Boeing 737: The most popular passenger aircraft

Video from the channel SkyShips en Español about Boeing, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:04. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Episode of an educational series on Boeing aircraft dedicated to the 737, the narrow-body twinjet developed in the late 1960s, which the video presents as the world's most popular commercial jet airliner. It covers its four generations, its design quirks and its operational history.

The 737 came after the 727 because airlines were asking for a smaller, more economical aircraft. Joe Sutter proposed keeping the same fuselage diameter as the other Boeing jets and mounting the engines under the wing. Lufthansa and United Airlines launched the programme, which produced the 737-100 and 737-200, with Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. Sales were weak in the early 1970s. Later came the Classic series (300, 400 and 500), with CFM56 engines and a glass cockpit; the Next Generation (600 to 900), announced in 1991 with a new wing; and the MAX, with CFM LEAP-1B engines, which began deliveries in 2017 as a response to the Airbus A320neo.

According to the video, more than 10,000 examples have been delivered since 1966, with around 4,000 more still on order. Fitting the CFM56 engines under the wing required modifying them, giving the nacelle its flattened look. The main landing gear wheels remain exposed in flight to save weight and mechanisms. In 2018 the model was flying with more than 500 airlines in 190 countries.