ~ Air F o rc e 1 4, 110

Unltl'd SI<les Navy 16,172Unl\er:!alr 122-3

Unl\crlal Sky T o u r ~ 42

US Arrway, 153, 16Z-3USAIr 104-5,109,l iZ, 117-18,

134,143.153, 16Z, 179, 189

Vacallnmur 126

Valulel 157Vangu,lrd A lr " 145-6,184

VARIG 146.149VarneyAlrllm.:s 8, IIVASp 79, 8Z, 146, 149, 176Vicker... Arnbtrong Vanguard 12,

45. 141VCIO 44, 5Z-53Vlklllg 42

V"coun, IZ-13. 16,18, ZO, 36,

45, 49-50,61-Z,65. 71,79.106. IZ7, I38. I51

Vikl"lg Internallonal 125

VlpAIr 170Virgin Group 129, 175

Atlantic Airway, IZ6 175. 177

Blue 176. 177

EXI"e» 175, 177E xp r s " (Frill1cd 175

EXlre» (Ireland) 175Viva IZZ

W,tIltck, S.L. 'Lew Jm Z8

\'VntCO,hlA Irlll"ll..' 28

We...r (JCrm<Hl Air F o rc c 7 9

We>lern Air Ltne> Z3-4, 31. 33-4,39,41,53-4,56.60,86-7,94,

104, liZ, 117-19, 143Wc... ll'rn PaCIfc Airline ... 143-5,

147, 172WC"lcndt,Cdr G, Conrad 8

WC'tgarl -Cahfomla CorpoT<lnon 116\X/c... tJel Alrlll1C ... 164

Whc,lIon, Capt Larry 89

Whltcomh,Dr Richard 179

WI enArrAh"ka 79,94, 114. 146Wlen Ala>ka Arrway> Z3-4, 34Wien C O lb n l d< l d A l r h n e ~ 21, n,

53,55,58,60,79

Wdlialll>, j.E.D. 44-7\Vin,ur Alrml 147

Wln\\,()od, RIChard 1. 147

Wolfe, Thoma... 55

Wnght 1810 10

\Xluhan Alrlmc'l 148

\Vygle. Bnen Z8-9

YakalovYAK·4Z 148Yemen Airway... 80



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