MARCH 2016 | 33 airplanes per month this month and to 2.5 per month in late 2017, Boeing said. Many of the jets in use are receiving upgrades, further extending their commercial life. Delta, United and Icelandair recently retrofitted their 767s with new cabin configurations. Overall, deliveries of the 767 stand at 1,082 airplanes, with 911 of them in service, with 135 operators. FedEx ships up to 25,000 packages per flight on its 767s, and the 767 offers a much higher dispatch reliability rate than the aircraft it is replacing, Boeing said. The order “will enable us to reduce structural costs, improve our fuel efficiency and enhance the reliability of our global network,” FedEx Express Chief Executive Officer David Bronczek said in a statement last July. The 767-300ER (Extended Range) Freighter operated by FedEx also is substantially more fuel-efficient than the airplanes it is replacing, according to Boeing and FedEx. It provides capacity similar to FedEx’s current MD-10s, with a 30 percent increase in fuel efficiency. Furthering efficiency is the fact that the 767 shares spare parts, tooling and flight simulators with the Boeing 757, which also is a part of the FedEx Express air fleet. “I was sent down to FedEx, to Tennessee, and all I heard were good things about the six-seven,” recalled Kirk Schadt, a 767 mechanic. “They said our bird was better than anything they had.” Conceived as a smaller, more economical option to the 747, the 767 flew for the first time on Sept. 26, 1981, with test pilot Tom Edmonds at the controls. The jetliner provided a number of aviation firsts for a twin-aisle jet when put into commercial service: a two-person (rather than three-) flight crew; “glass,” or electronic, flight deck; all-digital autopilot system; fullauthority flight management computer system; extended-range twin-engine operations certification to 180 minutes (time over water away from the nearest alternative airport); and vacuum toilets. The introduction of the six Rockwell Collins CRT (cathode-ray tube) screens in the 767 to display electronic flight instrument system and engine data, as well as crew alerts, allowed the two pilots to handle monitoring tasks previously performed by a flight engineer. Edmonds was impressed with the quieter ride and the more colorful instrument panel, but said the new toilet initially distracted him—when flushed, it sounded like a shotgun was fired, bringing a design change. Other pilots raved to him about the 767’s wings, which created a lighter ride and have stood the test of time in their original form. First constructed during an oil crisis, the airplane has always been economically sound in terms of fuel consumption, according to Boeing. “The 767 allowed us to change and correct a lot of things,” said Edmonds, who retired in 1989. “All of that made the airplane real popular. It was a nice plane to fly.” Boeing later made upgrades to the 767 flight deck with the introduction of LCD (liquid crystal display) screens and in 2012 Boeing and Rockwell Collins began another upgrade to the flight deck based on the 787—bigger screens that provide more information. This latest flight-deck technology is on the aircraft operated and on order by FedEx. Boeing now installs the system in the factory, enabling the customer to put the jet into service two to three weeks sooner than with post-delivery installation. Abelson, who joined the 767 flighttest program in 1980, said he still learns something new about the 767 every day. He’s fiercely loyal to the jet. “It’s like an old friend,” said Abelson, now 767 mechanical lead. “To me, it’s the best aircraft in the fleet.” Others such as Johnson, who knows as much about the 767 as anyone and is pursuing global orders for the freighter, believes the airplane has a good chance to someday become Boeing’s most continuously built twin-aisle jetliner product. “In 2030, it will be 50 years old,” Johnson said. “That really positions the 767 to set a record.” Mike Moore, a 767 flight-deck electrician, said it often makes more economic sense to repurpose an existing airplane with a proven track record rather than build a new jet. “We’ve got a lot of skilled people who have been on this airplane a long
Frontiers March 2016 Issue
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