FedEx orders 27 767-300 exercised options for 2 B777 Freighters

Fact is, no one knows the commercial arrangements made on the 764 or the A342, thus no one here can say whether they were “successful” (ie., profitable) or not.

If they had “made money” the next layer of critiques would be did they make enough to obtain an “adequate” ROI? Who knows? The bottom line is that we are enthusiasts and speculators and it’s kind of supposed to be fun, isn’t it?

The fact is that the 767 line has had a pretty good run, and it is going to continue on awhile longer. IMHO, if more efficient engines were available for upgrade, it would run an quite a while longer. The airplane that ushered in ETOPS lives on!

Can people not accept that Boeing answered a call from 2 loyal customers who wanted a DC-10/L1011 replacement that would fit into their existing fleet.
The 767-400 is just that.

Airframers do not build aircraft for the fun of it.

Building a variant costs extremely large amounts of money, it is not done just for “2 loyal customers”, unless said 2 loyal customers will buy so many they will pay the development cost.

Thinking otherwise is extremely naive.

No one would call the A340-200 unpopular or a failure. The 764 sold more copies than it did.

The whole A340 program was a failure and was unpopular. The A330 paid for the A340; the 340 program by itself would never have paid its development costs.

I don’t think Airbus have blundered with their P2F program. What use is there in providing a P2F modificitaion when there are no A330s available on the second hand market. Once there are a sufficient amount of them available second hand, then the program will definately be of interest, and no doubt be revived. Give it a few more years. Once the A330 starts to get replaced in large numbers by 787s and A350 then the market will be there.

Both AI and Boeing have always wrung every last cent out of each of their designs, and there is nothing wrong with that. I do believe that AI have blundered with the A330 P2F, a decision that I think will come back to haunt them. I also suspect that AI have got a plateful, what with still playing ‘catch up’ with the A380, and grappling with the A350XWB.

…the New Generation 767 – 300 will have the same airfoil as the unpopular 767 – 400…..

Why do folks always rate popularity or success by the numbers sold?

Can people not accept that Boeing answered a call from 2 loyal customers who wanted a DC-10/L1011 replacement that would fit into their existing fleet.
The 767-400 is just that.
No one would call the A340-200 unpopular or a failure. The 764 sold more copies than it did.

Boeing have a long history of catering to their loyal customers. The 707 was being churned out in so many versions that the building they were produced in was nicknamed “The great sausage making machine”.

After years of reading (by “experts” here) how obsolete the 767s are, I wonder what FedEx’s reasons are?

Well, the 767s as we know them today are in fact obsolete, and would have been at the end of their useful live if the U.S. Air Force had not selected them as their future Tanker. The Air Force procurement will mean the 767 stays in production for a lot longer (25 – 30 years), and it will also mean that money is available to redesign parts of the aircraft that are becoming a bit “tired” – all paid by Uncle Sam – Boeing would be fools not to let the technology “slip” onto the civilian side!

The Air Force procurement will mean that there will be a new wing on the aircraft – the New Generation 767 – 300 will have the same airfoil as the unpopular 767 – 400. It will mean basically the same airfoil as the 777. The 767NG will also benefit from new, more fuel efficient engines, the cockpit upgrades introduced on the -400 will be standard on the 767NG and so on and so forth.

With the product Boeing is offering, I´m not the least surprised that FedEx have bitten the bullet and ordered some.

Nope. Although I’m sure Boeing offered a great deal.

Airbus, for some reason have made the blunder of cancelling the A330P2F program (Pax to Freight).

This means FedEx will not have the flexibility of buying brand new A330Fs and converting PAX A330s to freighters to run a mixed fleet of new and converted A330s, thus making the investment of aircraft far more cost effective.

This left the 767 as a very reasonable alternative that also seems to be the perfect size to allow them to be flexible on missions.
I expect add-on orders down the line as well as a lot of conversions being ordered as more airlines retire their 767s.

Price? Just a theory:diablo:

After years of reading (by “experts” here) how obsolete the 767s are, I wonder what FedEx’s reasons are?