Originally Posted by
FLYBOY2900
Hello everyone,
These questions are related to my previous (accidental thread) on the Boeing 737 MAX 7. Question 1:I wanted to ask if someone could enlighten me on exactly what the delay was about, I was sent a link and forgot to refer to it. I will refer to it now after this post to get more info. I know that Southwest is wanting to phase out the 737-700, which is unfortunate considering it’s my favorite variant of the 737 line, and it’s an absolute beast of a plane in my opinion, but times change. Question 2: With the -700’s phasing out, was the 737 MAX 7 ordered to take over the 737-700? Question 3: I guess this could also go with asking, is the MAX 8 supposed to be the overtaking airplane for the -800 when it gets ready to be phased out? Hopefully these aren’t questions that are too big or difficult to answer without making you guys have to type a book out to answer, but I’m curious to know about it! Are the MAX 7’s even going to be ETOPS? Or will they serve the CONUS routes in Southwest’s network? Again sorry about all the questions, thanks for your time!
Regards,
FLYBOY2900.
Generally speaking, new aircraft allow for network growth and, ultimately, will allow older aircraft to be retired. In the case of the -700, certainly as they get high in cycles it's the logical thing to do. SWA announced in 2021 that the MAX is the replacement for both the -700 and -800 fleets over the long term. There are some 400 -700's alone, so it will be an iterative progression(10-15 years, according to the article)
https://simpleflying.com/southwest-7...etirement-max/
As for ETOPS, it doesn't make sense to certify more aircraft than needed for the mission, which is Hawaii at the moment. I don't think (someone check me...I could be wrong) that SWA serves any other routes that would require ETOPS.
Personally(just my opinion), I believe SWA will at some point augment with to completely different model if they wish to tackle Europe ETOPS routes. I know there are variants of the 737 that *CAN* fly from East coast USA to Western Europe. But there's a reason there aren't any airlines doing it right now.