DALLAS — Today, in 1982, the first Boeing 767 (N606UA) was delivered to United Airlines (UA).

The aircraft, the ninth off the production line, was handed over by Boeing President Malcolm T. Stamper to UA CEO Richard J. Ferris at a special ceremony at Boeing's Everett plant.

Launch Customer

United became the launch customer for the type on July 14, 1978 when it placed an order for 30, with options on 37. However, it would operate just 19 of the -200, converting the other orders to the extended range -200ER or larger -300ER.

Powered by the Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4 engines, the 767 entered service with the airline on September 8, 1982, operating the appropriately numbered flight UA1767 between Chicago (ORD) and Denver (DEN).

United initially configured its 767s with 197 seats, 24 in first class and 173 in economy. It was used primarily on its transcontinental routes.

Retirement

In March 2005, UA retired its last 767-200. Ship N603UA, delivered new to the airline in April 1983, flew from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) before being ferried to Victorville (VCV). During its time with United, it had flown 77,122 hours and performed 20,015 flight cycles.

However, following the merger between United and Continental Airlines (CO) in October 2010, the type re-entered the fleet. On May 28, 2015, the final -200 series (N68159) was retired. The type was due to leave the fleet earlier but remained in service due to the global engine issues with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

https://airwaysmag.com/boeing-767er-sets-record/

Featured Image: United became the launch customer for the 767 and helped officially launch the project in 1978. Photo: Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.