A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travelling Style » Air travel
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Winglets in Southwest



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old November 19th, 2003, 08:28 PM
Alec D. Plotkin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

Southwest, Aviation Partners Boeing, and The Boeing Co. Celebrate
Blended Winglet-Outfitted Aircraft With Dedication Ceremony


Champagne Toast Christens Sleek, New Look

SEATTLE, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A sleek, shiny Southwest
Airlines (NYSE: LUV) Boeing 737-700 roared from a hangar at the Boeing
Delivery Center today outfitted with the first pair of new Blended
Winglet Shipsets installed in Washington state.

For image, go to:
http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/p...9_winglet.html

In a dedication ceremony at Boeing Field, officials from Southwest, The
Boeing Co., Aviation Partners Boeing, and Goodrich Corporation's
Aviation Technical Services team "christened" the aircraft with
champagne and confetti. The plane will make its first trek to Dallas to
be made ready to enter Southwest's fleet later this month.

"Today marks a milestone in Southwest's aviation history," said Laura
Wright, Southwest's vice president of finance. "The new look of our
Boeing fleet will provide Southwest with significant cost savings and
operational advantages as we continue to grow."

Representatives from Aviation Partners Boeing, the winglet makers, also
marked the milestone with these comments: "We are very proud that
Southwest Airlines has adopted our Blended Winglets for their fleet of
737 aircraft," said Mike Marino, chief executive officer of Aviation
Partners Boeing. "For them it's another notable addition to their
legendary low-fare strategy. For us, it's a landmark in the acceptance
of this visible technology."

Southwest's current fleet of 737-700s is being retrofitted by Aviation
Technical Services, an Everett, Wash., based division of Goodrich
Corporation, and by San Antonio Aerospace in San Antonio, Texas, and by
Southwest's own maintenance team in Dallas.

The winglet retrofit project began in October, and is expected to take
18 months to complete. Approximately 170 737-700s will be retrofitted
with the 8-foot high winglets. Beginning in August 2004, The Boeing Co.
will begin delivering Southwest's 737-700s with the winglets factory
installed.

"We're delighted to mark this milestone with Southwest today," said
Carolyn Corvi, 737/757 vice president and general manager for Boeing.
"The aerodynamic benefits of winglets will enable Southwest to serve its
Customers with greater efficiency. Making this option available on
in-production 737-700s, Boeing once again is enhancing the value of an
already great airplane family."

Dallas-based Southwest currently operates 143 737-700s, and has
approximately 400 firm orders, options, and purchase rights remaining
with Boeing through 2012.

The Blended Winglet Shipsets, or winglets, gently curve out and up from
each wingtip, reducing aerodynamic drag and increasing performance. The
8-foot high winglets add about five feet to the airplane's total
wingspan and allow the 737-700 to fly up to 115 nautical miles farther
and reduce fuel burn.

"A benefit of the winglets is that Southwest expects to save an average
of up to 92,000 gallons of jet fuel per airplane per year," Wright said.
"That will allow us the flexibility to increase payloads out of high,
hot and obstacle-limited airports as well as shorten the time it takes
to climb to a cruising altitude."

Aviation Partners Boeing's Marino said added environmental benefits
include reduced emissions and noise.

Southwest Airlines is the nation's fourth largest carrier in terms of
Customers boarded, serves 59 airports in 58 cities in 30 states.
Southwest operates nearly 2,800 flights a day with an all-Boeing fleet
of 386 Boeing 737s. The carrier recently announced that it will begin
service to its 60th airport, Philadelphia International Airport, in May
2004. The airline also said it is speeding up the conversion of its
fleet to the new canyon blue livery and cool saddle tan leather
interior-the updates now are expected to be completed by 2005.

www.southwest.com

SOURCE Southwest Airlines

  #2  
Old November 19th, 2003, 08:30 PM
mrtravel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

Alec D. Plotkin wrote:

Southwest, Aviation Partners
"A benefit of the winglets is that Southwest expects to save an average
of up to 92,000 gallons of jet fuel per airplane per year," Wright said.
"That will allow us the flexibility to increase payloads out of high,
hot and obstacle-limited airports as well as shorten the time it takes
to climb to a cruising altitude."


This section of the post describes the financial savings, but what do
the winglets cost?



  #3  
Old November 19th, 2003, 08:36 PM
Alec D. Plotkin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

mrtravel wrote:
Alec D. Plotkin wrote:

Southwest, Aviation Partners
"A benefit of the winglets is that Southwest expects to save an
average of up to 92,000 gallons of jet fuel per airplane per year,"
Wright said. "That will allow us the flexibility to increase payloads
out of high, hot and obstacle-limited airports as well as shorten the
time it takes to climb to a cruising altitude."



This section of the post describes the financial savings, but what do
the winglets cost?




$2.45 with a side of fries or a soda.

alec

ps No idea.


  #4  
Old November 19th, 2003, 08:53 PM
Not the Karl Orff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

In article ,
mrtravel wrote:


This section of the post describes the financial savings, but what do
the winglets cost?


I think a few hundred thousand installed.
  #5  
Old November 20th, 2003, 02:33 AM
R J Carpenter
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest


"Not the Karl Orff" wrote in message
news:canwine-7F79B6.11533519112003@shawnews...
In article ,
mrtravel wrote:


This section of the post describes the financial savings, but what do
the winglets cost?


I think a few hundred thousand installed.


Which sounds like about a one-year payback.


  #6  
Old November 20th, 2003, 06:40 AM
James Anatidae
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

"Not the Karl Orff" wrote in message
news:canwine-7F79B6.11533519112003@shawnews...
In article ,
mrtravel wrote:

This section of the post describes the financial savings, but what do
the winglets cost?


I think a few hundred thousand installed.


Total, or each?

--
Fans Of The Fourth Doctor - Talk about the REAL Doctor Who, Tom Baker!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fansofthefourthdoctor/


  #7  
Old November 20th, 2003, 05:42 PM
Not the Karl Orff
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Winglets in Southwest

In article ,
K J wrote:


A previous company I worked for had a Gulfstream II that they had the
conversion to make it a G-IISP. The winglet installation alone was a
little closer to $500,000 and took a couple of weeks. That was for a
G-II almost two years ago. So a 737...


The site claims a downtime of 1 week so probably would be good if the
a/c was undergoing checks or repainting at the time.
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
SOUTHWEST: Considers 2nd Type of Aircraft None Air travel 2 November 16th, 2003 02:38 AM
SWA to start KPHL service A Guy Called Tyketto Air travel 1 October 29th, 2003 07:43 AM
Southwest casually looking at smaller jets... Kizzer Air travel 2 October 22nd, 2003 07:10 AM
Flying on Southwest Airlines may be hazardous to your health. [email protected] Air travel 16 October 12th, 2003 12:30 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.