Boeing updates 737 for a new era

[Blue_Tires]

Boeing's 737 — the commercial jet that made its debut in 1968 and the one you've most likely flown on — is getting a makeover to fit with the new demands of air travel in the 21st century.

The new version, the 737 Max, which is scheduled to make its debut in 2017, is designed with new engines to burn less fuel than its three predecessors, to help airlines pare costs and leave less of a carbon footprint on the global environment.

But at its most basic, the Max will be the same 737 stalwart the traveling public has come to know the last 44 years. It's a single-aisle jet that will ferry up to 215 passengers on both short and cross-country trips, and offer efficiency that's helped make the 737 the best-selling commercial jet in history, with 9,745 sold.

"They're known as the workhorse of the industry," says Mike Van de Ven, COO of Southwest Airlines, which has exclusively flown 737s since the airline's birth in 1971.

http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2012-04-15/Boeing-737-makeover-to-add-fuel-efficiency/54299470/1?csp=tf

[PoliticAverse]

1. Is Boeing’s 737 an Airplane Prone to Problems?

The plane is America’s most popular model. But aviation experts worry that America’s most popular airplane is prone to cracks in its skin. An investigative report.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/03/19/is-boeing-s-737-an-airplane-prone-to-problems.html

[Blue_Tires]

3. That "investigative report" gets completely shredded here:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5416862/1/

[PoliticAverse]

8. Thanks for that followup. n/t

[leveymg]

2. The redesigned wings have already transformed this plane. It now turns on its center, rather than

being the yaw-happy "short wheelbase" handful that plagued pilots of the original design.

There is no real reason to build new passenger jets. Just continue to upgrade the ones that already exist in droves.

[RT Atlanta]

4. Following the same approach (updgrade/modifications)

Is why the Soyuz spacecraft has been so reliable and such a space workhorse - it was originally designed to fly cosmonauts to the moon the the late 1960s and has been flying since with continuous upgrades.

[pangaia]

5. Same is true of the Cessna 172-- just keep improving it little by little.

[PoliticAverse]

7. Boeing put a lot of effort into the 787.

And they have over 800 orders for it. So there is demand for the features of the new.

[Gold Metal Flake]

10. The 787 would serve a different market niche, being a long-range wide-body. nm

[Blue_Tires]

11. True, but oddly enough the 'other' longtime airline workhorse is out of production

The DC-9/MD-80/MD-90/717 variants

[doc03]

6. Gee the last time I was on one there was about a 1/2" extra knee room. With all that extra room

they could probably squeeze another row of seats in and upped it to 220 passengers.

[liberal N proud]

9. When you find a design that works, you stick with it

Just keep the technology and systems modern and these planes could fly for a long time.