Boeing Studying Changes to 737 Jet

The Boeing Co. is studying extensive modifications to its workhorse 737 jetliner that could result in the introduction of another model of the aircraft, company officials say.

Brian Boyd, a regional marketing director for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group’s 737-757 programs, said that it is too early to tell whether Boeing might bring out a sixth version of the twin-jet that it has been building for a quarter of a century.

But Boyd said the company has been examining new engines, wing improvements, cockpit and cabin upgrades and the possibility of stretching the aircraft to hold more passengers. If a new model gets the go-ahead, it could be introduced between 1996 and 1998, he said.

In a process copied from its successful 777 jetliner program, Boeing will ask about a dozen airlines to advise it on what changes might be made to the 737, already the world’s best-selling commercial jet.

“We’ve been talking with customers the last year and a half, trying to understand what they would want for a 737-type airplane in the future,” Boyd said. “The intent is to go back to the customers and see if we heard them right. At the same time, we will show some things we might do to the airplane.”

Boeing now turns out three versions of the 737: the 130-passenger 737-300, the 150-passenger 737-400 and the 110-passenger 737-500.

Boyd wouldn’t venture a guess on whether there might be a 737-600. “We haven’t gotten close enough yet to say what we would call it,” he said.

The short- to medium-range 737 is the smallest jetliner made by Boeing. The initial model, the 737-100, originally flew in April, 1967, with deliveries to airlines later that year.