The bill gives Boeing (NYSE: BA) a bridge, in case the express carriers need extra capacity, until it can develop a new freighter next decade. Multiple industry sources familiar with the process said FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS) joined Boeing in lobbying Congress for a reprieve from the January 1, 2028, production deadline. The legislation previously passed the Senate and will be sent to President Joe Biden to sign into law.

At face value, a split from international consensus would limit operation of freighters produced between 2028 and 2033 to the domestic U.S. market, but it’s possible some countries could permit access, according to experts. Freighters delivered before the end of 2027 aren’t covered by the enhanced carbon emission rules and won’t face any restrictions. 

Under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreements, commercial aircraft manufacturers effectively can’t sell aircraft that don’t meet the 2028 carbon emissions standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted the fuel efficiency standard in 2021 with the FAA following suit in February.

Even if post-2027 freighters end up being limited to domestic flying, it makes sense for FedEx and UPS to buy them, said Tom Crabtree, a Seattle-based industry consultant and former Boeing market analyst, in an email exchange with FreightWaves.

“The 767-300 production and converted freighter provides the lowest trip costs of any widebody freighter in production today while simultaneously allowing service to smaller markets where 50 metric tons of payload, or more, simply isn’t needed,” Crabtree said. “They also have sufficient range to serve international markets to/from Europe and/or northern South America from the U.S.”

Boeing stopped making the 767 as a passenger jet many years ago. It also supplies a tanker variant for militaries. FedEx and UPS are the only customers for the 767-300 freighter. Traditional cargo airlines opt for used 767s that have been converted to a cargo configuration because they don’t have the consistent, daily volumes of integrated express carriers and can’t afford more expensive new models.

UPS was the launch customer for the Boeing 767 freighter in 1995. The parcel logistics giant has 88 B767-300s in its fleet, including 10 converted freighters, and 19 additional factory aircraft on order from Boeing. 

“We expect to receive all outstanding orders before that time,” said UPS spokeswoman Michelle Polk.

FedEx has 137 B767s flying in its network, with 15 more deliveries scheduled through mid-2026, according to the company’s latest statistics.

Aviation publication The Air Current was first to unearth the 767 freighter waiver, tucked away on page 1,038 of the FAA bill. The language doesn’t mention the 767 by name, but the maximum takeoff weight of 180,000 kilograms to 240,000 kilograms squarely fits the 767.

Boeing officials have increasingly signaled that they plan to develop a freighter version of the 787 Dreamliner as a replacement for the 767F, but the first delivery is expected to take at least eight to 10 years.

“The 767F continues to be the most environmentally sound mid-size freighter available. We are working with our customers and are in communication with regulators regarding the requirements for this market segment,” Boeing said in a statement before the vote. “As we look ahead to future medium-widebody freighter options, the 787 is a natural place for us to look. We continue to evaluate our options in this space and are listening to our customers. Any future decisions regarding whether to launch a new program, will be largely driven by customer needs and market demand.”

Without the exemption, FedEx and UPS could be limited to Airbus A330 converted cargo jets, a model neither currently operates, if they need more medium-widebody aircraft in four or five years. The feedstock for 767 conversions is drying up because passenger airlines like Delta and United are holding on to aircraft longer than anticipated in response to supply chain, manufacturing and engine-related problems that have delayed delivery of replacement aircraft. The airlines probably won’t be ready to let go of the 767s until “they are well beyond the age of conversion or have too many flight cycles and flight hours accumulated on them to make it worth a while to convert it,” said Crabtree.

The new law will enable Boeing to compete with Israel Aircraft Industries, which installs 767 conversion kits, and an Airbus subsidiary that rebuilds A330s into freighters, and give it time to bring a 787 freighter to market, said the former chief editor of the biennial Boeing World Air Cargo Forecast. And A330 conversion providers would be able to demand higher pricing without that competition.

“Express firms like the certainty of production freighters even though they are more expensive than conversions of the same airplane models,” he said. That certainty takes the form of more consistent delivery schedules and meeting of specifications.

FedEx and UPS put pressure on Congress to keep the 767 option open and keep the playing field level until Boeing brings out the 787 freighter, the sources said.

Many have interpreted the carve-out to the international fuel efficiency standards to mean that noncompliant aircraft will be prohibited from flying outside the United States. But there is no universal enforcement mechanism. ICAO’s carbon emission standard will be implemented by individual countries as new domestic regulations updating their system for certifying aircraft types. Production will essentially be banned starting in 2028 because noncompliant models will not be certified for sale by civil aviation authorities in their area of jurisdiction.

