Originally Posted by
Ty Vil
"Business Insider" is not an Airplane Flight Manual. Of course that particular 738 could have been half empty, though with fuel for EWR-DEN I kind of doubt it. If you want to believe that an article in the general media is dispositive on the nuances of comparative aircraft performance, that's your prerogative. As for me, my job occasionally requires careful study of aircraft perf data. I do this for a living. And I would not make blanket generalizations like 757s can always climb unrestricted to cruise altitude while 737NGs never can.
Edited to add: here's another 737NG on a fairly long flight for the type (OAK-HNL) that made it right up to FL400 in 20 minutes:
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/.../PHNL/tracklog