Intl Capacity Cuts and A330

[Poug Darker]

...Southwest...and Piedmont launched the 737-300, and .....

I always thought Ed Colodny and USAir put their heads together with Boeing to come up with the -300.

 

[nycbusdriver]

I always thought Ed Colodny and USAir put their heads together with Boeing to come up with the -300.

That's a joke, right?

 

[Poug Darker]

That's a joke, right?

No joke...really. Colodny went to Boeing with the general idea. He always liked smaller aircraft with more frequency rather than large/less. And he wanted a small airliner to get to the west coast. It was essentially built for USAir and the company had some of the first deliveries.
Found this googling around..."USAir was a launch customer for the Boeing 737-300, as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its rapidly-growing Florida markets. USAir was the world's largest operator of DC-9 aircraft and approached McDonnell Douglas for a new airplane. However, in the late 1970s, the company's proposed successor to the DC-9-50 did not suit USAir's requirements. After negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down, Boeing stepped forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir chose this aircraft and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, receiving the first plane on November 28, 1984."

 

[700UW]

PI was the launch customer for the 400

 

[PHL]

No joke...really. Colodny went to Boeing with the general idea. He always liked smaller aircraft with more frequency rather than large/less. And he wanted a small airliner to get to the west coast. It was essentially built for USAir and the company had some of the first deliveries.

Could the 737-300 ever be a real transcon solution in a full passenger config, though? I think Colodny was thinking in terms of PIT (then the corwn jewel) and the -300 could make that particular transcon. I flew PIT-LAX-PIT several times on 737s back in those days.

I don't think US ever flew any 737 variants from PHL to LAX nonstop, though, did they? I remember flying PHL-LAS-LAX in 1990 on a 737 (don't remember if it was a 300 or 400). It was a great time in commercial aviation when you could actually sit on the plane during the brief stop. It was also the days when a single flight number remained with the actual equipment rather than requiring us to switch planes. But I digress.......

 

[700UW]

US flew the 737-300LR from the east coast to the west coast with flights from CLT,PIT and TPA to LAX/SFO and SEA.

 

[hp-csr-phx]

I remember US flying the 300's from PHX to BWI. Also HP was one of those upstarts using old airframes 737-200's.

 

[phllax]

As late as the summer of 2000, US had a 400 doing CLT-LAX-PHL on a daily routing. I think there were enough 319's on property after that to use them instead.

As the story with US and the DC-9 goes, there is a smiliar one between UA and Boeing with the 400. Apparently it didn't have the range and seats (6 too few) for UA's liking, so they went with the 320 instead.

 

[USstew23]

No joke...really. Colodny went to Boeing with the general idea. He always liked smaller aircraft with more frequency rather than large/less. And he wanted a small airliner to get to the west coast. It was essentially built for USAir and the company had some of the first deliveries.
Found this googling around..."USAir was a launch customer for the Boeing 737-300, as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its rapidly-growing Florida markets. USAir was the world's largest operator of DC-9 aircraft and approached McDonnell Douglas for a new airplane. However, in the late 1970s, the company's proposed successor to the DC-9-50 did not suit USAir's requirements. After negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down, Boeing stepped forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir chose this aircraft and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, receiving the first plane on November 28, 1984."

N371AU was (i think) the first 300 off the line, delivered as N350AU to USAir in April '85, however it made its first flight in February '84. Her line number is 1001 and she is now at peace in the Arizona desert after spending her entire career flying for US.

Yes there used to be -300's that flew to the West Coast, one of my first trips being on a -300 PHL-SAN on the first day and the last day SNA-PIT-PHL. I remember in the 737 pairings they were noted as 3L and their tail numbers started with a 5 and were the ones that had the center fuel tank and IFE

 

[700UW]

Yep their tail #s were 500s and they were 73L.

 

[sfb]

N371AU was (i think) the first 300 off the line, delivered as N350AU to USAir in April '85, however it made its first flight in February '84. Her line number is 1001 and she is now at peace in the Arizona desert after spending her entire career flying for US.

Southwest took N300SW from Boeing on 11-30-84. USAir actually received their first -300 two days earlier, but Southwest put theirs into service first on 12-7-84. I indeed was incorrect about PI and the -300 (just got confused in my old age). Southwest was the first airline to fly the -500 and the -700, and LUV's order for -700s launched the Next Generation 737 program.

Southwest was not a deregulation era "upstart."

While Southwest did not start service during the time after deregulation, their ability to start up owed itself to the fact that the CAB was unable to regulate intrastate air travel -- the same reason that PSA and Air Cal were able to fly intra-California before deregulation. Their real impact on air travel only came after deregulation.

 

[PHL]

While Southwest did not start service during the time after deregulation, their ability to start up owed itself to the fact that the CAB was unable to regulate intrastate air travel -- the same reason that PSA and Air Cal were able to fly intra-California before deregulation. Their real impact on air travel only came after deregulation.

The CAB became the FAA under the then-newly formed DOT in 1966, 5 years before WN began service. But dereg is what spawned a whole new age in domestic air travel for sure.

 

[USstew23]

Southwest took N300SW from Boeing on 11-30-84. USAir actually received their first -300 two days earlier, but Southwest put theirs into service first on 12-7-84.

Yes yes! Thank you! I knew they were really close together but I forgot which one was which..

 

[Ralph]

:cop: TOPIC DRIFT! DANGER! DANGER! :cop:

The discussion is drifting from the A330 issue to a stroll down 737 memory lane. Please stick to the International issue. If you want to discuss the history of the 737 at US Airways, please start another thread. Thanks.

 

[john john]

Putting more A330's on firm order is the price US has to pay to get the financing this year, like the A350 order was the price of getting a loan from Airbus after BK2.

Jim

When Wolf got the largest Airbus order in the history of aviation and lure the pilots for concession are these A330 apart of the original order and was financing work out then