THE FIRST Boeing Next-Generation 737 with the certified performance improvement engines, was delivered on a 737-800 to China Southern Airlines at Boeing Field in Seattle recently.
The new CFM56-7BE engine configuration, which is now standard on all delivered 737s, is an improved design that includes high and low pressure turbine modifications. Coupled with drag reduction improvements that Boeing started phasing into 737 production earlier this year, it will result in lower fuel consumption and maintenance cost savings. The new engine is part of the 737 performance improvement package that Boeing began testing in November 2010 with the goal of reducing fuel consumption by two percent. Other fuel performance incorporations will take place into 2012.
Boeing’s continuous efforts to improve the Next-Generation 737 family have resulted in an accumulated five percent gain in fuel efficiency since the first aircraft was delivered in 1998. The new improvements will give operators an aircraft that is up to seven percent more efficient than the first Next-Generation 737s delivered.
