727 Celebrates 50 Years Of Service

This month, the Boeing 727 celebrates 50 years of service. The tri-jet, the second of the Boeing airliners 7_7 series, was a top seller among US carriers in its day, until it was unseated by the 737 series, and replaced by the 757 series.

With respect to Hawai‘i, Continental Airlines' Air Micronesia division used both the 727-100 and 727-200 series on their "Island Hopper" service from the 1970s until they were replaced by Continental's 737-800s in the early 2000s. Earlier this month, our "HNL RareBirds Classic" featured Kitty Hawk's N252US. Kalitta Charters II brought in N720CK to fly inter-island cargo for Pacific Air Cargo in 2005, but the service lasted only a few years. Asia Pacific Airlines continues to fly cargo between HNL, GUM, and Micronesia with three 727-200Fs.


On a personal note, I got to ride the 727-200 with Trans World Airlines (TWA) in the 1970s, and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in the 1980s on a few intra-California flights.