Eagle757shark
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2006
- Posts
- 575
It's really official-Southwest Airlines to buy 737-800
by Terry Maxon
11:30 am, Wednesday Dec 15, 2010
When its pilots agreed Dec. 1 to a contract side letter to cover flying of the Boeing 737-800, Southwest Airlines didn't formally announce that it would therefore order that aircraft type. Southwest officials did, however, say that they would be buying the airplane.
On Wednesday, Southwest chairman and CEO Gary Kelly made it officially official. He said the carrier would convert its 2012 order of 737-700s into the larger 737-800s.
In addition, he said the 2012 order would come to Southwest "ETOPS enabled," meaning that they could fly long distance over the water to Hawaii if Southwest decided to enter that market.
We expect them to fly to Hawaii. Kelly acknowledged that Southwest is thinking about flying to Hawaii. But he's not ready to announce anything yet.
Kelly said the airline's 2012 order would all be converted to Boeing 737-800s -- 20 aircraft, with delivery beginning in March 2012.
However, its most recent 10-Q said that Southwest has 23 firm orders for Boeing 737s in 2012. We've asked Southwest to explain the discrepancy.
Gary also said he anticipates that all Southwest orders for 737-700s would be converted to 737-800s until it gets enough -800s,
"Twenty is not enough, so we'll likely -- although we're not committed -- we'll likely take -800s for years. Right now, my target would be to get that fleet size up at least 70 aircraft. It could be more than that," he said.
At present, the 737-800s would replace older 737-300s rather than to increase the size of Southwest's fleet, he said. Assuming Southwest's purchase of AirTran Holdings goes through, it'll relook at its growth plans then.
But a one-for-one replacement of 137-seat Boeing 737-300s with 175-seat Boeing 737-800s would add capacity, even without growing the fleet.
Kelly is expected to elaborate on the 737-800 decision during a speech at 11:30 a.m. CST before the Wings Club in New York.
More details later.
by Terry Maxon
11:30 am, Wednesday Dec 15, 2010
When its pilots agreed Dec. 1 to a contract side letter to cover flying of the Boeing 737-800, Southwest Airlines didn't formally announce that it would therefore order that aircraft type. Southwest officials did, however, say that they would be buying the airplane.
On Wednesday, Southwest chairman and CEO Gary Kelly made it officially official. He said the carrier would convert its 2012 order of 737-700s into the larger 737-800s.
In addition, he said the 2012 order would come to Southwest "ETOPS enabled," meaning that they could fly long distance over the water to Hawaii if Southwest decided to enter that market.
We expect them to fly to Hawaii. Kelly acknowledged that Southwest is thinking about flying to Hawaii. But he's not ready to announce anything yet.
Kelly said the airline's 2012 order would all be converted to Boeing 737-800s -- 20 aircraft, with delivery beginning in March 2012.
However, its most recent 10-Q said that Southwest has 23 firm orders for Boeing 737s in 2012. We've asked Southwest to explain the discrepancy.
Gary also said he anticipates that all Southwest orders for 737-700s would be converted to 737-800s until it gets enough -800s,
"Twenty is not enough, so we'll likely -- although we're not committed -- we'll likely take -800s for years. Right now, my target would be to get that fleet size up at least 70 aircraft. It could be more than that," he said.
At present, the 737-800s would replace older 737-300s rather than to increase the size of Southwest's fleet, he said. Assuming Southwest's purchase of AirTran Holdings goes through, it'll relook at its growth plans then.
But a one-for-one replacement of 137-seat Boeing 737-300s with 175-seat Boeing 737-800s would add capacity, even without growing the fleet.
Kelly is expected to elaborate on the 737-800 decision during a speech at 11:30 a.m. CST before the Wings Club in New York.
More details later.
