Including how many of them are in circulation among U.S. airlines.
On Monday, a Chinese airliner carrying 132 people crashed in the mountains. Shortly following news of the crash, a video of the plane’s rapid descent began to circulate through social media platforms, showing the aircraft in a horrific nosedive straight toward earth.
Though no survivors have yet been found, a desperate rescue mission is currently underway in the remote valley where the plane landed.
Boeing, which manufactured the plane, tells KCM it’s working to help with the investigation as more information becomes available.
“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735,” the company said. “We are working with our airline customers and are ready to support them. Boeing is in contact with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and our technical experts are prepared to assist with the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.”
What kind of plane was involved in the crash in China?
Because the plane involved in the tragedy was a Boeing design, it has naturally reminded many of the two previous Boeing crashes that took place in 2018 and 2019 — the same catastrophic accidents that are the subject of Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, a new Netflix documentary that unpacks what went wrong.
However, let’s clarify one thing immediately: The plane that just crashed in China was a Boeing 737-800 — not the same design as the Boeing planes that crashed in recent years. Those were the model 737 Max, a newer version of the 737-800 which was found to have a deadly design flaw that is believed to have directly led to both of those earlier crashes. Though both designs exist under the Boeing 737 umbrella, the 737 Max is newer, and it was created to replace the 737-800, according to ABC News.
But the 737 Max was grounded for 20 months following an investigation into those fatal crashes. After a series of modifications were made to the design, the plane was cleared to fly again in 2020. According to the BBC, 22 “service difficulty reports” have since been filed by pilots during flights on the modified 737 Maxes, and on four of those flights, pilots declared emergencies. Boeing maintains the aircraft is safe and reliable.
State media in China reported that all of the country’s 737-800 planes were grounded Monday. The model hasn’t been grounded by United States airlines, but you may nonetheless be wondering how common this Boeing aircraft is and which airlines are known to carry them.
Which airline has the most Boeing planes of any fleet?
Even though it’s older than the 737 Max, the Boeing 737-800 is still the most common Boeing plane found in any airline fleet. According to ABC, there are 4,502 of this design currently in operation across the world, and the 737-800 is the most commonly used plane model in the United States, with 795 of them in service.
It can be hard to evaluate those numbers without proper context, so here’s the bigger picture: There are approximately 27,000 planes in service worldwide, and the 737-800 Boeing design comprises 17 percent of that total number, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider.
To break it down further among airline fleets in the United States, here’s how many 737-800 planes each airline has, per the New York Times:
- American Airlines: 265
- Southwest Airlines: 205
- United Airlines: 36
- Delta Air Lines: 77
How to find out which type of plane will be used for a given flight
Is it possible to know what plane design will be used for a flight you want to book? Yes, but it’s not always as easy as clicking a button.
Some websites like Expedia do show you the plane that is expected for this route. All you have to do is select the flight you might purchase, then click “show details.” It’s important to note that if you’re making a round-trip passage, the plane design you take in one direction might not be the same plane you take on the way home, so make sure to check both.
When you book your flight through other websites, the type of plane the airline is using might not be immediately visible in the details of that booking window. However, there are ways to track down the type of plane an airline plans to use for a given flight if you’re willing to take a few minutes of time to do so.
According to The Points Guy, one easy way to learn more about the plane you might be flying on is to look up the tail number. This information should be visible on any booking window, and if you plug it into a search engine, or into a search bar on Airfleets.net, you won’t just learn what type of plane it is, but also how old it is, what trips it has made, and more.
There’s a really important caveat here: There’s no guarantee what plane will be used for your flights until approximately 48 hours prior to your flight when air traffic schedules are solidified. If you care about what type of plane you’re flying on, you’ll want to double-check within this time period for the most up-to-date information.
