This was one of the factors that slowed down the early commercial traction of the 737, and airlines initially operated the plane with three crew.īy 1987, however, the 737 was the most ordered plane in commercial history, according to Boeing. Pushback from unions slowed the acceptance of two-crew operation, and many airlines kept the flight engineer until the early 1980s. “A big saving for the airline: less weight to carry and one less wage to pay. On short flights, the work done by the flight engineer could be shared across the two pilots. “But technology had evolved, and there was much more automatic equipment on the 737. “At that time, pretty much every airliner had three crew sometimes, on transatlantic flights, there were four crew: two pilots, a flight engineer and a navigator,” says Simons. Airlines, however, weren’t quick to adapt.

To demonstrate that the plane could be safely managed by just two pilots, Boeing flew it along the busy Washington-Boston corridor 40 times in six days during Thanksgiving 1967, simulating a range of failures and problems.Īs a result, the FAA approved the plane for two-crew operation. The 737 was Boeing’s first two-crew aircraft, doing away with the flight engineer station that was commonplace at the time and introducing another innovation that would become standard. The engines of the Boeing 737-300 have a flat-bottomed shape known as the 'hamster pouch.' MAURICIO LIMA/AFP via Getty Images “It became a very good profit-making machine,” says Simons. To add to these selling points, the 737 also had six seats per row versus the competitors’ five, meaning it could carry more passengers. All of that could reduce the turnaround time at a major airport from around 90 to 40 minutes. Instead, it had air stairs that came out from under the door and dropped down. “And it didn’t require external ladders for passenger access. It was also easier to refuel, because the wings were lower to the ground,” says Simons. “You could load the plane from the back of a truck, without specific machinery. This allowed the aircraft to sit very low to the ground, making it easier to load luggage. Unlike Boeing’s larger planes, however, the 737 didn’t have its engines mounted on pylons in front of the wing, but directly under it. Its main competitors at the time, the BAC-111 and the Douglas DC-9, also had two engines, but they were placed near the tail of the plane, making the back section of the cabin narrower and noisier.īoeing’s designers placed the 737 engines under the wing instead, much like the company’s other jets, which reduced noise and vibration and made maintenance easier, because they could be reached without a ladder. “A few European charter companies, at peak season, flew them for 18-20 hours a day without problems,” he adds.Ĭompared to Boeing’s previous two jets, the four-engined 707 and the three-engined 727, the 737 was a smaller, more economical plane. “Some of them were even used to land on gravel strips, and they’re still being used to do so in northern Canada. “In the early days, the 737 was a very strong, very reliable aircraft,” says Graham Simons, an aviation historian and author of the book “Boeing 737: The World’s Most Controversial Commercial Jetliner.” United Airlines received its first 737 the following day, in a version stretched three feet to fit more seats – and dubbed 737-200 – that proved more popular. German flag carrier Lufthansa took delivery of the production version of the plane, known as the 737-100, later that year, marking the first time a new Boeing aircraft was launched by a European airline. It was christened by flight attendants from the 17 airlines that had placed orders for it. The first 737 was rolled out on Januand took to the skies for the first time three months later. The maiden flight of the 737 took place on April 9, 1967.

Longest fall aircraft