DIFFERENT, YET THE SAME

[gguillory]

During your Holiday Season travels you may notice something a little different with two of our Boeing 737-700s. Southwest Airlines just recently purchased two 737s from the Ford Motor Company, and they spent some time in our Dallas Maintenance hangars getting retrofitted to match the rest of our fleet. However, these two birds are from a different flock. The interior of both airplanes are where you will see the biggest difference, and while they still have our cool looking leather seats, they are just situated differently The aft galley area is noticeably different, something I know our Flight Attendants will notice right away. Aircraft N270WN has been painted with the Spirit colors to match our fleet, but N271LV won't be painted in the Spirit scheme until 2007. Both airplanes will be totally retrofitted during the full overhaul that's scheduled for 2007. Now don't you worry... for all that's different with these aircraft, there's one thing that will remain the same, and that is our great Customer Service. Happy Holidays. Paul Thompson in our Aircraft Performance Improvement group has provided some additional interior and exterior photos of the Ford Aircraft:   Contributor Kim Seale sent these pics of N217LV that were shot during his recent trip to Lubbock.

[Adam_Stanger1]

I understand these aircraft have fewer seats (125?). Is that because of the different galley configuration?

[Dak_Peoples]

Where ever Alan Mullally goes, hes still selling airplanes! 🙂 Congrats on still flying Boeing. Does that bring the total to four hundred seventy 737s?

[joe-mdw-plane-d]

Dak, I count 479 through Oct. Boeing doesn't have nov up yet. Adam, yes. There aren't any blended winglets or HUDs either. Have to make some revenue before more expenditures 😉

[seanyoda]

As opposed to the 737 here -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/43323231@N00/312725773/ -- which appears to be slowly getting its new paint job.

[FF_since_89]

Glad to see you are buying, not selling. When Muse and Morris joined SWA there were some weird looking planes for a while too. Keep up the good work

[Matt]

THE AISLES ARE WIDER ON THESE AIRPLANES!!! Does anybody in MX or A&P want to explain WHY??? We are dying to know! :-) Matt BWI F/A

[Matt]

They both have 128 seats Adam, we're missing 3 sets of seats until they are reconfigured.

[Jim13]

Gordon, Gordon, Gordon... Sigh. How about some photos of the interior, since - "The interior of both airplanes are where you will see the biggest difference"

[Adam_Stanger1]

The aisles will feel plenty narrow again after the holidays have passed, Matt. Just enjoy the extra hip-room while you can. 😉

[Matt]

LOL...I don't eat THAT much Adam! lol Seriously though, they seem QUITE a bit wider than ours? Does anybody have an answer???

[gguillory]

Matt D, the aisles are no different than any of our other airplanes. Gordon

[Marc31]

Is that the new color scheme for 2007? Kinda boring. 😞

[FriendofBlogBoy]

Gordon, I flew on N271LV today, and have sent some more exterior photos to Brian. Matt, Although I didn't take a tape measure to it, I really don't think the center aisle on 271LV is any different than any of the other SW planes I've been on. Using my hips and briefcase as a measuring device, it seemed just the same. Jim, Other than the galley area up front and the one in back, the interior looks just like the other SW planes. Overhead bins and seats and flooring were all consistent with the rest of the fleet. If you hadn't noticed the outside, the average passenger probably wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Kim

[Adi]

I fly alot with Southwest and was wondering if there's a way to find out which aircraft is scheduled for my flight, 733 or 73G? Adi

[FriendofBlogBoy]

Adi, That is a good question, but with close to 500 planes, you can imagine that the logistics of scheduling is complex. However, it is not geared to telling the Customer which specific plane they will be on in advance. That is because due to maintenance or weather issues, they may have to "substitute" a plane for one that was originally scheduled at the last minute. They try to exchange a 737-300 with another -300 if possible, for example, so that the original passenger load can still be achieved, but even that doesn't always work. So, not trying to speak for Brian, but as a Customer, I think the answer is that they really aren't set up to be able to supply that information. But, the good news is that the pilots and FAs are fantastic on every plane they fly! Happy flying, Kim

