The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on July 30, 1982. The original 767-200 entered service on September 8, 1982, with United Airlines, and the extended-range 767-200ER in 1984. It was stretched into the in October 1986, followed by the 767-300ER in 1988, the most popular variant.
The 767-300F, a production freighter version, debuted in October 1995. It was stretched again into the 767-400ER from September 2000.
To complement the larger 747, it has a seven-abreast cross-section, accommodating smaller LD2 ULD cargo containers.
The 767 is Boeing's first wide-body twinjet, powered by General Electric CF6, Rolls-Royce RB211, or Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans. JT9D engines were eventually replaced by PW4000 engines.
The aircraft has a conventional tail and a supercritical wing for reduced aerodynamic drag.
Its two-crew glass cockpit, a first for a Boeing airliner, was developed jointly for the 757 − a narrow-body aircraft, allowing a common pilot type rating. Studies for a higher-capacity 767 in 1986 led Boeing to develop the larger 777 twinjet, introduced in June 1995.
The 767-200 typically seats 216 passengers over 3,900 nautical miles [nmi] (7,200 km; ), while the 767-200ER seats 181 over a 6,590 nmi (12,200 km; ) range.
The 767-300 typically seats 269 passengers over 3,900 nmi (7,200 km; ), while the 767-300ER seats 218 over 5,980 nmi (11,070 km; ).
The 767-300F can haul over 3,225 nmi (6,025 km; ), and the 767-400ER typically seats 245 passengers over 5,625 nmi (10,415 km; ). Military derivatives include the E-767 for surveillance and the KC-767 and KC-46 aerial tankers.
Initially marketed for transcontinental routes, a loosening of ETOPS rules starting in 1985 allowed the aircraft to operate transatlantic flights.
A total of 742 of these aircraft were in service in July 2018, with Delta Air Lines being the largest operator with 77 aircraft in its fleet.