WestJet Begins Retiring the Aircraft Model That Built the Airline

WestJet was built on the Boeing 737-700. Twenty-five years later it has begun the process of getting rid of them.

As Aviation World News reports, WestJet has signed an agreement with FTAI Aviation, a company described as “an industry-leading supplier of CFM56 and V2500 engines, modules and materials.”

The deal covers 27 aircraft. Seventeen of them departing through a sale-and-leaseback, meaning WestJet sells them and keeps flying them for a while. Ten are being bought outright off lease. 

WestJet describes the move as the start of the retirement of the 737-700 fleet – the plane that once formed its entire identity.

WestJet took delivery of its first 737-700 in 2001, moving from second-hand 737-200s to a brand-new Next Generation fleet. For most of the two decades that followed, a 737-700 was simply what a WestJet aircraft was: one aisle, two CFM56 engines.

The fleet has moved on. Today the mainline operation runs 737-800s and MAX 8s, with 787-9s on long haul and a 2025 order for 60 MAX 10s and seven more 787-9s, the largest Boeing order ever placed by a Canadian airline. 

Aviation World News says FTAI is not buying these aircraft because it is short of narrowbodies. It is buying them because of what is hanging under the wings.

The CFM56-7B is still the most widely installed engine on the planet. FTAI’s aerospace products business sells engines and modules on exchange, which means it needs a steady supply of serviceable hardware it controls outright. Ten off-lease 737-700s is a supply of exactly that, with an airframe attached that may or may not fly again.

WestJet’s decision to sell and leaseback 17 planes looks like a wise move, as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently delayed certification of the 737 MAX 10 due to a software issue. WestJet was expecting its first MAX 10 by the end of this year, so retaining the capacity of those 17 planes will be helpful.