Boeing 767

The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twinjet airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the 767 can carry between 181 and 375 passengers, and have a range of 5,200 to 6,590 nautical miles (9,400 to 12,200 km) depending on variant and seating configuration.^[3] The Boeing 767 has been produced in three fuselage lengths. The original 767-200 first entered into airline service in 1982, followed by the 767-300 in 1986, and the 767-400ER in 2000. Extended range versions of the original -200 and -300 models, the 767-200ER and 767-300ER, have been produced with added payload and operating distance capability. The 767-300F, a freighter version, entered service in 1995.

The first wide-body twinjet produced by Boeing, the 767 was conceived and designed in tandem with the narrow-body Boeing 757 twinjet. Both airliners share design features and flight decks, enabling pilots to obtain a common type rating to operate the two aircraft. The 767 was the first Boeing wide-body airliner to enter service with a two-person crew flight deck, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. Following in-service indications of its twinjet design reliability, the 767 received regulatory approval allowing extended transoceanic operations beginning in 1985.

Through the 1990s, the Boeing 767 became commonly used on medium long-haul routes, and the aircraft has ranked as the most commonly used airliner for transatlantic flights between the United States and Europe.^[4] There have been over 1,000 Boeing 767s ordered with over 900 delivered as of 2010.^[1] The -300/-300ER models are the most popular variants, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all 767s ordered.^[5] There were 863 Boeing 767s in service with over 40 airlines as of July 2010

Development
Background

In 1972, following the introduction of the first generation Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar wide-body airliners into passenger service,^[7] Boeing embarked on parallel development studies for two new airliners.^[8] Code-named 7X7 and 7N7, these studies aimed to take advantage of new materials and propulsion advances in the civil aerospace industry.^[8] The 7N7, which developed into the Boeing 757, was conceived as a narrow-body twinjet replacement for the Boeing 727.^[8] The 7X7 was intended to be a mid-size wide-body airliner slotted between the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-10.^[8] With aging fleets of 707s needing replacement, the 7X7 would slot between the Boeing’s narrow-body jetliners and the 747. Initially, the 7X7 studies focused on a trijet design,^[8] with possible configurations including overwing engines, a T-tail, among others.^[9] In 1976, a twinjet wide-body configuration, similar to the earlier Airbus A300B, became the preferred configuration, reflecting increased industry confidence in the reliability and economics of new generation turbofan engines.^[8] Airlines remained ambiguous in their requirements for the aircraft,^[8] which was roughly focused on the medium-haul, high-density market.^[9]

In 1978, Boeing formally designated its new wide-body airliner as the 767, and the company planned to offer three variants: a 767-100 with 180 seats,^[10] a larger 767-200 with 210 seats,^[8] and a trijet 767MR/LR version with 200 seats intended for intercontinental routes.^[8] The 767MR/LR was eventually dropped in favor of standardizing around the twinjet configuration,^[8] and the 767-100 was ultimately not offered for sale, as its capacity was too close to the 757′s.^[11] On July 14, 1978, the Boeing 767 was formally launched by United Airlines, which placed an order for 30 767-200s, followed later that year with orders from American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.^[8]

Design effort

Two-crew cockpit of an AeroMexico Boeing 767-300ER

The Boeing 767 design phase occurred at the same time as the 757, its narrow-body sibling.^[12] Development occurred in partnership with Italy’s Aeritalia along with a consortium of Japanese aerospace companies.^[8] Both the 757 and 767 became the first Boeing jetliners to share common flight decks and handling characteristics.^[8] The aircraft were also the first Boeing jetliners after the 737 to be designed with two-crew cockpits.^[8] The 767 was intended to be operated with a two-person flight crew, with electronics to assist with the monitoring of systems. As a result of their shared flight deck design, after a short conversion course, pilots rated in the 757 were also qualified to fly the 767 and vice versa. Both twinjets were further designed with similarly configured systems, shared instrumentation, avionics, and flight management systems.^[8]

