Southwest Airlines Converts Options to Orders for 79 Boeing 737s
Thursday April 20, 2:04 pm ET

SEATTLE, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA - News) and Southwest Airlines today said the airline converted options into orders for 79 Next-Generation 737-700s, bringing the airline's total past and future Boeing orders for 737-700s to 370 airplanes.

Airplanes covered by the converted options will be delivered between 2007 and 2012 in a deal worth approximately $4.5 billion at list prices. Southwest now has 140 undelivered 737s on order from Boeing.

Southwest, the first and one of the world's most successful low-cost carriers, operates an all-Boeing fleet of 452 737s, including seven airplanes delivered so far this year.

"Southwest Airlines and the 737 are one of commercial aviation's greatest success stories," said Alan Mulally, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO. "Southwest's continued choice of the 737 validates our shared view that passengers want affordable, comfortable nonstop service to where they want to go, when they want to go there. The 737 has contributed to Southwest's success through double-digit utilization rates, low fuel consumption, low maintenance costs and quick turnaround times," Mulally said.

"This exercise of options will facilitate our growth plans into the next decade," said Laura Wright, Southwest's chief financial officer. "The 737 is an efficient airplane and it will help us bring more low fares to millions of customers."

In February, Southwest took delivery of the 5,000th Boeing 737. Later this summer, Southwest is slated to receive Boeing's 2,000th Next-Generation 737. Boeing has sold more than 6,200 737s to carriers worldwide. On June 18, 1971, Southwest took to the skies with three Boeing-financed 737-200s. Since then the carrier has been the launch customer for the 737-300, the 737-500 and the 737-700 models.

More airplanes = more cities = more new-hires. SWA is an exciting place to be. I'm worried about fuel, however..... it had better come down or we will be facing challenging times despite all these new shiny jets.

Just keep raising your prices please so 1) The rest of us can raise ours and2) we don't have to take another paycut and 3) we can all keep our jobs.

Good luck and concrats on getting on with SWA, they have their ******* together.

Anybody have any ideas where their growth plans will take them? Hoping for CHS.

Scott

I have been doing some research for school on fuel prices for airplanes and cars. They are predicting fuel prices to be the worst this year and eventually level off then decrease back to norms.

SWA management is very tight lipped about new cities. We didn't expect IAD to be our next city at all. It wasn't even in the rumor mill. MSP, BOS, and I believe Charleston are consistent rumors. For whatever that's worth.

S.B.

BOS meaning a pilot domicle? or just a new city to open into.

Thanks Barco. Let me know if you ever hear anything else about CHS in the future.

BOS would just be a new city, not a domicile. They've said no new domiciles this year. I'm guessing LAS would be our next domicile but that's been the rumor for years.

S.B.