737s For 20 Years?

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31741, 26 July 1968, Page 14

737s For 20 Years?

The Boeing 737 which the National Airways Corporation ■will introduce on its main trunk services in October could be flying in New Zealand for the next 20 years, said the general manager (Mr D. A. Patterson) in Christchurch yesterday.

Unlike the Viscount, which had a structural “life”, the Boeing 737 was built on a

“fail-safe” principle and so did not have a terminal life, Mr Patterson said. Its useful life would largely be determined by the cost of spare parts. Even today, he said, the cost of Boeing spares was astronomical. Because of this problem, small airlines had considered using a spares pool in the United States, but the Boeing company had now offered to supply spares at 24 hours notice. This would save the bolding of about slm worth of spares at N.A.C.’s engineering headquarters.

Mr Patterson said that the three Boeings were now due in New Zealand on August 30, September 15, and October 3, plus or minus three days. The post-devaluation cost of the three, including duty of $562,000, was $13.56m. The cost of four B.A.C. 1-lls would have been $15.4m and customs duty would not have been payable. All the basic guarantees given by the Boeing company had been bettered by between 10 and 15 per cent. The deputy general manager (Mr L. L. Ford) said that not until the Boeings had been in use for 12 months would it be known whether a fourth would be needed. If one was ordered it could be added to the fleet in about two years and a half. No decision had been made on how long the airline would continue to use its five Viscounts, said Mr Ford. The

Boeings were never intended to replace the Viscounts but only to provide extra carrying capacity. Next year the airline would modify its two oldest Viscounts to give them an extra six years use. The cost of modification will be about $50,000 each, Mr Ford said. Mr Patterson said that nothing definite had been decided on the future role of the Viscount. It might be used on major secondary routes or retained as a freight aircraft. Several possibilities could be considered.