GOL Airlines receives record-making 737

In December last year, Boeing delivered a Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft to GOL Airlines (based in Brazil).  Now deliveries such as these are pretty much routine for Boeing, but this particular 737 delivery is quite special.  In fact, it's a historic event in the lifetime of the 737 family, because that aircraft marks the 3,133rd Next-Generation 737 that Boeing has built, surpassing the total number of older generation 737 Classics that rolled out of the factory (the 737 Classic family consists of the -100, -200, -300, -400, and -500 models).  In addition, it took the Next-Gen 737 factory (based in Renton, WA) only 12 years to achieve this milestone, compared to the 32 years it took to build the same number of 737 Classic aircraft.  Because of a strong focus on efficiency (dubbed Lean+ by Boeing) and on-going improvement efforts, the factory now rolls out Next-Gen 737 aircraft to the tune of 31 per month, with a single aircraft being produced in just 10 days (compared to 22 days in the past).  I think it's a safe bet that the factory will continue to produce Next-Gen 737 aircraft for at least the remainder of this decade.  Rumors of a replacement 737 aircraft (which will incorporate some of the groundbreaking new features that the 787 Dreamliner currently utilizes, including the use of advanced composites) is still far out.  Boeing is believed to be waiting for a more fuel-efficient engine to be developed first before they begin putting designs on the 737 replacement prototype to paper.

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