The world's first Boeing 737-900 is retired by Alaska Airlines
On April 8, a commercial aircraft with a very important history said goodbye to flights, the Boeing 737-900, registration N302AS.
The Alaska Airlines jet is nothing more than the prototype of the stretched variant of the 737NG, which flew for the first time in August 2000.
The airline decided to retire the plane after almost 22 years in service. The farewell flight departed from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Pinal Airpark, in Arizona.
Still registered as N737X, the first 737-900 was used by Boeing in the development of the variant, which was then created to compete with the Airbus A321 at the request of Alaska, which was its launch customer in 1997.
However, the aircraft did not attract many orders, with only 52 jets delivered to KLM, Continental Korean Air and Alaska.
Boeing soon put the 737-900ER on the market, an extended-range variant that received more than 500 orders.
Alaska Airlines received several 737-900s, but the N737X only became N302AS in April 2003, when it was acquired from Boeing.
The jet is notable for the absence of winglets on the wingtips, which later became standard on the version.
According to FlightRadar24, another four 737-900s, configured with 16 business class seats and 162 economy seats, are expected to leave Alaska’s fleet by the end of 2025.
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