By the end of this year, the Aviation Partners Boeing joint venture is expected to receive certification of the new split-scimitar winglet for the Boeing 737. This modification should be of interest to Boeing BBJ owners, too. A United Airlines 737-800 equipped with the split scimitar winglet made its first flight on July 16 at Boeing’s Everett, Washington plant. United is retrofitting its 737-800 and -900ER fleet with the new winglets, starting early next year after certification is complete.

The split-scimitar winglets should add another 2 percent in fuel savings on top of the existing efficiency improvements of the standard winglets on the 737.