In a message dated 12/13/2003 9:07:15 AM US Mountain Standard Time, damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: > To answer the last question first: Southwest needed capacity. > According to http://www.geocities.com/~aeromoe/fleets/wn.html, Southwest had > the following 727's. The format is registration model c/n l/n former > identity start and end dates > > N406BN 291 19991/521 N7276F 03/79 01/80 > N551PE 227(A) 20772/982 551 N426BN 02/84 02/85 > N561PE 227(A) 21043/1113 561 N436BN 08/83 08/85 > N563PE 227(A) 21045/1133 563 N438BN 05/84 10/85 > N564PE 227(A) 21118/1167 564 N439BN 08/83 08/85 > N566PE 227(A) 21242/1196 566 N441BN 05/84 10/85 > N569PE 227(A) 21245/1202 569 N444BN 05/84 09/85 Correct. As you'll notice, everyone except the first was built for BN (series 227). I don't recall a B727 in the Southwest fleet prior to 1983, so maybe someone can splain the first one. Even though the B727s were a lot more expensive to operate for Southwest, the low lease prices made sense for quick added capacity. I don't recall their routing, but based on the Southwest route map of '83 & '84 my guess is they were flown well below the optimal stage length of a B727. RT Simpson Phoenix