United Airlines retires its last 737
United Airlines retired its last Boeing 737 on Wednesday, sending it off with a cross-country trip that was a retirement flight for one of its longtime pilots, too.

Capt. Bob Russo piloted the plane from Washington to Chicago to Denver to Los Angeles on Wednesday, with a final leg to San Francisco. Russo said that as he piloted the plane across the country, air traffic controllers noted that it was the last United 737 flight.

"Most said they understand this is the last one, and we are sorry to see the airplane go, and it was our pleasure to help," he said during the stopover in Los Angeles.

United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.

United began phasing out the decades-old planes last year as fuel prices spiked. Fuel prices have come back down somewhat since then, but United is still shrinking its fleet because demand is lower.

Boeing has delivered more than 6,000 of the planes, and the newer versions remain popular with airlines.

>>>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33533907/ns/travel-business_travel/

The end of an era for United. Soon American will retire all of their MD-80 also.

quote:

United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.

wow, the airlines are able to retire aircraft only 21 years old while those Kc-135 are still in the air because of politics.

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Originally posted by FlankerFlyer:

quote:

United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.

wow, the airlines are able to retire aircraft only 21 years old while those Kc-135 are still in the air because of politics.

That's capitalism. At the same time the Navy is just now transitioning to the 737 derived P-8.

The Air Force still has the B-52. Some of those must be well over 40 years old.

It's not just how old they are but how many hours flown and rotations they have completed.

quote:

Originally posted by scooter_mech:

quote:

Originally posted by FlankerFlyer:

quote:

United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.

wow, the airlines are able to retire aircraft only 21 years old while those Kc-135 are still in the air because of politics.

That's capitalism. At the same time the Navy is just now transitioning to the 737 derived P-8.

The Air Force still has the B-52. Some of those must be well over 40 years old.

Many B-52s are over 55 years old.

quote:

Originally posted by scooter_mech:

quote:

Originally posted by FlankerFlyer:

quote:

United was an early customer of the 737, taking delivery of its first one in 1968. The plane that flew on Wednesday was delivered in 1988.

wow, the airlines are able to retire aircraft only 21 years old while those Kc-135 are still in the air because of politics.

That's capitalism. At the same time the Navy is just now transitioning to the 737 derived P-8.

The Air Force still has the B-52. Some of those must be well over 40 years old.

ALL B-52 are over 40 years old. Last one was delivered Feb 1963 I believe.

The thing about the B-52’s is they have been updates, refurbished, and tweaked over the decades to the point that very little of the same plane remains. The airlines don’t do that so much except for interiors and paint. Also, a commercial airliner spends much more time in the air on scheduled service than most military aircraft.

Some of those old DC-9's that Northwest is still flying are really old dogs.