What is the oldest Southwest plane still in service?

Southwest's 737-700s are by far its oldest aircraft, clocking in at an average age of 17.4 years. Data from ch-aviation lists 422 of the 460 examples as currently being active. Meanwhile, the remaining 38 of these twinjets are either in storage or undergoing maintenance.



People Also Ask

The Company's fleet has an average age of approximately 12 years. In 2022, the Company's average aircraft trip length was 728 miles with an average duration of two hours. Southwest was the launch customer for the Boeing 737-700 in 1997.

MORE DETAILS

NOLINOR AVIATION BOEING 737 FROM 1976. The oldest plane in service is from Nolinor Aviation, a charter airline in Canada, that operates a Boeing 737 that first went into use in 1976. Despite its age, this plane still works like any newer one due to numerous updates throughout the years.

MORE DETAILS

The first 737-700 entered service in 1998 with launch customer Southwest Airlines. The Boeing 737-700 is the basis for the Boeing (BBJ) business jet.In January 2006, Boeing introduced the long-range version, 737-700ER.

MORE DETAILS

On October 1, 2018, Southwest Airlines took delivery of its final Boeing 737-800. All deliveries for the foreseeable future were expected to be Boeing 737 MAX variants.

MORE DETAILS

The Venezolana Boeing 737 is one of the oldest planes still flying in commercial service. It was first used in 1978, making it over four decades old. Despite its age, this aircraft continues to operate under the banner of Venezolana, an airline based in Venezuela.

MORE DETAILS

Despite the FlyersRights concerns, the FAA, Boeing and many pilots deem the 737 MAX safe to fly and many airlines have the plane in service. “I can say categorically that the 737 MAX product is safe,” then-acting FAA administrator Bill Nolen told members of the US Senate Commerce Committee in March.

MORE DETAILS

An aircraft's age is based on when it was built. Here are the approximate ages for an aircraft: Old aircraft = 20+ years. Standard aircraft = 10-20 years.

MORE DETAILS

Global aircraft fleet - average age of retirement 2005-2019 In 2019, the average age of passenger jets removed from the global commercial fleet was around 22.8 years.

MORE DETAILS

Southwest flies only Boeing instead of Airbus because when it was founded, to keep costs down, they decided to have not only one brand, but one model of airplane — the 737.

MORE DETAILS

“If you could book a 737 500, and you find out it's a 737 MAX, technically they don't have to honor your request. … So you don't have a right to specify you are not going to go on a 737 MAX.”

MORE DETAILS

The Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts are returning to the skies. If there is an aircraft that you want to avoid it is this one. The 737MAX has been responsible for the deaths of 346 people in 2 separate plane accidents.

MORE DETAILS

Southwest Airlines reviews Online customer reviews tend to agree with Skytrax's assessment. According to the 2022 Airline Quality Rating report, Southwest was ranked as the No. 1 airline in 2021 and 2020. In addition, Southwest had the second lowest consumer complaint rate in 2021.

MORE DETAILS