For the 767 design, Boeing incorporated the engines used on the 747, namely the Pratt & Whitney JT9D and General Electric CF6,^[9] with wings sized to match. The 767 was the first Boeing jetliner to offer a choice of engines at its launch.^[8] The wings were large relative to fuselage size and provided higher-altitude cruise performance, along with capacity for possible stretched variants.^[9] Moreover, the larger wings only increased fuel usage slightly and provided better takeoff and landing performance. The 767 wings had increased thickness for added fuel capacity, and their aft-loaded design produced the best spanwise distribution of lift on a Boeing jetliner to date.^[8] The basic 767 was designed with enough range to fly across North America and across the northern Atlantic.^[13]

The 767′s fuselage width was set at 15 feet 6 inches (4.72 m), midway between Boeing narrow-bodies and the 747. It was narrower than previous wide-body designs but produced less drag, thus increasing overall range.^[9] Seating capacity was set at a seven-abreast cross-section, enabling Boeing to taper the rear fuselage to a shorter length, and allowing parallel aisles for the entire length of the passenger cabin.^[8] However, the fuselage width did not allow larger Unit Load Devices^[9] such as LD6s and LD11s to be carried side-by-side as is the case on other wide-body aircraft.

Production and service

All Nippon Airways was one of the first international 767-200 operators

Construction of the prototype Boeing 767, a -200 variant, began on July 6, 1979.^[9] Despite Boeing’s two-person cockpit design, United Airlines initially demanded a conventional three-person crew with two pilots and a flight engineer. Boeing tried to convince United and others to adopt its new cockpit design with data from the two-person crew Boeing 737. In 1981, a US Presidential task force studied the safety of operations with two crew on wide-body aircraft. The task force determined that a crew of two was safe for flight in July 1981, which paved the way for acceptance of the 767′s two-person flight deck.^[14]^[15] One airline, Ansett Australia ordered 767-200s with a three-person flight deck, due to union demands. These were the only 767s so fitted.^[16]

The first aircraft, registered N767BA and equipped with Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans, was rolled out on August 4, 1981.^[12] The 767 made its first flight on September 26, 1981.^[9] Enlisted for the 767 program flight test phase, the first four aircraft produced were equipped with JT9D engines, while the fifth and sixth aircraft were fitted with General Electric CF6-80A turbofans.^[9] The sixth airframe was used in route-proving flights.^[9] Following the successful completion of the flight test period, the JT9D-powered 767-200 received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification on July 30, 1982.^[9] The first 767 with a two-person flight deck completed its maiden flight on May 27, 1982.^[17] The CF6-80A-powered 767-200 was certified by the FAA on September 30, 1982.^[9]

Following the first delivery to United Airlines in August 1982, the 767-200 entered airliner service on September 8, 1982, with its first flight from Chicago to Denver.^[9]^[18] Delta Air Lines commenced service with the CF6-powered 767-200 on December 15 of the same year.^[9] Deliveries to mainline U.S. carriers American and TWA followed.^[19] The 767 received early international orders from Air Canada, All Nippon Airways, Ansett Australia, Britannia Airways, Egyptair, El Al, Ethiopian Airlines, and Transbrasil.^[19] The 767 was approved for U.S. CAT IIIb instrument landing operation in March 1984. This revision permitted operations with minimums as low as RVR 300 (Runway Visual Range 300 feet). The 767 was the first aircraft certificated for CAT IIIb by the FAA.^[20]

A key issue in early Boeing 767 operations was proving the aircraft’s reliability for overseas operations. Prior to the 767, the FAA restricted twin-engine aircraft to over-water flights of 90 minutes or less distance from diversion airports.^[21] In June 1985, the FAA granted 120 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) approval to 767 operators, on an individual airline basis, provided the operator met flight safety standards.^[21] The increased safety margin changes were permitted due to the improved reliability demonstrated by the 767′s turbofan engines.^[21]

Further developments

United Airlines 767-300ER takes off. United was the launch customer of the 767 program.

