Southwest Airlines (WN/SWA) was founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. Initially conceptualized to serve as an intrastate airline connecting major cities within Texas, the airline was officially established in 1971 with its first flights crisscrossing between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The business model of Southwest Airlines disrupted the traditional airline industry through its innovative strategies, such as using a point-to-point transit system rather than the traditional hub-and-spoke model, which enabled faster turnaround times and increased aircraft utilization. It also pioneered the now-common single fleet type approach, exclusively operating Boeing 737 aircraft. Known for its cost-effective operations, no-frills service, and a jovial corporate culture, Southwest consistently maintained profitability, a rare feat in the aviation industry.
Today, Southwest is one of the world’s largest airlines with a fleet comprising a whopping 795 aircraft, all of which are variants of the Boeing 737. The fleet has actually reduced since our last review in mid-2024, with 16 older aircraft being retired in that time. Let’s take a closer look at the fleet and identify the newest and oldest aircraft in service.
| Aircraft type | Number in fleet |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 316 |
| Boeing 737-800 | 190 |
| Boeing 737-700 | 289 |
26 years of the Boeing 737-800
The newest aircraft
The newest aircraft in the Southwest fleet is N8953Q. This Boeing 737 MAX 8 was built in June 2025 as MSN68890, and currently operates flights between airports including Denver (DEN), Phoenix (PHX), Indianapolis (IND) and Las Vegas (LAS). It’s no secret that the MAX family hasn’t had an easy ride into service, and Southwest was amongst numerous airlines that grounded and stored their MAX fleet following the crashes of Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302. Southwest began introducing the MAX from 2017, and have a fleet of 316 MAX aircraft as of June 2026. The airline has large ambitions for the MAX 7 variant when it is finally certified and enters service.
The oldest aircraft
The oldest aircraft in the Southwest fleet is N7820L, a Boeing 737-790 built in November 2002. One of 289 -700 series aircraft in the fleet, N7820L operates flights between airports including San Diego (SAN), Bellingham (BLI), Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF) and Burbank (BUR). This aircraft was originally delivered to Alaska Airlines (AS/ASA) in 2000 as N617AS, going on to join Southwest in June 2014.
Southwest previously operated a fleet of Boeing 737 classic aircraft, primarily focussed on the -300 series. The airline retired the last 30 of these in 2022 as more 737 MAX jets were brought online.
Have you flown on any of these Southwest aircraft? Let us know in the comments.
Cover photo: Positive Rate Photography, JetPhotos.
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