Did American Airlines Fly the 737-100?

When you think of American Airlines narrowbodies, the workhorses that come to mind are MD-80s, Boeing 727s, and later generations of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family. But did American ever fly the very first version of the Boeing 737 — the 737-100?

Surprisingly, yes — but only for a short time.

The Boeing 737-100 at American Airlines

The Boeing 737-100 was the very first version of the 737, introduced in 1968. It was short and stubby compared to later variants, seating around 85–100 passengers.

Only a few were built, mainly for German national carrier Lufthansa. Later orders for the 737 opted for the slightly streched -200 model.

American Airlines did not originally order the 737-100 from Boeing, but in the early 1980s it briefly operated a small fleet of leased examples.

• Fleet size: Just two Boeing 737-123s.
• Source: These aircraft were originally delivered to Avianca in the late 1960s and were later acquired by American following their merger with AirCal in 1987. AirCal had acquired them fom Aloha Airlines in 1977 and used them on intra-state routes in California.
• Entry into service: Early 1980s, flying mainly short domestic routes.

This made American Airlines one of the very few U.S. carriers to fly the smallest 737 model, alongside Lufthansa, NASA, and Western Airlines.

Interestingly, the two 737-100 aircraft were never repainted into the polished American Airlines scheme and merely retained the AirCal livery with ‘American’ titles.

Brief Foray Into the 737-200

An American Airlines 737-200. Photo (c) Aero Icarus

American Airlines also briefly operated the 737-200 during the same era. Like the -100s, these were also obtained through the airline’s merger with AirCal, rather than part of a long-term fleet plan.

• They were used to cover domestic routes and capacity gaps during the airline’s transition away from older BAC One-Elevens and early 727s.
• By the mid-1980s, both the 737-100 and -200 had been retired form the fleet, leaving American without a 737 fleet until it began acquiring 737-800s in the late 1990s.

Why Such a Small Fleet?

N471GB with AirCal, before it joined American Airlines. Photo (c) Aero Icarus

American’s 737-100s were more of a stopgap measure than a strategic choice. They had been acquired through a merger and retained for a few years. The airline was focused on larger-capacity narrowbodies at the time, particularly the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Super 80 (MD-80), which went on to become its main short-haul aircraft for decades.

Where Are They Now?

The two Boeing 737-100s that American operated were eventually retired and sold. Sadly, like most early 737s, they were soon scrapped — the model itself was produced in small numbers (just 30 built in total) and only one survives today, at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

American Airlines’ 737-100s are a rare and fascinating part of the airline’s history. It’s a reminder of a time when airlines experimented with small subfleets to cover network needs — something much less common today.

Did you ever spot or fly on one of these aircraft?