Boeing 737 celebrates 50th anniversary

Just weeks before Boeing delivers the first of its latest version of the 737, the 737 Max, the plane manufacturer is celebrating the 50th birthday of the first 737, which was a test aircraft flown for the first time on April 9, 1967. As of last month, Boeing had delivered 9,448 of the single-aisle twinjets, and a further 4,506 are still on order.
Boeing has already announced it will be ramping up production at its Renton, Washington, plant from 47 units per month to 52. Southwest Airlines is the launch customer who will receive the first of the new 737 MAXs within the next few weeks. Currently the airline has an operational fleet of over 700 737-model jets.
The maiden flight began at Boeing Field in Seattle and lasted for 2-1/2 hours before the jet landed at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The 737 was designed as a logical short-range airplane to complement larger 707 and 727 jetliners. The first 737-100 was delivered to Lufthansa Dec. 28, 1967, and began commercial revenue service on Feb. 10 of the following year.
Brien Wygle, the pilot who commanded that first flight on April 9, 1967, and who two years later was co-pilot on the first flight of the 747 jumbo jet, was in attendance at the celebration. In an interview given earlier last week, he said that: “Fifty years ago we had no idea. We were hoping to eventually sell enough to break even,” adding, “The 737 took the aviation world by storm and has been improved steadily since. It obviously filled an incredible need.”
Bob Bogash was one of the original engineers working on the plane commented that “We flew off unpaved runways in the Canadian North. Many of those airlines had never had a new airplane before and never had a jet airplane.”
The 737 was responsible for changing the economics of domestic flying in the U.S. Its swift turnaround times, fuel efficiency and ability to operate from small airports introduced the concept of low-cost carriers and consequently brought air travel to the masses.