Countries that ban the sale of noncompliant models are likely to ban aircraft with an exemption from entering their airspace on the basis of having an unfair advantage.

But an aviation industry source, who didn’t want to be identified because of the political sensitivity of the topic, said FedEx and UPS access to airspace in foreign countries would depend on what individual governments are willing to accept. Smaller countries that typically follow FAA and European Union regulations rather than certify aircraft themselves might have fewer qualms with allowing exempted 767s to operate.

Boeing also continues to deliver 777 cargo jets to FedEx and other airlines around the world. The FAA reauthorization doesn’t provide a waiver for the 777, probably because it is a transcontinental aircraft that wouldn’t make economic sense to operate only in the domestic market.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on FreightWaves.

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As we settled into the Boeing 737’s cozy cockpit and started to build our nests, I recounted some of the more maddening episodes of my last four-day tour and told John that after this trip my wife and I were headed to Italy for 11 days of sightseeing, hanging out on Lake Como, and attending the Formula 1 race at Monza. John, for his part, revealed that this pairing would be his very last outing in the senescent, unloved 737 as henceforth, he was departing for the sunlit uplands of the Airbus A330.

John’s pronouncement induced a flood of conflicting emotions. On one hand, I hate to lose good first officers who I actually know, and John is not the only cockpit companion who has recently succumbed to the glittering charms of an international widebody fleet. But on the other hand, he’s been at the airline for six years, and in these heady days of explosive advancement, that’s considered quite a long time indeed to hang out in the right seat of a narrowbody aircraft. John’s promotion to the A330 will yield him a considerable leap in both pay and quality of life, not to mention a welcome change of scenery. I’m glad for him, and a little jealous too. I was a Boeing 757/767 FO for four years, and the fleet took me to five continents. I miss that flying. I’d like to do it again.

To pilots who haven’t done both, the differences between domestic and international airline flying must seem a bit frivolous, perhaps even ego driven: There is the prestige and romance of jetting across oceans versus the workaday squalor of flogging aging “little” airplanes up and down interstate corridors three or four times a day. To be sure, there is absolutely an element of that. Rolling down the runway in a 370,000-pound airplane, lifting off with ponderous ceremony, and embarking on a transoceanic journey of some 4,000 miles always gave me a really warm, stirring sense of contented excitement, a feeling of setting off on a grand adventure. Few domestic routes impart such a poignant sense of wonder. And to be sure, friends and strangers are always more interested to hear about your exploits in Barcelona than a 12-hour layover in Cleveland.

Aesthetics aside, though, there are real distinctions in the working environment between domestic and international fleets. “It’s like a whole different airline,” goes the common refrain. Things are far more relaxed, much more “gentlemanly” to use an archaic but apropos term. We have only one leg per duty period on which to concentrate our energies. There are three pilots to share the load (four on flights of more than 12 hours). We show up at the airport 90 minutes or more before departure and have all the time in the world to go through our preflight duties. Dispatch usually completes the release well ahead of schedule and is quite proactive in heading off potential problems. Likewise, there are multiple gate agents plus a supervisor to ably handle most passenger issues in conjunction with the purser. In domestic flying, it often seems that the captain is the default troubleshooter. With international operations, very few problems make it forward of the cockpit door.

With an augmented crew of three pilots, you spend one-third of the cruise time absent from the flight deck, resting on your designated break. Long flights are rather shortened by being broken up into thirds as pilots cycle in and out. I found that most international flights of eight or 10 hours practically flew by, in comparison to five-hour domestic transcontinental flights that seem to drag on forever. It helps that you change out cockpit companions every three hours or so, keeping conversation fresh. Even if you can’t stand the person—and I’ve found maybe two or three of these in 19 years of airline flying—you only need to stew in silence for a few hours before being relieved.

Relief pilot is not a predesignated position at my airline. Theoretically, the captain assigns duties at the beginning of the trip, but in practice they will usually fly the first leg and let the two first officers hash out the rest among themselves. The relief FO normally takes the first rest break and then relieves the pilot flying (second break) and pilot monitoring (third break) in turn. This made it an unpopular position on eastbound trans-Atlantic legs, where first break often coincides with a circadian high and an active meal service, making for difficult rest (most of our 767s lack a bunk room like the A330; we use a first-class seat with a curtain). As a lifelong flexible sleeper, I usually volunteered for relief duties on these flights, and, besides the gratitude of my fellow FOs, was often rewarded with a flying leg on the westbound return.

