A behind-the-scenes look at how Boeing delivers 737s to customers By Dawsalee Griffin and photos by Jim Anderson A few days before delivery of its latest Next-Generation 737, a team from low-cost carrier flydubai arrived in Seattle. A not-infrequent event, this month the team consisted of Mick Hills, divisional head, Engineering & Maintenance, Dave Lewis, Engineering manager, and Jamie Briant, Maintenance controller. Over the course of the next week, they will inspect the airplane, sign ownership paperwork, get the ceremonial keys and take possession of their new 737-800. They have fine-tuned the process. “We’ve worked with Boeing to create a process that works for us whether we take a lot of airplanes in a short period or several months apart,” Hills said. While the customer delivery process is fairly straightforward for everyone who buys a new Boeing airplane—customer test flight, inspection, delivery preparation and flyaway—the execution can vary from one customer to another. “The challenge is to meet a specific customer’s expectations and needs,” said Tom Greenside, 737 delivery center manager. “And that can range from supplying The delive 28 BOEING FRONTIERS / NOVEMBER 2012
Frontiers November 2012 Issue
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