Originally Posted by
P330
I’m sure there was a time when the new build 738s were deployed only at specific airports or only on the longer routes potentially because they were more efficient.
Is it now the case that all the 738s, old and new, are used randomly across the 738 network?
It's quite spread now. The original new 738s delivered to them have the short field performance package. Ideally yes you would put newer, lighter aircraft with more efficient engines and better fuel burn on the long routes but equally you sometimes see a 20+ years 738 doing a PFO from the North.
Each base has a mix of new and midlife 738s now, the newer tails usually do more challenging fields like SZG and INN.
BHX and STN had exclusively new 738s during the first 2 years of operation but they too have a mix now.