Boeing developed the higher gross weight 767-200ER (Extended Range) variant, the lengthed 767-300, and the longer range 767-300ER in the 1980s.^[22] In the late 1980s, Boeing proposed a stretched version of the 767 and then a partial double deck version with parts of a 757 fuselage built over the aft (rear) fuselage.^[23]^[24] These concepts were not accepted, and Boeing shifted to an all new airliner that later became the 777.^[25] Boeing later developed another stretched 767 version in the form of the 767-400ER in the late 1990s.^[26]

The 767-400ER was the first Boeing jet resulting from two fuselage stretches.

The 767 sold very well from the late 1980s to the late 1990s, with a decrease during the recession of the early 1990s. After strong sales in 1997, sales have declined significantly because of the economic recession of the early 2000s, increased competition from Airbus, and the recent emergence of a direct replacement program, the Boeing 787. In early 2007, UPS Airlines and DHL prolonged the 767′s production with orders for 767-300 freighters of 27 and 6, respectively.^[27]^[28] By August 2008, Boeing had received two orders that year for the 767-300ER,^[29] but Boeing has been offering versions of the 767 to tide customers affected by the 787 launch delays, specifically to Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways and Japan Air Lines, who are said to be in serious talks for new build passenger airframes. Boeing has also kept the line open in hopes of winning the US Air Force’s KC-X tanker competition (KC-767 tanker program, which uses the 767 airframe).

The renewed interest in the 767-300 freighter has Boeing considering enhanced versions of the 767-200 and 767-300 freighter, with increased gross weights, 767-400ER wing technology, and 777-200 avionics.^[30] Boeing sees the advanced 767-200F and 767-300F as complementing the 777F, and allowing Boeing to compete more effectively against the A330-200F, which is larger than the proposed 767-200F and 767-300F, but smaller than the 777F.

The Boeing 767 has 1,043 orders, with 988 of those delivered as of August 2010.^[1] Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest 767 operator, with 101 airplanes as of 2010, consisting of 767-300, 767-300ER, and 767-400ER variants.^[6]

Design

The Boeing 767 is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit with a single fin and rudder. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear and is powered by two wing mounted turbofan engines. The wings are swept at 31.5 degrees and optimized for a cruising speed of Mach 0.8.^[8]

Planform view of a British Airways 767-300 after take off, with retracted landing gear and partially deployed flaps.

The original 767 cockpit design, shared with the 757, uses six Rockwell Collins cathode-ray tube (CRT) screens to display electronic flight instrumentation.^[8] The displays are used for electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS) and Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) information, taking over the former role of the flight engineer.^[8] With the 767-400ER, the cockpit layout was simplified further, and adapted for similarities with the Boeing 777 and the 737 Next Generation.^[31]

767-300 economy cabin in 2-3-2 layout with traditional interior.

767-300ER economy cabin with Boeing Signature Interior.

The 767′s design offers a twin aisle configuration of 2+3+2 in economy with the most common business configuration of 2+2+2. It is possible to squeeze an extra seat for a 2+4+2 configuration. However, this seating is cramped and therefore uncommon.^[32] The 767 has a seat-to-aisle ratio in economy class of an efficient 3.5 seats per aisle, allowing for quicker food service and quicker exit of the airplane than many other jetliners, which typically have four to six seats per aisle in economy class. In the cargo hold, the fuselage width allows LD3 Unit Load Device containers to be carried only in a single row, which can create unused space.

Newer 767-200s and 767-300s, as well as all 767-400ERs, feature a 777-style cabin interior, known as the Boeing Signature Interior. The 767-400ER also features larger windows exactly like those found on the 777. All new 767s built feature the Signature Interior, and it is also available as a retrofit for older 767s.^[33] In addition to the Boeing Signature Interior retrofit option, a simpler modification known as the Boeing 767 Enhanced Interior is available. This retrofit borrows styling elements from the Boeing Signature Interior; however, the outer section overhead bins are traditional-style shelf bins rather than the 777-style pivot bins.

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