757-300 - Restrictions

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Originally Posted by Rainboe

Can you be more specific on where the 737-900 starts to lose its touch? It seems to be getting the 737 more up to 707-type fuselage size. I'm interesting in understanding where it fails.

Commercially the 737-900 initially failed on the following.

The 737-800 had been sized up to the maximum size for the evacuation provision (189 seats I believe), beyond that it needed substantial reworking of the exits. However Boeing identified that only charter-pitch 737-800s actually installed the full number of seats, and they could do a further stretch to allow mainstream carriers with F/Y seating, who typically put in about 150 seats in a 737-800, to have more seats, still without exceeding that 189 seat maximum.

This was not acceptable to owners, and more particularly leasers because it meant they were cutting out a significant aftermarket for the aircraft, in that they could not be moved on to charter/LCC type operators with high-density seating once the initial operator handed them back. Boeing have eventually realised this and done a rework of the exits for the 737-900ER, but they missed the market for some years and don’t seem to have got it back.