Editing Boeing 727 (section)

==Operational history==
[[File:Boeing 727-25C, FedEx JP110728.jpg|thumb|A [[FedEx Express]] 727-25C in 1993]]
[[File:Boeing 727-247-Adv, Delta Air Lines AN0200778.jpg|thumb|[[Delta Air Lines]] retired its last 727 from scheduled service in April 2003]]
[[File:11gg - Northwest Airlines Boeing 727-251; N203US@FLL;30.01.1998 (8064695962).jpg|thumb|[[Northwest Airlines]] retired its last 727 from charter service in June 2003]]
[[File:Boeing 727-228-Adv, Iran Aseman Airlines AN1003609.jpg|thumb|[[Iran Aseman Airlines]] operated the last scheduled 727 passenger flight in 2019.]]
In addition to domestic flights of medium range, the 727 was popular with international passenger airlines.<ref name=eden74/> The range of flights it could cover (and the additional safety added by the third engine) meant that the 727 proved efficient for short- to medium-range international flights in areas around the world.

The 727 also proved popular with cargo and charter airlines. [[FedEx Express]] introduced 727s in 1978.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=End of an Era as FedEx Express Retires Last B727|url=http://news.van.fedex.com/end-era-fedex-express-retires-last-b727|website=FedEx.com|access-date=September 15, 2014|archive-date=September 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915141844/http://news.van.fedex.com/end-era-fedex-express-retires-last-b727|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 727s were the backbone of its fleet until the 2000s; FedEx began replacing them with [[Boeing 757]]s in 2007.<ref name="auto"/> Many cargo airlines worldwide employ the 727 as a workhorse, since, as it is being phased out of U.S. domestic service because of noise regulations, it becomes available to overseas users in areas where such noise regulations have not yet been instituted. Charter airlines [[Sun Country]], [[Champion Air]], and [[Ryan International Airlines]] all started with 727 aircraft.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

The 727 had some military uses as well. Since the aft stair could be opened in flight, the Central Intelligence Agency used them to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]].{{sfn|Himmelsbach|Worcester|1986|p=43}} In early 1988, The [[Iraqi Air Force]] modified a Boeing 727 by fitting it with [[Thomson-CSF]] TMV-018 Syrel pods for ESM and Raphael-TH pods with [[Side looking airborne radar|side looking radar]]. Known as 'Faw-727', it was reportedly used as an [[Signals intelligence|ELINT]] platform in the [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invasion of Kuwait in 1990]] (during which it was briefly locked on by a Kuwaiti Mirage F1 on August 2) and the subsequent Iraqi monitoring of Coalition forces during [[Gulf War|Desert Shield]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Tom |title=In the claws of the Tomcat - US Navy F-14 Tomcats in Air Combat against Iran and Iraq, 1987-2000 |publisher=Helion & Company Limited |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-915070-23-4 |pages=28}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Tom |title=Desert Storm - Volume 1: The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Shield 1990-1991 |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-915070-05-0 |pages=24,26,49,54,107}}</ref>

The 727 has proven to be popular where the airline serves airports with gravel, or otherwise lightly improved, runways. The Canadian airline [[First Air]], for example, previously used a 727-100C to serve the communities of [[Resolute Bay]] and [[Arctic Bay, Nunavut|Arctic Bay]] in Nunavut, whose [[Resolute Bay Airport]] and former [[Nanisivik Airport]] both have gravel runways. The high-mounted engines greatly reduce the risk of [[foreign object damage]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

A military version, the Boeing C-22, was operated as a medium-range transport aircraft by the [[Air National Guard]] and [[National Guard Bureau]] to [[airlift]] personnel. A total of three C-22Bs were in use, all assigned to the [[201st Airlift Squadron]], [[District of Columbia Air National Guard]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Frawley |first= Gerard |title= The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002–2003 |year= 2002 |publisher= Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd |location= Fyshwick, ACT, Australia |isbn= 1-875671-55-2 }}</ref>

