LE BOURGET - Midway Airlines has ordered 15 firm, 10 option CFM56-7-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 aircraft, becoming one of CFM's newest customers. The value of the firm engine orders is approximately $150 million and the aircraft are scheduled to begin delivery in 2000.
Midway also announced today that it will lease two additional CFM56-7-powered 737-700s from GE Capital Aviation Services. Delivery of the leased aircraft is scheduled for December of this year.
U.S.-based Midway plans to use the new 737s to supplement its current fleet of Canadair Regional Jets and Fokker F100s thus increasing the growth and frequently of its exiting route structure, with currently encompasses the U.S. Eastern Seaboard from Boston, Massachusetts to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as Cancun, Mexico.
The first CFM56-7-powered 737-700 was delivered in December 1997; both the 737-600 and 737-800 have since entered revenue service while the largest model in this series, the 737-900, will begin delivery next year. To date, the CFM56-7-powered 737 fleet has logged more than 800,000 flight hours and more than 430,000 flight cycles. By year's end, the fleet will have accumulated 2.5 million flight hours.
The delivery schedule for this engine/aircraft combination during the first year represents the most rapid ramp up in aviation history, with more than 160 aircraft delivered by the end of 1998. In service, the engine has maintained reliability numbers comparable to more mature engines. Currently, the CFM56-7 has a dispatch reliability rate of 99.93 percent meaning that less than one per 1,000 is delayed or canceled for engine-related issues. The engine also has a .013 shop visit rate, and a .015 in-flight shutdown rate. As a result of its in-service reliability, the CFM56-7 has received 120-minute ETOPS (extended range, twin-engine operations) from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. CFM is working with Boeing, regulatory agencies, and airlines to achieve 180-minute approval by year end.