SWA has set a number of records but it will soon be the first and only airline to ever operate over 500 of the same aircraft model AT THE SAME TIME. It is nearing the operation of 503 737-700's with 492 now active and 11 used a/c being (or scheduled to be) modified at PAE. Incredibly only one hull loss--the botched "nose first" landing at LaGuardia (no injuries). Some of these early a/c are nearing 20 years old and SWA may not be done buying up used models.

The previous record with same type flying was AA running MD80s during the early 2000 ?
Did they have about 350+ or so around turn of the century?

mandargb wrote:

The previous record with same type flying was AA running MD80s during the early 2000 ?
Did they have about 350+ or so around turn of the century?

Being on this side of the Atlantic, I would throw in FR and their 370+ and increasing 738

MDW was a 700 also.
I believe it was written off also?

Flyguy

wnflyguy wrote:

MDW was a 700 also.
I believe it was written off also?

Flyguy

Repaired and reg changed to N286WN

I think there are more than 492 active, and I thought the 500 number could be reached as soon as June. I don't remember where I found the info sadly

It is insane to think one airline has FIVE HUNDRED of one airplane. Nuts.

Also, more than 150 -800s in the fleet now. And what, up to like 400 MAX on order with options?

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Aeroflot is a bit of a different animal, especially Soviet era Aeroflot. It was a state run airline with a join civil and military mission, so in many instances aircraft were procured without regard to profitability or necessity. But yes they did have a lot of aircraft. Southwest on the other hand, is a private company without direct state funding has been able to achieve a large single fleet number on its own.

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Aeroflot probably held the record in the past.

However, I suspect WN flies more per day with 490+ 73G than Aeroflot did with 2000 IL-14. In hours and cycles. This is due to internal customs, maintenance, and politics of purchasing​.

So I'M HOME WAN does hold the record.

Lightsaber

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

What do you think Southwest's fleet will be like 10 years from now?

BobPatterson wrote:

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

What do you think Southwest's fleet will be like 10 years from now?

I think American market has reached a stagnation point. Its future orders will go towards replacing the existing fleet only.

It currently has 723 Aircraft, and 208 on order. It might order 500 more B737Max...

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Those aircraft are trash and most of them rotted away in a field. After spending a year in Russia, I would take anything coming out of that place with a grain of salt.

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

This, along with all the mega orders by other Asian airlines is questionable. Lets see how many are actually delivered. The nature of the airline business is lots of ups and downs. I'd be surprised if IndiGo has 430 320's in 2027.

The problem is SWA's fleet will be mixed between -700/-800/-7/-8 so it won't have much more of a higher number for one specific model. 737 as a whole, that will never be broken.

The fact that they even have 500 of one model is insane, and that isn't the whole fleet!!!

TransGlobalGold wrote:

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

This, along with all the mega orders by other Asian airlines is questionable. Lets see how many are actually delivered. The nature of the airline business is lots of ups and downs. I'd be surprised if IndiGo has 430 320's in 2027.

As of now, Airbus has been unable to meet IndiGo's requirements. It recently received 3 A320Ceo on wet lease, as a replacement for delayed NEOs.

6E is ready to take any NEO it can. Even when all other airlines like LH, QR were deferring it, 6E jumped in to take any available NEO.

Both IndiGo and India have strong fundamentals, to support long term growth....

What reg bought it @ LGA?

And why was the reg changed for the MDW one?

The LGA a/c was N753SW and the MDW a/c that was repaired was thought to have been too visible as N471WN and was re registered as a result

I wonder how many total flights WN has had since inception? I suspect they have more than any other airline as well.

anshabhi wrote:

BobPatterson wrote:

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

What do you think Southwest's fleet will be like 10 years from now?

I think American market has reached a stagnation point. Its future orders will go towards replacing the existing fleet only.

It currently has 723 Aircraft, and 208 on order. It might order 500 more B737Max...

There is nothing stagnant about the domestic market in the USA. It is growing steadily and Southwest, along with all the LCCs is leading the way. It is true that the US3 legacy carriers have been stagnant or flat with respect to growth in enplanements, but this has been true for 16 years. I presented statistics about this in previous threads and you can see the numbers here:

Enplanement Data With Regard to USA Domestic Competitive Landscape: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1347325#p19175605

The average age of Southwest's fleet is 11.8 years. Only American (10.4) has a younger fleet among the majors. Southwest has little need to replace current fleet with the expected new deliveries. They will be able to grow the network (they have been limited in this respect recently). They will not only be able to add frequencies and new short haul routes, but they will be able to add transcons and many international routes in this hemisphere.