[Adi]

Thanks for the info Kim. I was just wondering, I do love the 700's with those great looking winglets 🙂 Some of WN's competitors (I won't name names) do provide specific aircraft type information, but then they're not as good as Southwest, so I figure an acceptable trade off... Adi

[FriendofBlogBoy]

Adi, Southwest doesn't have competitors -- they have imitators!!! Besides, why would you WANT to fly on one of THEIR planes??? Kim 🙂

[Paul_David]

Ford Motor Company? I've heard of corporate jets but 737's? Of course. What was I thinking. They were a trade in on a new Lincoln Navigator.

[invertebrate]

I flew in from Midland on SWA 43, flight continued to Houston, next door at LUV was a tri color ed737 700 with Southwest airlines. I thought how odd, after several hours of research and looking at registration numbers, I realized it was a Ford Motor company selling of two 737 700 to SWA. I was fearful I was losing my mind, because often you will see a Whale, or the old SWA livery colors. Really neat, made my day. Regards SWA

[FriendofBlogBoy]

Jim, Yes, it IS a surprising sight, isn't it? But, then again, our friends at SWA have always thought "outside the box", so a white Southwest plane shouldn't be too shocking! FYI -- I'm not sure where you searched for several hours, but in the future, any time you're curious about a plane's ownership, all you have to do is type its tail number (in the case of the new Ford/SWA 737 I flew from Lubbock a few weeks ago, it is N271LV) into the search box on Google, and it will link you to the FAA registration page for that plane! (in the case of this plane, it also shows you several different webpages with photos of that particular new addition to the Southwest fleet) Happy flying, Kim 🙂

[Scott5]

Adi, With regards to which class of 737 you would get on an upcoming flight, Flightaware is a good resource. I have keyed in SWA379 to find out that for Flight 379 usually but no guarantee that it gets a -700.

[Tex_Rabenau]

Southwest has a lot of LUV, but it might be time to show some LUV for The Show Me State. Missouri seems to be a big market for SWA and hopefully it will continue to grow. Don't you think it is time for a "Missouri One" or "Show Me One" in the Southwest fleet? The beautiful state flag of Missouri would look so good flying higher than ever on a Southwest aircraft.

[Cathy5]

Not sure if this question belongs here, but I have been frantically trying to find the answer to my question, and have found nothing. Saturday, I flew Southwest from Hunstville, AL to Dallas Love, and when we were at our highest altitude, I looked out and the wing was Canyon Blue, and I thought to myself, I didn't think it had been earlier, but I said NOTHING, just thinking I hadn't been paying attention. But, almost immediately, the young girls next to me asked, "was that wing always that color?" so I don't think it was just me, and I DID NOT have anything to drink! As we descended, it went to gray, then silver, and stayed silver when we landed. I don't think it was just the sun because it was solid - not shaded at all. PLEASE give me an answer that I can pass on to my friends who think I'm hallucinating!!!!! Did the paint change colors with the altitude??

[blusk]

Cathy, no the wing doesn't change color during flight. My guess is that the blue on the fuselage was reflecting on the wing giving it a blue hue. If you notice, the Canyon Blue is very glossy and very reflective. Brian

[Anthony]

Saw this White Southwest Jet today and thought it was Corporate flying in. Nice Looking Plane

[Romeo]

Oh Yes!! I remember this planes. I flew on one of them from Houston to Harlingen early in the morning. I was so exited because I travel on SWA all the time but I've always had the misfortune of never flying one of their logo jet so this was the next best thing. LOL

[MHTflyer1]

"THE AISLES ARE WIDER ON THESE AIRPLANES!!! Does anybody in MX or A&P want to explain WHY??? We are dying to know!" Well, I'm no expert, but maybe the aisles are wider (if in fact they are), to accomodate the beverage service carts? BTW, god I wish WN had beverage service carts! I love you guys dearly, but it takes so long to get my drink! Oh well, at least the flight attendants are actually pleasant on Southwest!!!