The US carrier Southwest Airlines has reached a monumental milestone by taking delivery of its 1,000th Boeing 737 family aircraft.
To mark the occasion the airline even fitted the newest 737 addition with a commemorative plaque.
A photo of the plaque was shared online showing the inscription, which read “1,000th Boeing 737 delivered to Southwest Airlines September 2023”.
A second plaque confirms the aircraft’s model number, serial number, type certificate number and production number.
The latest 737, a MAX 8 jet, flew from Seatle Boeing Field on September 29, 2023, and arrived at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) just over two and a half hours later.
That's an Unique Ownership Plate for this Boeing B737-8Max aircraft as "1000th Boeing 737 Delivered to Southwest Airlines September 2023".
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) October 1, 2023
This means approx. 10% of the Boeing's B737 Production (11,537 as of Aug 2023) was used by the Southwest Airlines, an important achievement. pic.twitter.com/fWPEUPXyyi
The aircraft, registered N8885Q, left Boeing assembly line in July 2023. It became the newest member of Southwest’s all Boeing 737 fleet.
“Southwest is proud to operate only the Boeing 737 – leading to a more than 52-year history of efficiency and predictability for our customers – and is the largest worldwide operator of the aircraft,” Southwest Airlines told AeroTime.
Throughout its history the world’s largest low-cost carrier has operated 737-200, 737-300, 737-500, 737-700, 737-800 and 737-MAX 8 aircraft.
According to ch-aviation.com, Southwest Airlines currently has orders for 168 MAX 8s and 204 MAX 7s with Boeing.
