USA: Southwest Receives 737th Boeing 737

Southwest Airlines took delivery of its 737th brand new Boeing 737. For the occasion, Boeing hosted a ribbon cutting event and a signing ceremony at their Seattle Delivery Center.

To officially accept the 737th (N8533S) were Southwest’s Managers of Aircraft Field Services, Bill Rogers, and Peggy Hain; and the Captains that first flew the aircraft, in a representation of all Southwest Airlines employees, Captain Jim Tomallo and Captain Jeff Wolf.

The carrier expressed through their website “their joy” for reaching “an exciting Southwest milestone”, almost 46 years after they started, in 1971, “as a mighty airline with only three aircraft”.

Now that the aircraft was officially received, The Tech Operational Team will be in charge of installation of winglets and WiFi.

Bill Rogers and Peggy Hain, Southwest’s Managers of Aircraft Field Services, are based in Seattle to ensure that every Boeing 737 purchased by the airline meets the carrier’s standards.

Fun fact about this: Both have seen and received plenty of brand new Boeing aircraft for the airline; Bill has overseen 545 new aircraft deliveries since he joined Southwest in 1991, and Peggy has accepted almost 100 new aircraft into the Southwest fleet. She has worked for the carrier since 2009.

Captain Jim Tomallo and Captain Jeff Wolf, the first captains to flew the new aircraft, both agreed to represent all the Southwest Employees by joining Bill and a Boeing representative in signing for the 737th.

Southwest Airlines flies to 101 destinations and serves more than 100 million customers each year. The airline is Boeing’s world largest operator; also they’re one of the largest customers for the manufacturer’s new generation aircraft – 737 MAX, with 200 on order, including thirty 737 MAX 7 and one hundred and seventy 737 MAX 8s.