Only two carriers in the U.S. still fly the pencil today—Delta and United. However, that will change in the not-too-distant future, as United plans to phase out the Boeing 757 in favor of more modern, efficient aircraft. So, if the 757 is still on your aircraft bucket list, you may want to snag a flight on one soon.
The venerable Boeing 757 began development in the 1970s as a replacement for the Boeing 727 trijet. It entered commercial service with Eastern Air Lines on January 1, 1983, and was intended for short and medium-haul flights. Though not initially a popular aircraft, its high power rating (in relation to its size), passenger capacity, range, and commonality with the 767 caused airlines to come around.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. For United, in particular, their oldest 757s are around 30, while the average age of their 757 fleet is over 25. That’s old for a commercial airline, though not unheard of. However, that age usually results in aircraft being less reliable and more maintenance intensive – a problem that can be further compounded when an aircraft is no longer produced. As a result, United plans to phase out the Boeing 757 in favor of newer, more efficient aircraft.
United Plans to Phase Out the Boeing 757
Today, United Airlines operates 61 Boeing 757s, including 40 of the -200 and 21 of the -300 series. Interestingly, that makes United the largest operator of the 757-300, even though Delta is the largest 757 operator overall with a whopping 105 -200s and 16-300s.
Today, United uses the 757 on long and thin routes where a widebody wouldn’t make any sense, such as to Tenerife, Spain, or Reykjavik, Iceland. However, it also flies some shorter domestic flights, such as from Denver to Lihue. So, naturally, executives at the airline had to find something that could max or exceed the 757’s performance. It turns out that the replacement will be the 50 Airbus A321XLRs United ordered back in 2019.
I’m sure most people aren’t surprised that United plans to phase out the Boeing 757 in favor of the A321XLR. After all, Airbus modified the A32neo specifically so that it could take on the mission once fulfilled by the 757 while also offering a farther reach. However, you’ll note that United is ordering 11 fewer frames than is required for 1:1 replacements. Well, according to a company spokesperson, some routes, such as the DEN-LIH one mentioned earlier, won’t be swapped to the A321XLR. Instead, these routes will likely see some variant of the Boeing 737 MAX.
Actually, I’m reasonably sure a bunch of routes won’t get the A321XLR once the 757s are gone. You see, as United plans to phase out the Boeing 757, they’re also discussing how the A321XLR will allow them to open up new routes not possible before. For example, they’re talking about flying the XLR from the U.S. East Coast to France, Northern Italy, Western Africa, Scandinavia, and Northern Africa. That’s pretty cool, but it begs the question – what routes will truly see XLRs versus MAXs? And, will United outfit their XLRs with lie-flat seats as American is?
Final Thoughts
Personally, I’ve had the opportunity to fly on the 757 nearly a half-dozen times, primarily with American Airlines. It’s an interesting aircraft, for sure, but as a passenger, you don’t really get to experience what makes it so unique in most circumstances. At any rate, since United plans to phase out the Boeing 757, which will leave just one operator in the U.S. That said, you have to wonder how much longer Delta will hold on to theirs. They have 131 frames in their fleet but do have 105 Boeing 737 MAX 10s on order, which is similar in size to the 757-200, though it has a worse range.
Of course, this also makes me wonder if United will install Starlink on their 757s, as it’ll take a while to take delivery of all 150 jets, especially since they won’t start receiving them until December 2025.
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