At the start of the 21st century, the 727 remained in service with a few large airlines. Faced with higher fuel costs, lower passenger volumes due to the post-[[September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]] economic climate, increasing restrictions on airport noise, and the extra expenses of maintaining older planes and paying [[flight engineer]]s' salaries, most major airlines phased out their 727s; they were replaced by [[twinjet|twin-engined aircraft]], which are quieter and more fuel-efficient. Modern airliners also have a smaller flight deck crew of two pilots, while the 727 required two pilots and a flight engineer. [[Delta Air Lines]], the last major U.S. carrier to do so, retired its last 727 from scheduled service in April 2003. [[Northwest Airlines]] retired its last 727 from charter service in June 2003. Many airlines replaced their 727s with either the [[Boeing 737 Next Generation|737-800]] or the [[Airbus A320 family|Airbus A320]]; both are close in size to the 727-200. {{As of|2013|7}}, a total of 109 Boeing 727s were in commercial service with 34 airlines;<ref name=Flight_2013>{{cite magazine |title=World Airliner Census |magazine =[[Flight International]] |volume=184 |issue=5403 |date=August 13, 2013 |pages=40–58 [49]}}</ref> three years later, the total had fallen to 64 airframes in service with 26 airlines.<ref name="fleetreport2016">{{cite book|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/asset/18365|title=World Airliner Census|last=FlightGlobal|year=2017|page=34|format=PDF|access-date=January 1, 2018}}</ref>

On March 2, 2016, the first 727 produced (N7001U), which first flew on February 9, 1963, made a flight to a museum after extensive restoration. The 727-100 had carried about three million passengers during its years of service. Originally a prototype, it was later sold to United Airlines, which donated it to the [[Museum of Flight]] in Seattle in 1991. The jet was restored over 25 years by the museum and was ferried from [[Paine Field]] in Everett, Washington to [[Boeing Field]] in Seattle, where it was put on permanent display at the Aviation Pavilion.<ref name=cnn>{{cite news |first1= Brandon |last1= Farris |first2=Royal Scott |last2=King |title= Iconic first Boeing 727 makes final flight |url= http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/02/aviation/boeing-727-final-flight/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100050/http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/02/aviation/boeing-727-final-flight/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |newspaper=CNN |access-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1= Siebenmark |first1= Jerry |title= Final Flight of First 727 Planned for Wednesday |url= http://www.aviationpros.com/news/12177335/final-flight-of-first-727-planned-for-wednesday |access-date=March 4, 2016 |date=March 2, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160306232953/http://www.aviationpros.com/news/12177335/final-flight-of-first-727-planned-for-wednesday |archive-date=March 6, 2016  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Siebenmark |first1=Jerry |title=Wichitans made parts for, flew on Boeing 727 |url= http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article63568197.html |access-date=March 4, 2016 |date=March 3, 2016}}</ref> The Federal Aviation Administration granted the museum a special permit for the 15-minute flight. The museum's previous 727-223, tail number N874AA, was donated to the [[National Airline History Museum]] in Kansas City and was planned to be flown to its new home once FAA ferry approval was granted.<ref>{{cite web |title= Boeing 727-223 |url= http://www.airlinehistory.org/the-aircraft/boeing-727-223/ |website= National Airline History Museum |access-date= March 14, 2016 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160314234607/http://www.airlinehistory.org/the-aircraft/boeing-727-223/ |archive-date= March 14, 2016 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> After a series of financial problems with the restoration, N874AA was seized by Boeing Field for nonpayment of storage fees in 2021 and subsequently broken up and scrapped.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=November 18, 2021|title='Absolutely tragic.' The grisly demolition at Seattle's Boeing Field of an old 727|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/absolutely-tragic-the-grisly-demolition-at-seattles-boeing-field-of-an-old-727/|access-date=January 20, 2022|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Iran Aseman Airlines]], the last passenger airline operator, made the worldwide last scheduled 727 passenger flight on January 13, 2019 between [[Zahedan]] and [[Tehran]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Falcus | first=Matt | title=Iran Aseman Retires Last Scheduled Boeing 727 | website=Airport Spotting Blog | date=January 14, 2019 | url=http://www.airportspotting.com/iran-aseman-retires-scheduled-boeing-727/ | access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref><ref name="lastcom">{{cite news |last1=Guy |first1=Jack |title=Boeing's famous trijet 727 makes last commercial flight |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/boeing-727-last-flight-scli-intl/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>