Western Airlines Boeing 737-200

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The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating but with two underwing Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofan engines. Envisioned in 1964, the initial 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The lengthened 737-200 entered service in April 1968, and evolved through four generations, offering several variants for 85 to 215 passengers.

Western Airlines began operations in 1926 as Western Air Express and was based at Los Angeles, California. The carrier grew to become a legacy United States airline with routes linking many larger cities in the western U. S., Alaska, and Hawaii as well as serving many smaller communities in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Western was the first carrier to serve Albuquerque in 1929 and 1930 as a stop on a route between Los Angeles and Kansas City and again in 1931 through 1934 as a stop between Denver and El Paso. In 1945 the carrier had applied for a route between Salt Lake City and Albuquerque making multiple stops but this route was awarded to Monarch Air Lines which later became Frontier Airlines. In 1958 Western applied for routes from Albuquerque to Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas as well as to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Western continued to apply for service to Albuquerque through the 1970’s while airlines were still regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (C.A.B.) but it was not until the airline deregulation act of 1978 that the carrier was finally able to return to the city.

After 47 years, service was resumed on October 25, 1981 with flights from Albuquerque to Houston, Las Vegas, and San Francisco using Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Western reached a height of ten flights per day at Albuquerque on the March 1, 1983 schedule. Boeing 737-200’s were soon added to the Albuquerque schedule, replacing all the 727’s by late 1985, and new generation 737-300’s came online in early 1986. Western Airlines merged into Delta Airlines on April 1, 1987 ending a 61 year career for the airline.

Western Airlines used the Boeing 737-200 N4512 to supplement the 727 service to Albuquerque for the month of July in 1982. Full service with the 737 began in April of 1983.

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