Ever since I started at Southwest, I’ve wanted to participate in a new aircraft delivery, the process of picking up a shiny new 737-700 from Boeing’s 737 factory in Seattle. After 9 years of waiting, I finally have my chance this week, and Jenny gets to go with me!

From what I hear, these delivery flights are tons of fun, with a more relaxed atmosphere, free food, and great memories with old friends and new ones. Several of my coworkers and leaders plan to attend. A couple of the senior management pilots will serve as the crew. Lord willing, we will fly from Dallas to Seattle Thursday afternoon. That evening we’ll meet some of my colleagues and leaders at a party at the crew hotel near Sea-Tac (SEA). Friday morning, we’ll take a shuttle to the factory at Boeing Field (BFI), have breakfast, visit the Boeing Store, take pictures of the new plane, and then fly back to DAL enjoying that new-plane smell.

At some point Friday morning, the SWA bigwigs will write Boeing a really, really big check (figuratively, I assume), and the Boeing bigwigs will transfer title for the aircraft to SWA. In some ways, it’s like buying a new car, just a lot cooler and more expensive. List price for a new 737-700 is $58.5-69.5 million, depending on configuration. I’m sure we get some sort of volume discount.

I’ll post pics over the weekend!