Following the introduction of the Boeing 747 with Pan American World Airways in 1970, the now Arlington, VA-based plane maker started to look at a more fuel efficient replacement for its aging 707 narrow body airliners. First called the 7X7, the new plane was intended to be used for short-range flights. Airlines, however, were unenthusiastic to the idea leading Boeing to drop that plan and concentrate on a newer, midsize airliner that could fly nonstop from coast to coast. Early in the process, Boeing was still deciding whether to build a twin-engine plane or a three-engine aircraft to get around ETOPS rules. (ETOPS is an acronym for Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards, which are safety standards developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO] for twin-engine commercial passenger aircraft operations. More on this later.) Following the delivery of the Airbus A300, Boeing decided it needed a competing twin-engine aircraft. The decision to go with two engines rather than three reflected the reliability and economics of the newer jet engines of the day.
In the spring of 1978, Boeing announced it would build three variations of what was dubbed the 767. The 767-100 would seat 190 people, the 767-200 would carry 210 passengers, and the 767-MR/LR would be a 200-seat aircraft for intercontinental flights. The 767MR/LR was later renamed the Boeing 777. The platemaker also decided not to build the 767-100 as it would be similar in size to its existing 757 aircraft. Following firm commitments from American, Delta and United, Trans World Airlines (TWA) announced it was purchasing ten Boeing 767s with an option for ten additional planes. Like all carriers at that time, TWA had its share of red ink. Overcapacity in the market, woes stemming from deregulation and ambitious investments had all strained their capacity to compete. But, older four-engine 707s were more costly to operate, and with airport noise pollution making headlines, TWA decided it was best to continue modernizing their fleet as they had done earlier in the decade with the Boeing 747.
When asked why the carrier had selected the 767 over the Airbus A310, then senior vice president for operations Robin Wilson said the decision between the two aircraft was very close. Several factors tipped the scales for the 767 though, including seven abreast seating (2+3+2) compared with eight abreast on the A300 (2+4+2). With the 767, the plane would have to be at least 85% full to have anyone in a seat that was not a window or an aisle. Because of the seating configuration on the A300, the plane needed to be only 70% full before the center seats had to be used. TWA also liked having the economy galley on the 767 at the rear of the aircraft, away from the passengers. While the operational aspects of the two planes were very similar on longer routes, the 767 was more fuel efficient, which put Boeing way ahead of its competitors in the field. The larger wing area of the plane was also something TWA looked at since it was more suitable for high-altitude airports like Denver and Mexico City. TWA also believed since other large US carriers selected the Boeing 767, it would only be a matter of time before Boeing built a larger, stretched version of the plane.
The first Boeing 767-200 entered service with TWA on December 2, 1982, flying cross-country from Los Angeles to the Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). Two years later the aircraft played a major role in pioneering the evolution of relaxed ETOPS rules for long-distance, over-water flying on two engines. In the early 1980s, three or four-engine aircraft primarily operated intercontinental flights and the 60-minute ETOPS regulation required two-engine aircraft to be no further than one hour away from land as a safety precaution. But the Boeing 767, with its modern technology and intelligent systems, surpassed the safety and redundancy standards of prior aircraft. The extended range version, the 767-200 ER, entered into commercial service in 1984 and Boeing commenced a 7,500-mile delivery flight of the type from Washington Dulles to Addis Ababa (ADD) in Ethiopia. The plane maker had acquired a one-time concession from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate the direct flight. Later that year, the FAA granted the 767-200 ER a 75-minute ETOPS limit just in time for Air Canada to take delivery of the jet. It wasn’t long before Boeing lobbied the FAA to extend the jet’s ETOPS limit to 120 minutes in order to open up new transatlantic routes. Not only did other carriers flying the 767 follow suit, but many new airlines placed orders for the jet now capable of flying much longer routes.
In response, the FAA required Boeing to provide a comprehensive trend monitoring system to gather in-flight data. The purpose of this requirement was to record the inflight reliability of critical systems. Moreover, the FAA also imposed a condition on Pratt & Whitney (P&W) for their JT9D engines for inflight logging. The FAA mandated P&W to record a minimum of 250,000 consecutive flight hours for JT9D engines with a meager shutdown rate. In January 1985, the FAA increased the ETOPS limit to 120 minutes and on February 1, Trans World Airlines flight 810 operated the first 120-minute ETOPS certified transatlantic flight using a Boeing 767-200 between Boston and Paris. After that successful flight, TWA invested $2.6 million per aircraft to upgrade its 767 fleet for ETOPS-120.
Meanwhile, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney continued to record flight data of the aircraft and engines, respectively, Boeing’s target was to certify the 767 to fly from California to Hawaii. The successful shutdown and failure data over the ensuring years convinced the FAA to increase the ETOPS limit on the Boeing 767 to 180 minutes in 1989. This decision connected the islands of Hawaii to the US mainland through a twin-engine flight. American Airlines flew the first ETOPS - 180 flight using a 767 on the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) - Honolulu (HNL) route. By keeping safe operations along with stringent engine shutdown rates over long flights, all variants of the 767 received the ETOPS - 180 certification by 1993. Since then, Boeing has logged over 750 orders for the 767 jet from 48 international passenger and cargo airlines.
In just a few years following the ETOPS -180 certification, many legacy carriers had acquired some variant of the Boeing 767. With the popularity of the jet, by the year 2000, over 50% of all trans-Atlantic crossings were being made by the 767 family of aircraft. It proved that vast distances over water could be safely and efficiently made by planes with only two engines. Newer 767s rolling out of the Boeing factory came equipped with ETOPS - 180 capabilities. Not only did the 767 program become a success story, but it also paved the way for the forthcoming Boeing 777 and the Airbus A330 families of aircraft.
The ETOPS - 180 certification for the 767 was a game changer, which allowed twin-engine aircraft to operate routes three hours away from the nearest airport available for an emergency landing. Trans World Airlines was instrumental in securing the rule change that benefitted both carriers and passengers in terms of time and money. Over time, however, this aircraft has been eclipsed in both range and efficiency by modern twin jets like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and many carriers have since retired it from their fleets.
Until next time…safe travels.
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