Do you also refer to it as "a thirty-seven"??

 

For many years UAL had 7 equipment ranks, each one paid different amounts. This was the order from highest to lowest paying.

747-400
DC-10
777
767-757
A320/319
727
737-300 <--Guppy

Since the 737 was the smallest paying aircraft, (two payscales below the Airbus) we called it the Guppy. Not sure if other airlines did the same.

Its just a name that carried on.

I can see why they didn't call it that at CAL. Its the primary aircraft at that airline, with 275 of them, more pilots fly that aircraft than the other fleets combined.

From the UAL perspective historically, that's the entry level aircraft at United for both FOs and Captains. At CAL, some pilots are going to be on it for their entire career, so they probably have a different perspective.

Its not an insult. Its just what L-UAL pilots call it. FWIW we call the Airbus the "the bus" the 747 "the 400" the 756 the "fifty seven" or the "sixty seven" and the 777 "the triple seven".

We call the 737 "the guppy". When we had the 737-200 we called it the "thunder guppy" and the shuttle was "shuttle guppy".

YES, some pilots call it the 737 or the "thirty seven".

Its like calling an aircraft carrier "the boat". When its actually a ship or an aircraft carrier. Its just a name.

What we find funny is that some CAL pilots get VERY UPSET when we call it that and make a big deal about it. Its become as much a joke on the LUAL side as our CEO referring to himself as "Co-worker Jeff" has become.

Actually if people stopped making a big deal, the LUAL pilots would probably start calling it the 737 "thirty seven" or whatever.

Maybe the arbitrators will add to their decision what the 737 Guppy should be referred to as?

 

+100000000

 

G u p p y It is then - glad we got that figured out

 

I always called it the light twin.

Or Shirley.

But it doesn't like to be called Shirley.

;-)

 

LAX:

You forgot one airplane, so I added it.

I also added in the popular nicknames I have heard for the various airplanes at UAL.

Since the -400 was the biggest fish, it was the Whale.

The 747-200 was considered antiquated, so "Rope-Start," which had two meanings. 1) an old lawn mower with no starter and you had to pull the rope. 2) Since Very Senior age 60+ Captains sometimes retired from the front seat back to the Engineer's Panel, it stood for "Retired Old Pilot-Engineers." (I flew the airplane at another carrier and loved it).

I think it is mostly Maintenance that calls the 777 Big Foot, due to the 6 wheels on each landing gear truck. (When I was flying the -400, many Captains called it a "Light Twin," since our gross weight was 30% higher).

The only name I ever heard for the DC-10 was "The Ten," but I'm not confident it was used widely, so I didn't post it above.

Calling the Bus "Fi-Fi" is an allusion to its (supposedly) French origins, ala a can-can girl (of dubious reputation) from the Moulin Rouge. This ignores the fact that it is arguably equal parts German and British. (And I think the girl has a heart of gold).

Since the 737 family were the smallest fish, they were the Guppy.

Since the JT8D engines on the 737-200 barely met Stage III noise requirements, they were the Thunder Guppies.

 

But now the payrates are different, the 737-700 pays the same as the 319 and the 737-8-9-9er pays the same as the 320, 321, 757-200. It has been great to see some flying come back to the 737. Due to the combined passengers of both airlines into many small markets, the 737 has taken back many markets from the RJ's! RIC, ROC, BUF come to mind! Let's realize that this is a good trend, or we can carry the old mindset of 'too small to fly at mainline' and continue to degrade the mainline profession. I have flown with many guppy FO's that have been making 20-30k these months (Yes, I saw pay screens!) plus b-fund and only flying 80ish hrs but crediting close to 200. Don't discount the 737, and let's try and make RJ's the new guppy at mainline!

 

Can't believe you guys missed this .......

B727 = Tri motor........or Three Holer.

 

It's still getting a workout this weekend.....gas went down .25 cents a gallon!

 

You Sir, are Correct!! I completely forgot!

I've been told it could refer to the number of engines, but also the number of lavs.....