In April 1992, Alaska Airlines took delivery of it's first Boeing 737-400 in order to replace older aircraft in their fleet at the time. In it's history, the carrier's -400 Classic fleet consisted of mostly all-passenger variants, as well as a handful of freighters split between a single pure-freighter and a few combi (half passenger-carrying, half freighter) planes. The last of Alaska Airlines' Classics will be replaced by member of the 737NG (Next Generation) family including the 737-700 freighter conversion and the 737-900ER. Since the older Classics are less fuel efficient, Alaska Airlines has made the replacement of the 737-400 with the Boeing 737-900ER a core component of their strategy to reduce their environmental footprint; the -900ER can carry 25 percent more passengers on the same amount of fuel as a -400.
Southwest Airlines retired their Classics, namely, the 737-300 at the end of this past September. And now as of today, Alaska Airlines retires their Classics, the 737-400 from their fleet, making Alaska the last U.S. mainline and legacy carrier to have operated a member of the 737 Classics for scheduled passenger service.
In tribute to their retirement, here's a photo montage of all the 737-400s operated by Alaska Airlines that I've photographed over the years:
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| Boeing 737-490 (N788AS). |
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| Boeing 737-4Q8 (N756AS). |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N767AS). This was the last 737-400 to exit the Alaska Airlines fleet. |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N796AS). This airframe now flies for South African carrier Safair as ZS-WMP. |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N708AS). |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N793AS). |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N706AS) "The Spirit of Make-A-Wish." |
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| Boeing 737-490 (N794AS). |
Farewell to a classic workhorse!
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