"Did you know that there were two times in the history of Southwest Airlines where the company had aircraft other than the 737? In 1979-80 Southwest operated one Boeing 727 on lease from Braniff as part of an anti-trust settlement.
They gave the 727 program another run from 1983-1985 using aircraft leased from PeoplExpress. They leased up to 6 aircraft during that period."
Many of our “more serious” Southwest Fans know that, while Southwest currently only operates 737s, we have flown another aircraft type in the past—the Boeing 727 to be specific.***** The first time was a shortterm lease for one 727 from Braniff that was operated from March 5, 1979, until January 10 of the next year.***** This aircraft flew back and forth between Dallas and Houston.***** The second time was from September 1983*****to December 1985 when six 727s were leased from People Express to begin our service to California,***** This was also a shortterm measure*****until we could get a sufficient number of 737s to operate these routes.***** Incidentally, the 1979 aircraft had a unique “one-off” livery, but the later 727 "sextuplets" all had the same variation of our standard color scheme.
While there are a fair number of SWA 727 photos “out there,” I have yet to see either interior or shots taken on the ramp*****of Southwest 727s.***** While uncovering some archives recently, we found 35 mm slides which apparently were used to train our Ramp Employees on the differences between the 727 and 737.***** (We’ve also uncovered some other archive gems that we will be featuring here at Nuts About Southwest from time-to-time.)***** While the quality of the slides isn’t the best, their rarity makes them interesting, and we wanted to share with you since Thursday is our 38th Anniversary.***** These are the first photos I have seen showing our 727 interiors and ramp action shots.
The aircraft above is N551PE, and it was originally delivered to Braniff.***** Eagle eyes will notice the tail of a second 727 still wearing the People Express colors just behind it.***** My guess is that this was photographed at Houston Hobby, due to the amount of SWA ground vehicles. (If anyone can confirm/refute the location, please let me know.)
Three rows of engine instruments, throttles, and fire-warning lights immediately give away this view as a727 cockpit.
727s also had three Crew Members in the Cockpit.***** This is a view of the Flight Engineer’s panel, and we used specially trained Mechanics to fly as Engineers.***** (Note the two stripes on his shoulder.)***** Many of these Mechanics went on to complete flight training and are now flying as Southwest Captains.
At the back of the aircraft there was a lot of weight with three engines all mounted on the aft fuselage and the huge tail surfaces*****with the "T-tail" extended well beyong the end of the fuselage*****.***** The ventral stairway not only served as an entrance door at airports without jetbridges, it was a tail support to keep the nose on the ground in case too much weight was loaded in the rear cargo bins before a balancing weight was loaded into the forward areas.*****The door was opened with a handle under the bottom of the fuselage.
Since the aft door marked the end of the pressurized portion of the fuselage, heavy duty curtains hid the framing of the aircraft from view in the aft entry area.
Inside the cabin, there were aft galley servicing doors (that had full-sized windows) just in front of the engines.***** It took careful maneuvering to get a Provisioning lift truck up to these doors.
Seats ran along the side of the aft galley all the way back to the aft lavatories.***** (Unfortunately, the picture quality isn’t very good, but it does offer a rare view of the cabin.)
Equally rare is this (again, poor) view of the entire cabin.
Unlike the 737’s bin doors that open inward, the 727’s doors opened outwardly, and they were held open by utilizing a strut.
Next we see the water panel for the 727, and this is where the drinking water was added.
Finally, our little gallery of 727 views closes with the lavatory servicing panel for the forward lavatory.
As someone who worked many an hour on the ramp with 727s and who lost a lot of sweat and a little blood, writing this post brings back a lot or memories.***** I've had the chance to speak with some of our former 727 Pilots and they hold this aircraft in great regard.*****
http://prsync.com/southwest-airlines/a-rare-view-of-southwests--operations-6692/