The Boeing 737 is perhaps the most successful narrow-body jet aircraft ever produced, with a total of 11,324 delivered as of the end of February 2023.
The aircraft is manufactured by the Boeing Airplane Company at its Renton Factory in Seattle, Washington.
It was developed to supplement the Boeing 727 trijet on short and thin routes. Envisioned in 1964, the 737 twin-jet retained the Boeing 707 fuselage width and six-abreast seating, with two underwing turbofans jet engines.
On April 5, 1965, Boeing announced an order by United Airlines for 40 737 aircraft. United wanted a slightly larger capacity than the 737-100, so the fuselage was stretched. The longer version was designated the 737-200, with the original variant short-body aircraft becoming the 737-100. Detailed design work continued on both variants simultaneously.
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The 737-100 was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass engines and offered seating for 85-130 passengers.
The original variant, 737-100, made its first flight in April 1967. On December 15, 1967 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the 737-100 for commercial service and issued Type Certificate A16WE. The aircraft entered service in February 1968 with the German flag-carrier Lufthansa, which became the first non-American airline to launch a new Boeing aircraft. Lufthansa was the only significant customer to purchase the 737-100, and only 30 aircraft were produced.
The 737 -200 had its maiden flight on August 8, 1967. It was then certified by the FAA on December 21, 1967. The inaugural flight for United Airlines took place on April 28, 1968, from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The lengthened -200 was widely preferred over the -100 by airlines. The improved version, the 737-200 Advanced, was introduced into service by All Nippon Airways on May 20, 1971.
All commercial aircraft in the US are built in accordance with a comprehensive airworthiness code set by the US government and based on FAA regulations 14 CFR Part 25 – Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Airplanes. On completion of the rigorous certification process, which includes flight testing, a type certificate (TC) is issued by the FAA to signify that the approved design or "type" of the aircraft that was manufactured is in compliance with FAA airworthiness requirements.
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Variants of the 737 aircraft are known as derivative aircraft, in that they were derived from the original design. Variant aircraft incorporate changes to the original design specifications. This requires part of the certification process to be repeated by the FAA for approval of the design changes, after which an amended TC is issued.
The original 737 continued to be developed into 13 passenger, cargo, corporate and military variants. These were later divided into what has become known
