How to Tell Boeing Jetliners Apart

Boeing Commercial Aircraft
Wide-Body	Narrow-Body
Boeing 747	Boeing 707
Boeing 767	Boeing 717
Boeing 777	Boeing 727
Boeing 787	Boeing 737
	Boeing 757

One can spot a Boeing jet airliner in nearly any airport in the world.

They share similar external characteristics, but identifying one from another can be difficult.

Included on this page is a quick and easy guide to spotting the Boeing jetliners in use today by looking at details such as engine placement, tail design and landing gear configuration.

The success of the 707 in the 1960s made Boeing the early leader in commercial airliners, and led to a popular 7x7 family of jetliners introduced over the years: the 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, and the 787 Dreamliner.

And the tradition continues ... in June of 2017 Boeing announced at the Paris Air Show its newest airliner, the NMA, probably to be called the 797.

Let's get started ...

Boeing 707

The 4-engine Boeing 707 See more Boeing 707 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 717

Boeing 717 with its twin-engines mounted on the aft of the fuselage See more Boeing 717 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 727

The 727 is powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines below the T-tail, one on each side of the rear fuselage with a center engine that connects through an S-duct to an inlet at the base of the fin. The front of the fuselage features the classic "Boeing pointed nose" and V-shaped windshields on each side of the cockpit. These features can be seen in the Boeing 727-200 of Delta Air Lines shown below. See more Boeing 727 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 has two engines, a main landing gear consisting of two sets of two wheels, and a triangular section at the front of the tail. The nose is "pointed". Originally nicknamed the "Baby Boeing", it has grown over the decades in size and remains a popular airliner worldwide. See more Boeing 737 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 747: The Original Jumbo Jet

The Boeing 747 with its four engines, one full passenger deck the length of the fuselage, and bulbous front fuselage is an easy spot. Shown below is a Boeing 747-400 of British Airways. See more Boeing 747 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 757

In this photograph, the dominant dolphin-shaped nose of the narrow-body, single-aisle Boeing 757 can be seen on this American Airlines airliner. Note also the classic Boeing "V-shaped" windshield windows. See more Boeing 757 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 767

Boeing 767-200, 767-300, and 767-400 wide-body, twin-jet. See more Boeing 767 photographs and spotting tips

Boeing 777

The twin-engine, wide-body Boeing 777-200 (top) and Boeing 777-300 (below). Note that the 777-200 has four cabin doors while the 777-300 has five cabin doors. Also, the 777 is the only airliner currently in operation that has two, 6-wheel main landing gear configurations. It also features a flat APU exhaust at the rear of the fuselage. See more Boeing 777 photographs and spotting tips

 

Boeing 787

Shown below is a side-by-side comparison of the Boeing 787-8 (top), 787-9 (middle) and Boeing 787-10 (below) The Dreamliner's distinguishing features include one engine under each wing, swept wings with no winglets, two 4-wheel main landing gear, a sleek pointed nose, and noise-reducing chevrons on its engine nacelles. Also, the 787 does not have winglets or sharklets, which are used on the similar shaped Airbus A350. See more Boeing 787 photographs and spotting tips

 

American Airlines Boeing airliners awaiting takeoff at the DFW International Airport (L to R) Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 (June, 2019)

 

The Boeing 797 / NMA Announced at 2017 Paris Air Show

At the Paris Air Show in June of 2017, Boeing officials offered preliminary plans for the development of a totally new "Middle of the Market" or "MOM" airliner, tentatively scheduled for availability in 2025.

Media outlets are already calling this narrow body, dual-aisle airliner the Boeing 797, which would feature a composite fuselage and wings.

Boeing's current official name for the project is New Midsize Aircraft (NMA). The NMA would have a capacity for 220 to 270 passengers and a range of 5,200 nautical miles, filling the gap between the 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing Airline Customer Codes

The Boeing Company uses a series of 2-character Airline Customer Codes to identify the original-build customer for all Boeing 7x7 aircraft, up to and including the Boeing 777. The code system is not used on the 787 and the 737Max.

One example would be Emirates Boeing 777-31H. This is a 777-300 series aircraft originally built for Emirates, Boeing Airline Customer Code 1H.

Included below is a table of the Boeing customer codes used for some larger and popular world airlines.

Boeing Customer Code	Airline	Boeing Customer Code	Airline
06	KLM	82	TAP
09	China Airlines	83	SAS
22	United	90	Alaska Air
23	American Airlines	91	Frontier
24	Continental Airlines	1B	China Southern
28	Air France	1H	Emirates
30	Lufthansa and Condor	1R	Virgin Atlantic
31	Trans World Airlines	2A	Hawaiian Airlines
32	Delta Airlines	2W	TAM /LATAM
33	Air Canada	3V	EasyJet
36	British Airways	4A	United Parcel Service (UPS)
38	Qantas	8E	Asiana Airlines
46	Japan Air Lines	9L	Air China
47	Western Airlines	AS	Ryan Air
51	Northwest	B5	Korean Air
52	Aeromexico	B7	US Airways
56	Iberia	BT	Lufthansa Cargo
57	Swiss Air	DZ	Qatar Airways
58	ElAl	F6	Philippine Airlines
59	Avianca	FX	Ethiad Airways
60	Ethiopian Airlines	GP	Lion
67	Cathay Pacific	H4	Southwest
68	Saudia	H6	Malaysia Airlines
69	Kuwait Airways	J6	Air China
81	All Nippon Airways	S2	FedEx

 

Boeing 727 at the Museum of Flight Shown to the right is Boeing 727-223, N874AA in American Airlines livery, on display at the Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington. This airliner was delivered to American Airlines (Boeing Customer Code 23) in April of 1978. (Staff Photo)

 

Boeing Airliner Operations at Night

While spotting airliners during the day can sometimes be difficult, nighttime air operations make the process even harder.

One way to identify Boeing airliners at night is by examining the pattern of the white light at the tip of the wing, known as the strobe.

Boeing wing strobe lights flash only once, while Airbus airliners flash twice in rapid succession.