And, when they are ready, Southwest will have no problem in adding trans-Atlantic service.

I think you can bank on it.

Varsity1 wrote:

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Those aircraft are trash and most of them rotted away in a field. After spending a year in Russia, I would take anything coming out of that place with a grain of salt.

I rest my case #ignorance. There was a time on airliners.net when people would enquire further. Not any more; just ignorance such as this comment which is tolerated by the admin

Lightsaber, I thought you were also better than that. Homeboy? Sure. Ignorant? I thought better of you.

SWA have no record at all as its been done over and over again by the Soviets

shankly wrote:

Varsity1 wrote:

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Those aircraft are trash and most of them rotted away in a field. After spending a year in Russia, I would take anything coming out of that place with a grain of salt.

I rest my case #ignorance. There was a time on airliners.net when people would enquire further. Not any more; just ignorance such as this comment which is tolerated by the admin

Lightsaber, I thought you were also better than that. Homeboy? Sure. Ignorant? I thought better of you.

SWA have no record at all as its been done over and over again by the Soviets

Go visit russia dude. Outside of Moscow and St. Pete it's a 3rd world country.

Chemist wrote:

I wonder how many total flights WN has had since inception? I suspect they have more than any other airline as well.

I have this curiosity too. Would anyone have (or be able to calculate) TOTAL number of flights (1 takeoff+landing = 1 flight) WN has had ever since the airline started?

A statistic like "50 Million Flights without having a single passenger fatality" would be darned impressive!

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Anyone comparing your numbers with the total amount of those aircraft produced is in for a laugh.

I wish I had done a better job keeping track of all the tail numbers I have been on, would just be interesting to see how many. I am at a few hundred WN 73G flights and would love to see how they move about the system. The beauty of the WN model is they can swap frames on the fly, with relative ease.

There was a time in the middle 2000s that I would have guessed CO Express via Express Jet or DL/UA via SkyWest would get there with CR2s, but that trend and fad came and went along with a few bankruptcies.

anshabhi wrote:

Unlikely to be broken is too much.

IndiGo will have 430 A320Neo by 2027, with a good probability that it may order more (specially when it begins retiring its existing 110 A320Ceo)

Yes that is possible. But it is also possible they change some of those orders to A321s. I think that is more likely than the chance the Indigo operating 430 A320NEOs are the same time. Even so that is 10 years from now and they also need to order 70 more just have a chance. The airline landscape changes frequently and drastically. Look back 5 years, 10 years and it is very different. But yes, there is a chance, they beat this record in the 2030s. Until such time, trophy goes to WN.

anshabhi wrote:

[
I think American market has reached a stagnation point. Its future orders will go towards replacing the existing fleet only.

It currently has 723 Aircraft, and 208 on order. It might order 500 more B737Max...

Indigo is unlikely to operate all aircraft on order at one time. They cycle out aircraft as they approach cycle limits for major checks.

Indigo is already facing downward pressure in a number of areas. Compression of yields, shortage of staff, employee morale.

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Look at the size of the continental USA and realize that Southwest is one of several airlines in this country, and look at the size of the Soviet Union at its height, where Aeroflot was the only airline.

Apples to oranges. Not even closely related.

shankly wrote:

There was a time on airliners.net when people would enquire further. Not any more; just ignorance such as this comment which is tolerated by the admin

Lightsaber, I thought you were also better than that. Homeboy? Sure. Ignorant? I thought better of you.

SWA have no record at all as its been done over and over again by the Soviets

Shankly, your posts did cause me to enquire further. Here's some of what I discovered (all info from Wikipedia):

Yak-40.......................20-27 pax............354 million pax flown 1967-1981
An-24.........................50
Il-14...........................18.......................originally designed for 32 pax, had to be scaled back
L-410.........................15-20
Tu-134........................56-72

SWA B737.................130-215...............100 million + pax per year (142 million recently - 2015)

Until the Tu-134 came along it would have taken from 7-10 Aerflot passenger aircraft to equal the capacity of a single SWA aircraft. The Tu-134s did better, just 3:1.

Many of the Russian aircraft never saw passenger service in Russia.

