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Background
Boeing had been studying short-haul jet aircraft designs and wanted to
produce another aircraft to supplement the 727 on short and thin routes.
Preliminary design work began on May 11, 1964, and Boeing's intense market
research yielded plans for a 50- to 60-passenger airliner for routes 50 to
1,000 mi (100 to 1,600 km) long.
Initial design featured podded engines on the aft fuselage and a T-tail like the
727, and five abreast seating, but Joe Sutter rather placed the engines under the wings to
lighten the structure, enabling fuselage widening for six abreast seating. The 737 design was
presented in October 1964 at the Air Transport Association maintenance and engineering
conference by chief project engineer Jack Steiner, where its elaborate high-lift devices raised
concerns about maintenance costs and dispatch reliability.
The launch decision was made by the board on 1 February 1965 for the $150 million
development.
Lufthansa became the launch customer on February 19, 1965, with an order for 21
aircraft, worth $67 million in 1965, after the airline received assurances from Boeing that
the 737 project would not be canceled. Consultation with Lufthansa over the previous
winter resulted in an increase in capacity to 100 seats.
On April 5, 1965, Boeing announced an order by United Airlines for 40 737s. United
wanted a slightly larger airplane than the original 737. So Boeing stretched the fuselage
91 cm (36 in) ahead of, and 102 cm (40 in) behind the wing. The longer version was
designated 737-200, with the original short-body aircraft becoming the 737-100.
Detailed design work continued on both variants at the same time. Boeing was far
behind its competitors when the 737 was launched, as rival aircraft BAC-111, Douglas
DC-9, and Fokker F28 were already into flight certification. To expedite development,
Boeing used 60% of the structure and systems of the existing 727, the most notable
being the fuselage cross-section. This fuselage permitted six-abreast seating compared
to the rival BAC-111 and DC-9's five-abreast layout.
Boeing B737
June 2017
www.alliance-airways.net
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