The first Boeing (NYSE: BA) Next-Generation 737 with the certified performance improvement engines was delivered on a 737-800 to China Southern Airlines at Boeing Field in Seattle last week.

The new CFM56-7BE engine configuration, which is now standard on all delivered 737s, is an improved design that includes high and low pressure turbine modification. Coupled with drag reduction improvements that Boeing started phasing into 737 production earlier this year, it will result in lower fuel consumption and maintenance cost savings.

The new engine is part of the 737 performance improvement package that Boeing began testing in November 2010 with the goal of reducing fuel consumption by 2 percent. Other fuel performance incorporations will take place into 2012 and data analysis will continue to quantify the final benefit to customers.

"We continue to review performance flight test data and collect delivery data," said John Hamilton, vice president and chief project engineer – 737 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The improved fuel savings is part of our commitment to deliver market-leading value to Next-Generation 737 customers."

Boeing's continuous efforts to improve the Next-Generation 737 family have resulted in an accumulated 5 percent gain in fuel efficiency since the first airplane delivered in 1998. The new improvements will give operators an airplane that is up to 7 percent more efficient than the first Next-Generation 737s delivered.