Boeing

Sun Country Airlines took delivery today of a Boeing Next-Generation 737-800, the first of eight Next-Generation 737s the airline will receive during the next 15 months.

Boeing will deliver a total of seven airplanes to Sun Country in 2001 -- six 737-800s and one 737-700 -- and one additional 737-700 in March 2002.

With this delivery, Sun Country joins a growing number of airlines worldwide that are using the popular, reliable and advanced-technology Boeing Next-Generation 737 as the backbone for their fleet expansion and growth plans.

"This is a great step forward for Sun Country," said President and CEO Bill LaMacchia, Jr. "These state-of-the-art planes will be more pleasing to our customers as well as more fuel-efficient, allowing for continued growth and success for the airline."

The eight Next-Generation 737s Sun Country will receive are on lease from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Sun Country is the 16th airline into which ILFC has introduced Boeing Next-Generation 737 airplanes.

ILFC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group, is the international market leader in the leasing and remarketing of advanced technology commercial jets to airlines around the world. ILFC owns a portfolio valued at more than $20 billion, consisting of more than 500 jet airplanes, 60 percent of which are Boeing-built. ILFC has another 246 Boeing airplanes on order.

Sun Country Airlines, which is based in Mendota Heights, Minn., has been in operation since 1983. The airline began by providing charter service to sunny destinations in Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, Southwest United States and to Las Vegas. In June 1999, the airline launched daily scheduled service to a dozen destinations. In the past 18 months the airline's scheduled service has grown to more than 30 destinations in the continental United States, Mexico, and Caribbean.

The Next-Generation 737-800s for Sun Country Airlines will seat 168 passengers in a dual-class configuration and the 737-700s will seat 126 passengers also in a dual-class configuration. All eight planes will feature the latest in avionics with a heads-up display in the cockpit, eight executive class seats, all-leather interior and in-flight audio system.