For the most part we are looking at different eras. I have not seen annual passenger counts for Aeroflot in the recent era. Their fleet of just less than 200 aircraft is overwhelmingly Airbus and Boeing, but that will change as Irkut (175 seats) and Sukhoi (87 seats) aircraft are added to the fleet.

SWA has just over 700 aircraft and that number will soon be growing.

Comments and correction will be most welcome.

Cheers

Chemist wrote:

I wonder how many total flights WN has had since inception? I suspect they have more than any other airline as well.

This is by no means a current number, but at the end of 2000, the total number I have is 9,412,640 flights.

This number comes from a Southwest-issued publication dated 2001 that lists the total flights flown each year between 1971 and 2000.

That was with a year-end fleet of only 344 aircraft flying 903,754 flights that year.

I can't imagine how that total number has increased in an additional 16+ years.

The 737-700...an aircraft all the majors say they can't rely on to make a profit.

topbanana wrote:

Chemist wrote:

I wonder how many total flights WN has had since inception? I suspect they have more than any other airline as well.

This is by no means a current number, but at the end of 2000, the total number I have is 9,412,640 flights.

This number comes from a Southwest-issued publication dated 2001 that lists the total flights flown each year between 1971 and 2000.

That was with a year-end fleet of only 344 aircraft flying 903,754 flights that year.

I can't imagine how that total number has increased in an additional 16+ years.

Seems like the total must be in the 40 million flights neighborhood. Pretty impressive, with no passenger fatalities.

topbanana wrote:

This is by no means a current number, but at the end of 2000, the total number I have is 9,412,640 flights.

This number comes from a Southwest-issued publication dated 2001 that lists the total flights flown each year between 1971 and 2000.

That was with a year-end fleet of only 344 aircraft flying 903,754 flights that year.

I can't imagine how that total number has increased in an additional 16+ years.

Southwest reported (annual reports data) a total of 18,357,941 flights during fiscal years 2001-2016.

With your 9,412,640 that gives us 27,770.581 in the period 1971-2016.

KLBI wrote:

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Anyone comparing your numbers with the total amount of those aircraft produced is in for a laugh.

I did indeed...original commenter's numbers are possible if not really plausible (except in the case of the IL-14).

Total number of A/C produced (all variants). Source: Wikipedia.
An-24: 1,367 (including the Chinese copy, the Y-7)
IL-14: 1,348
Yak-40: 1,011
Let-410: 1,138
Tu-134: 854
An-2: ~18,000

I know that "Aeroflot" was really just the Soviet state's air fleet (that's the translation from Russian), and they had a total monopoly on all civilian and commercial aviation in the country as well as forming the backbone of strategic and tactical airlift. You are basically talking about a state controlled entity that operated not just aircraft, but airports, radars, and all the infrastructure for aviation in a country. I don't think this situation is remotely comparable to what WN has achieved. You are talking about a general purpose/crop-dusting/agro aircraft operated "in the thousands" and comparing it to 737s.

To do anywhere near a fair comparison you'd have to look at the number of A/C operated by all of the major US airlines and compare it to Aeroflot.

-IR

Chemist wrote:

I wonder how many total flights WN has had since inception? I suspect they have more than any other airline as well.

I did some more research.... the number I come up with for total flights operated between 1971 and the end of 2016 is 27,220,290 fights. This number also, however, includes AirTran flights.

I got this number by adding up the "total trips flown" listed in each of Southwest's annual reports which can be found online.

A bit off topic, but what about "tonnage", IE: weight (The most pounds of one plane). Would that go to EKs 94 A380s?

When I read the thread title I thought it was another thread about WN taxi speeds...

Varsity1 wrote:

shankly wrote:

Very US view of the world

Aeroflot operated "thousands" of AN-2's, so are likely to have had a single fleet well excess of 500 at sometime between the 1950's - 1980's. Other Aeroflot candidates include:
around 1 000 An-24
around 2 000 Il-14
around 1 000 Yak-40
around 700 Let L-410
Numbers of Tu-134's were also high at around 600, but included sub-types, so single fleet may not have been 500

Those aircraft are trash and most of them rotted away in a field. After spending a year in Russia, I would take anything coming out of that place with a grain of salt.

?
Regardless of their current state, it does not negate the fact that in the Cold War era, Aeroflot was a very large airline.
I agree that its apples and oranges. A state run airline vs. a private concern. Can you say fleet commanality? lol. Pretty cool.