June 12, 20215 yr Just a few days ago, I came across a couple of news articles about Southwest: Southwest Airlines raises order for smallest Boeing 737 MAX by 34 planes. The Dallas-based airline says it is increasing its order for Boeing’s smallest 737 MAX model (MAX 7) citing an improvement in travel demand. Southwest Airlines is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year (2021), with June 18 (a week from today) marking 50 years since the carrier's first commercial flight (June 18, 1971). To celebrate, Southwest has declared June 18 as Wanna Get Away Day. These bits of news about Southwest, made me reminisce, and took me back, to the days, when I occasionally used to catch the Southwest Airlines 737s (mostly 737-700s, as I recall) from Chicago's Midway Airport (as opposed to from the O'Hare, for other airlines). Southwest was (has been) a popular (and profitable) LCC (Low Cost Carrier), with a large hub at Midway...and, on board those SW flights, I recall many students and backpackers...🙂...but don't recall any "unruly" display of behavior...in contrast, for these current times, I read, there were 477 passenger misconduct incidents on Southwest flights between April 8 and May 15, 2021, according to the carrier's flight attendant union,...(indeed, an indication of an unsettling statistic of such behavior on domestic flights...hope the situation improves)... Back to LCCs: On record, the world’s first low-cost airline was Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), which began operating interstate flights between northern and southern California in 1949, using DC-3s/C-47s. Emulating the success of PSA, Southwest (founded 1967) replicated similar low-cost flights, using B737-200s, first, in Texas, in 1971, to eventually become the world’s biggest low-cost carrier of today. Southwest has been so successful with their low-cost model that they’ve become the template for all successful low-cost airlines around the world. For example, Ryanair, the oldest LCC in Europe (established in 1985), is sometimes referred to as the ""Southwest" of European Airlines". [Side Note: The Wiki tells us that it's "Ryanair" (NOT to be specified as "Ryan Air" and not to be confused with the name "Ryan Air", of Bush Alaska!]. If one examines, on the (official) Ryanair Corporate Website, the fascinating history of the airline and its historical milestones, arranged chronologically, one will find, under (1990-1991), this written, "...copying the Southwest Airlines low fares model, the airline is re-launched under new management as Europe’s first low fares airline." Also, I found there, the cover picture of a booklet, titled, "RYANAIR SUMMER TIMETABLE (1990)"....yes, those were the days,...the medium of airline schedule information was not internet, but paper...the (vintage and attractive) timetable cover pictures two planes flying, the near one is a BAC 1-11 twinjet, and the farther one is a ATR 42 turboprop, I believe, based on the Ryanair fleet of that time...(Ryanair would deploy 737-200s for the first time, in 1994, and would become a predominant user of 737, thence forward...)... Like current Ryanair, Southwest Airlines, since its inception, has almost exclusively operated Boeing 737 aircraft (except for a brief period when it leased and flew a few Boeing 727-200 aircraft). Southwest operated six Boeing 727-200 aircraft between 1978 and 1985 (see images below). It was the launch customer of the 737-300, 737-500, and 737-700 variants. Now, is the below fact, more than a coincidence...? Today, I was looking at the Southwest Airlines fleet..and was a bit struck by this piece of coincidence. Currently, as of May 21 (2021) Wiki data, Southwest Airlines has the following 737s "In Service": 737-700 (462) 737-800 (207) 737 MAX8 (68) If one adds these 3 numbers, the total is (462 + 207 + 68 = "737"). So, excluding any pending (future) 737 orders, Southwest, as of today, is flying exactly 737 737s...! Now, does that seem like more than a curious coincidence...🙂..for this exclusive 737 carrier...? Regarding livery, Southwest has featured two primary (base) paint schemes (or variations thereof): Desert Gold (for the first 30 years of operation, 1971-2001) Canyon Blue (since 2001, for the next 20 years) Below, I've shown images for both paint schemes, with the following Boeing models (in the order, shown): B737-200 ADV (Blue) B737-200 (Gold) B727-200 (Blue) B727-200 (Gold) [BTW, on the fuselage of the Desert Gold 737-200 (image #7), please note the (interesting) red Heart with a number 1 in it. It was affixed to the livery to indicate the excellent customer-service legacy of Southwest, the airline having won the Triple Crown Award 5 years in a row. The heart is supposed to represent the airline's home airport of Dallas "Love" Field. And, a Heart shape, now colored by blue/red/orange stripes, is carried forward to the present days, and, may also be spotted on the belly of its latest aircraft.] Hope you enjoy these images of Southwest's classic Boeings...!! [CS/Milviz (737/727)]
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