The Story Of The Boeing 757

the 757 entered service in 1983 and more than a thousand were delivered over the next 20 years it has been a great success for boeing and popular with many airlines in particular with its long range and versatile operation in hot dry and high locations production ended in 2004 and it's now disappearing from airline fleets with no real replacement options by the 1970s boeing had started to see strong success with its jets the boeing 707 is widely credited as the first successful aircraft of the jet age the comet was the first but several problems held it back and the boeing 727 had done very well for boeing opening up new options for jets on shorter routes and at smaller airports until the 1990s it was the most produced jet aircraft until the 737 took over [Music] boeing and operating airlines wanted a successor to the popular 727. there was a desire for greater capacity and one of the first proposals was to stretch the 727 but airlines were also interested in efficiency with the preference for two engines instead of the three engine 727 this would lower operating costs and ultimately led to the new clean sheet design of the 757 although it was a replacement for the 727 much of its design and inspiration came from the larger 767 development of the 767 had started earlier so the 757 ended up borrowing from its design this saved time and cost and is not uncommon in aircraft development similarities included the two-person cockpit and much of the interior fittings five aircraft were involved in a seven-month test program this proceeded with surprisingly few delays and led to an increase in the range quoted it received its faa certification in december 1982 and uk caa certification in january 1983. the first aircraft entered service with eastern airlines on january 1st 1983. the 757-200f cargo variant followed soon and entered service in 1987 with ups overall 80 freighters were ordered with fedex express ups airlines and sf airlines in china the main operators there is also a 757 200 combi freight version for combined passenger and cargo use nepal airlines was the only new customer for this in 1986. in 2001 boeing launched a passenger to freight conversion version with passenger facilities removed cargo door added and the fuselage floor strengthened the first aircraft to be converted were retiring 757 200 from british airways this conversion has been popular since according to data from chaviation.com there have been 128 conversions to date [Music] the 757 300 stretched the fuselage by just over seven meters capacity was increased to a maximum of 295 from an exit maximum of 239 for the 757 200. typical capacity though was 243 up from 200 the 757 300 though was not a great success with only 55 aircraft built the increased size led to a reduction in range and it ended up as a fairly niche offering the wide body 767 offered a greater capacity than the 757 200 without compromising on reg but the 757 could access smaller airports it also came late in the development of the 757 the 757 200 had been in service for 16 years when the dash 300 launched the 757 is known for its range and its performance in hot and dry and high altitude environments this makes it a very capable and versatile aircraft that has suited many airlines well the 757 200 offers a range of 3915 nautical miles or 7 250 kilometers this is much higher than other narrow bodies for comparison the 737 800 has a range of 2930 nautical miles or 5765 kilometers and also a lower typical passenger capacity of 162 vs 200. the newer and larger 737 max 10 still falls short of the 757 on range with this range the 757 can easily handle u.s coast to coast flights as well as offering transatlantic narrow body routes iceland air has even operated it on a few one-off flights from reykjavik kef to san francisco sfo a distance of 3653 nautical miles or 6765km in more regular service delta airlines has operated the 757 200 between atlanta and brasilia brazil a route of 3542 nautical miles or 6560 kilometers its performance has also set it apart from other narrow bodies importantly it has a higher thrust to weight ratio it can operate from shorter runways with a lower takeoff speed and has higher performance in thin air environments with this performance us airlines have been able to schedule it widely including hot dry or high altitude airports such as denver and pagoda it can also serve smaller runway airports giving it a big advantage over wide bodies such as the 767 and even the 737 at some locations one interesting side effect of its design is that it produces powerful wingtip vortices more in some cases than 767 or 747 this has reduced somewhat with winglets but the 757 is classified as heavy by air traffic controllers to acknowledge the impact of this and the aircraft spacing required the 757 has been especially popular with us airlines with all of the major legacy airlines american airlines united airlines and delta airlines operating it american airlines operated the largest fleet of 142 including many acquired from twa it retired them in 2020 amid endemic related fleet simplification following americans retirement delta airlines became and remains the largest 757 operator as of june 2021 it still operates 127 aircraft united airlines still operates 72. the 757 remains a popular freighter option which is likely to outlast passenger use fedex express operates 109 aircraft ups airlines operate 75 dhl air operates 23 and chinese sf airlines 36 the 757 200 has also seen plenty of specialized uses it has been a popular choice for government use used for presidential transport by mexico argentina remain saudi arabia kazakhstan and the us while the u.s air force modified 747s that serve as air force one are more famous the government fleet also includes 757s with designator c32 these servers air force ii when carrying the vice president but also are used by the president the aging 757s between 22 and 30 years old were due to be replaced but this has been halted nasa previously used a 757 for its aries airborne research integrated experiment system program for safety and operations research and the new zealand air force operates two converted combi aircraft for transport and vip use the 757 boomed in the early 1990s with more than 100 aircraft being delivered each year at peak this had slowed by the early 2000s and the events of 911 and the slowdown in aviation that followed significantly reduced demand for the 757 with smaller wide bodies becoming more popular orders being swapped to the 737 most notably from continental airlines in 2003 sealed its fate production of the ended in 2004 and boeing delivered the final aircraft in november 2005 to shanghai airlines 1050th 757 built the 757 has suffered several earlier than planned retirements during the pandemic as already discussed this saw the early retirement of american airlines fleet amongst others as of june 2021 508 aircraft remain in use with 46 carriers with aircraft aging there could well be more retirements before we are fully and to the pandemic but we're likely to see the 757 in service for some time delta has not confirmed further retirement plans as yet united airlines is more likely to retire aircraft with orders for a321 xlr aircraft set to replace them boeing ended production of the 757 without developing a direct replacement the 737 max offers neither the range nor the hot and short field performance of the 757 although it does improve efficiency many view this as quite a loss for boeing the upcoming a321 xlr is being seen by some airlines as a good replacement option it'll offer an impressive range of up to 700 nautical miles or 8 700 kilometers taking narrow body flying further than ever before but it won't match the 757s performance in hot and high environments american airlines was one of the first airlines to opt for the a321 xlr and it has 50 aircraft on order likely to take up many of the old 757 routes united is doing similar also with 50 aircraft on order as for boeing there's still no confirmed replacement there has been discussion of a 757x that would re-engine the 757 and offer similar specifications but no plans from boeing it was denied as a possibility in 2020 largely due to the 757's high production cost the boeing new mid-sized aircraft or nma also dubbed the 797 was originally seen as a replacement for the 757 but most likely as a wide body the idea had seen interest from united a major boeing customer and delta airlines qantas and iceland air nma plans were dropped in 2020 though with attention and funds diverted by ongoing 737 max issues as well as the pandemic the launch of the a321 xlr also led to a rethink of what should be offered there are plenty of options for where boeing could go next revisiting 757x ideas a similar re-engined 767x a return to 7873 plans or a new clean sheet narrow body are all possible no doubt it will launch something soon or risk airbus taking over more of the market whether this will offer the same features as the 757 remains to be seen the 757 remains a great aircraft but clearly falling out of favor as other options improve feel free to discuss its highlights and your thoughts on any future replacement in the comments in addition to our daily youtube videos simpleflying publishes over 150 articles and a podcast every week if you're looking for the latest aviation news and insights visit simpleflying.com thanks for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe

Channel: Long Haul by Simple Flying

Views: 211,934

Keywords: aviation, flying, flight, boeing, airbus, planes, aircraft, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 777x, a320, a321, airbus a380, a380, airports, american airlines, united airlines, delta airlines, british airways

Id: jlqn_jLGG_k

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 18 2021