Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Short-haul commercial airliner

Power Plant:

Two 14,500 lbst Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9A turbofans

Specifications:

History:

In 1964 Boeing elected to add a short-haul airliner to its range of commercial jet transports to compete with the Douglas DC-9 and the BAC 111, both of which were then in an advanced stage of development. Unlike its competitors, which had the engines mounted on the fuselage near the tail, those of the 737 series had an underwing location. It was also decided to use the same fuselage width as that of the Models 707 and 727.

The first airline to order the type was Lufthansa, and this model, seating 100, was known as the Series 100, having an initial gross weight of 44,360 kg (97,800 lb). Production grew as orders were received and, in April 1965, United Airlines in the USA, ordered a stretched model known as the Series 200. The fuselage was lengthened by 1.82 m (6 ft) to accommodate 119 passengers, or up to 130 passengers in a high-density layout. Whereas the Series 100 had the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-1 engine of 14,000 lbst, the Series 200 commenced with the D-7 model of that engine with similar power. Subsequently development led to the installation of the D-9 turbofan of 15,500 lb st, and the D-15 and D-17 of 16,000 lbst.

The prototype Series 200 flew at Seattle, Washington on 9 April 1967, certification being received on 15 December 1967 and the first production aircraft being delivered on 28 December 1967. The type entered service in February of the following year. Production of these models comprised 30 Series 100, and 1,114 Series 200, including a number of variants built for military purposes.

A Boeing demonstrator flew in Australia for a period and was demonstrated on a number of routes, including Sydney, NSW to Norfolk Island. Total number of early generation Boeing 737s amounted to 3,132 aircraft.

In 1980 Ansett Airways ordered a range of Boeing models, including the Models 727, 767 and 737s-200, of which 12 were ordered. The latter were Model 200Cs and replaced DC-9s in service. The first arrived in June 1981 and became VH-CZM (c/n 22645), followed by VH-CZN (c/n 22646), VH-CZO (c/n 22647), VH-CZP (c/n 22648), VH-CZQ (c/n 22649), VH-CZR (c/n 22650), VH-CZS (c/n 22651), VH-CZT (c/n 22652), VH-CZU (c/n 22653), VH-CZV (c/n 22654), VH-CZW (c/n 22655) and VH-CZX (c/n 22656). All were withdrawn and replaced during 1986 and early 1987, being sold to America West Airlines.

In 1986 East West Airlines, the now defunct Tamworth, NSW based operator, obtained approval to import three Model 737-200s but these were never imported as the airline became part of the Ansett group.

New Zealand National Airways Corporation ordered three Model 737-200s within months of the first flight of the Model 737-100 prototype flying, the first aircraft ZK-NAC being the third aircraft off the Seattle production line, being handed over on 30 August 1968. In New Zealand service this aircraft made 49,820 cycles in 36,570 flights and was eventually sold overseas to another operator, being broken up in 1992 for spares.

Air New Zealand operated ten Model 737-219s on its network, taking over the aircraft of NAC. These were registered in the ZK-NA block. In 1986 it returned six of its Model 737s and obtained six new Advanced Series 200s, these being Model 737-204s, 737-219s and three 737-2YFs.

Aircraft operated were ZK-NAA (c/n 22638), ZK-NAB (c/n 223364), ZK-NAC (c/n 19929), ZK-NAD¹ (c/n 19930), ZK-NAD² (23040), ZK-NAE (c/n 19931), ZK-NAF (c/n 23038), ZK-NAH (c/n 23039), ZK-NAI (c/n 22365), ZK-NAJ (c/n 20344), ZK-NAK (c/n 20156), ZK-NAL¹ (c/n 20158), ZK-NAL² (c/n 21138), ZK-NAM (c/n 19758), ZK-NAP (c/n 21130), ZK-NAQ¹ (c/n 21131), ZK-NAQ² (c/n 22022), ZK-NAR (c/n 21645), ZK-NAS (c/n 22088), ZK-NAT¹ (c/n 22657), ZK-NAT² (c/n 23470), ZK-NAU (c/n 23471), ZK-NAV (c/n 23472), ZK-NAW (c/n 23473), ZK-NAX (c/n 23474), ZK-NAY (c/n 23475), ZK-NAZ (c/n 20913), ZK-NEE (c/n 20195), and ZK-NQC² (c/n 22994). The company also leased on short term a number of Model 737s from other airlines, these including 5W-ILF, C2-RN10, C2-RN11, DQ-FJB, G-BADP, G-BAZI and G-BHWF.

Ansett World Wide Aviation Services contracted to lease six Model 737-300s to American West Airlines, and obtained four of that airline’s old Model 737-100s, the latter to be used by Newmans in New Zealand, operating on domestic services by Ansett New Zealand. These were ZK-NEA (c/n 19013), ZK-NEB (c/n 19105), ZK-NEC (c/n 19016), all Model 737-130s; ZK-NED (c/n 19770), a Model 737-112; ZK-NEE (c/n 20195), a Model 737-2A6, and ZK-NEF (c/n 22575), a Model 737-2U9.

Ozjet Airlines was set up in Melbourne, VIC in 2005 and took delivery of three Model 737-229s for its services in Australia. Its first aircraft was VH-OBN (c/n 21137 – ex G-CEAD, OO-SDM) registered on 15 February 2006. The second aircraft became VH-OZU (c/n 21176 – ex 9M-MBP, G-CEAI, OO-SDN). After the airline ceased services the latter aircraft became N733HL but did not leave Australia and was towed to a storage area at Perth airport in Western Australia. VH-OZX (c/n 21177 – ex G-CEAJ, OO-SDO), the third aircraft, was withdrawn from service in May 2009 and exported to Red Cloud Assets in Wyoming, USA as N737HL.

The airline only survived a couple of years and, after closing down, VH-OBN was retired at Perth, later becoming N732HV and being flown to Jandakot, WA where it was used to train students at Polytechnic West.

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