How can you tell the age of a plane?

Question

& whats the difference between southwest's airlines blue planes and their tan planes?

Answer 1

While the above answers may help, the best (and probably easiest) way to determine a plane's age is right in front of you when you board.  

Almost all aircraft have a unique informational plaque installed by the manufacturer, that designates the aircraft type, where it was manufactured, and when it was manufactured.   These can usually be found as a brass plate, bolted to the inside of the main entry door frame.  (some aircraft types will have the plaques located in the main cabin, near to the door) Often if you pause when entering the plane, you can find this plaque and quickly determine the plane's age and other information.

When flying on Southwest airlines, there are a couple of other hints you can use as well.

Southwest's fleet is currently made up of 737-300, 737-500 and 737-700 aircraft.  The -300 series are the older of the three, with the last being assembled in 1999 (the earliest go back to 1981).  The -500s are slightly newer, with the last rolling off the assembly line in 2000.    All of the 737-700s are relatively new, being introduced in 1998.  All of the 737-700s can be distinguished by their winglets, or curved wing tips.  The winglets were a new addition to improve efficiency on the 737-700s (although, 90 of the older -300 series are being retrofitted with winglets to cut down on fuel costs).   The color scheme means relatively little at this point in time.   As the previous post pointed out, a tan scheme will tell you that the plane is likely at least a decade old, but there are 737s of all types flying in both color schemes, as planes will regularly be repainted when their colors start to show wear.

Lastly, if you can locate and record the "N Number" or registration number on the tail of the aircraft, you can use any number of online resources to look up the specific history of the aircraft.   If you enter the N-Number into the FAA's online database (link below) you can access all of the aircraft's registration data, including manufacture date.  A quick google search of the number will also reveal any noteworthy incidents related to the aircraft in question.

Answer 2

The colors don't necessarily tell you anything.

The tan livery is an older design. The blue is newer. However, all of the planes are repainted periodically when they are undergoing heavy maintenance. Therefore, there are some older planes that will have the newer colors. Eventually, all of the planes will be repainted in the blue livery except for a few special designs. I have heard, but can't confirm, that a few aircraft will retain the old tan colors as a special design in tribute to the airline's history.

The only sure way to tell the age is to look up the registration number. That's the six alphanumeric character identifier that is on every aircraft. In the US, it always starts with the letter "N". Then, you can look it up in a fleet guide or on a website that tracks aircraft registrations such as airlinerlist.com. It will tell you when the aircraft was manufactured and every airline that has operated it.

Answer 3

The information that I read helped distinguish between the types of 737's if they had the winglets or not. I have seen those on both the blue and tan planes though.

It said the tan colours were the original, older planes. The new blue started early this decade, and the transistion is almost done. It would be safe to say, that a tan plane is at least about 10 years old. They will keep a few of them in those colours.

It says their average fleet is 13.5 years old.

Answer 4

Winglets add more lift but can't tell you how old an aircraft is because they are an option. You don't have to really worry about a planes age. You have to worry more about its hours, Its T\O and Landings. IF a plane spends 20/24 hours a day working then the plane demands more regular check-ups but most airlines have a set time a date that can or can't be before those check-ups are greatly needed.