There are few major aviation markets today in which the Boeing 767 remains a mainstay of commercial passenger operations, with the majority of operators across the globe retiring the jet years ago. The aircraft once played an important role in the fleets of operators like British Airways, Air France, LATAM, Air Canada, EL AL, and Aeromexico. Elsewhere, the jet was even operated by Air New Zealand .
A rare sight today Today, however, the plane has been removed from the bulk of global long-haul fleets with just a few noteworthy exceptions, primarily in the United States. When flying any route across the Atlantic or from the US to South America on Delta Air Lines or United Airlines, you are more than likely to find yourself onboard a Boeing 767 than if you were flying on a non-US carrier. This raises an important question about the nature of the 767's success in the American market, and what has made the aircraft so conducive to the long-haul fleets of carriers like Delta and American.
While the 767 was once the best medium-sized widebody option for airlines operating 777s, 747s, A340s, and A380s on their high-demand routes, it has been eclipsed in both range and efficiency by modern twinjets like the Boeing 787. Nonetheless, there are a few structural reasons why the 767 has remained popular with American legacy carriers today and why it is not heading anywhere in the medium term. Some history To find a strong answer to this question, it is important to take a look at the histo.