As of July 2012, Boeing had built more than 7,100 of its 737 jet airplanes, and an average of 1,700 of them are in the air at any one time. A Boeing 737 takes off or lands every 2.0 seconds of every day, on average. The Boeing 737's first commercial flight was in 1968, operating under the Lufthansa brand. Since then, Boeing has developed nine models of 737s, and these planes have carried more than 15 billion passengers and flown more than 106 billion miles.
More about the Boeing 737:
- Depending on the specific model, a Boeing 737 can accommodate 85 to 215 passengers.
- The first fatal accident involving a Boeing 737 occurred in 1972. The accident caused the deaths of 43 crew members and passengers after the plane crashed in Chicago.
- The maximum airspeed of a Boeing 737 is 544 miles per hour (876 km/h), with a cruising speed of 485 mph (780 km/h).