Southwest Confirms The Inevitable-Boeing’s Classic 737 Is No More

It Was A Good Run.

Southwest Airlines is arguably one of the most recognizable domestic airline companies in the United States. Their blue jets litter the skies and tarmac as they offer some of the cheapest flights around the country and do it with a good attitude too. If all goes well, those flights might get even cheaper but for all you aviation lovers out there, the classic Boeing 737-300 will no longer be a part of it.

Southwest has been operrating the 300s since 1984.

Although they’ve been systematically phased out over the past year, September 29th, 2017 will be the last time this line of planes will fly those familiar blue colors. They’ll be retiring the remaining 67 aircraft and swapping them for spanking new 737 MAX 8s which have been flying off the shelves since Boeing announced them.

The transition was purely economical of course. Since the 300s are aging and the airline industry is getting more and more competitive, switching to a plane which is 14% more fuel efficient while being able to hold more passengers and take off with a heavier load makes perfect sense. If you’re going to fly Southwest on Oct., 1st or later, chances are your bum will sit in a nice, new seat.

Here’s a short video of a 737 MAX taking off really steep. It’s worth a watch.