I took a lot of pride in being a good relief pilot, especially during high-workload periods at busy international airports, where a sharp relief crew can be worth its weight in gold. You see a ton from the jumpseat and can often help the flying pilots head off trouble before it ever begins. My crowning moment came during a takeoff from London-Heathrow (EGLL), when the captain’s oxygen mask started spontaneously free flowing, but the sound was masked by unusually loud packs. Just after rotation, I realized the source of the noise and, throwing off my harness and headset, flew across the cockpit to smack the errant mask into submission. We all glanced up at the crew oxygen gauge; it was barely above the minimum, saving us from a mandatory divert. The captain bought the layover beers that night.

You might suppose the primary draw of international flying to be the layovers, and in my case you wouldn’t be wide of the mark. I took full advantage of 24- to 48- hour Europe layovers and 36-hour South American interludes, cramming in as much adventure as was prudent. It’s instructive that I’ve written about many international layovers in these pages—flying a microlight in Germany and a classic Robin taildragger in France,

hang gliding in Rio, visiting a World War I aerodrome in Italy and a flying boat museum in Ireland—while spilling minimal ink over their domestic counterparts.

I also enjoyed the international crew dynamic. It’s not unusual for all three pilots and a majority of the flight attendants to at least meet for happy hour, if not for dinner or a night on the town. This is much rarer on the domestic side at my airline, though I’ve put good effort into rectifying that since upgrade, with better-than-average results.

• READ MORE: A Primer on Pilot Certificate Conversions

A lot of my compatriots, however, don’t necessarily care if they quaff Maibock in Munich or Miller in Milwaukee, and an equal number profess indifference to the cabin crew’s participation, or lack thereof, in layover fun. The real draw of international flying, for most, is that it’s supremely efficient. In John’s new category of Seattle A330, even junior pilots can easily cram a full month’s flying into only 12 days, leaving the rest free for family, hobbies, or second careers or businesses. The trips are also very commuter-friendly, with late report times and early releases. On international fleets, there’s very little the company can legally do to reschedule you to cover broken trips. One need not fear storms up and down the East Coast. At worst, you go home early with full pay.

All of which explains why the international fleets go insanely senior at my airline. John is just now able to hold A330 first officer status, but he could have held Seattle 737 captain more than two years ago. Likewise, I would be slightly more junior as an A330 FO than I am as a 737 captain. Despite that—and the prospect of a 20 percent pay cut—the idea of taking a downgrade looks attractive each time I see the A330’s monthly bid package.

Pretty much my entire career—and my life—has been divided up into roughly five-year chunks. Whenever I do anything for that long, I tend to become bored and knock over the house of cards to see what I can build next. I’ve been a 737 captain for three and a half years, and while I’m still reasonably engaged, I’ve started to eye my next move. The most optimistic projections show that I might be able to hold A330 captain in six years (be still my heart). I probably ought to go “learn French” on an Airbus product in the meantime, which in Seattle means A320 captain or A330 FO.

Which to choose? I won’t lie. I do enjoy flying with “my own favorite captain” every single week, and to be stripped of that fourth stripe does involve a certain subjugation of the ego. On the other hand, I’m writing this column at a table overlooking the Grand Canal in sunny, beautiful Venice, sipping an Aperol spritz and remembering a time not so long ago when this was my everyday work life. It’s tempting, very tempting, to go back to that. We’ll see, but John and I may yet fly together again somewhere across the glittering sea.

This column first appeared in the November 2023/Issue 943 of FLYING’s print edition.

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The manufacturer’s LMXT strategic aerial refueling tanker, unveiled in 2021 and based on an Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, had been expected to take on Boeing KC-46 Pegasus as a stopgap refueling option for the Air Force in seeking an update for its aging KC-135 Stratotanker fleet. 

“Lockheed Martin has decided not to respond to the U.S. Air Force’s KC-135 fleet recapitalization request for information (RFI),” the company said in a statement Monday. “We are transitioning Lockheed Martin’s LMXT team and resources to new opportunities and priority programs within Lockheed Martin, including development of aerial refueling solutions in support of the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation air-refueling system (NGAS) initiative. We remain committed to the accelerated delivery of advanced capabilities that strengthen the U.S. Air Force’s aerial refueling missions.”

Airbus responded to the development, saying it intended to go forward with the bid.

“Airbus remains committed to providing the U.S. Air Force and our warfighters with the most modern and capable tanker on the market and will formally respond to the United States Air Force KC-135 recapitalization RFI,” Airbus said in a statement. “The A330 U.S.-MRTT is a reliable choice for the U.S. Air Force: one that will deliver affordability, proven performance and unmatched capabilities.”

The bridge tanker competition is expected to produce at least 75 refueling aircraft as an interim step before the service proceeds with its next-generation tanker expected to come online in the 2040s. 

On September 14, the Air Force issued an RFI from interested companies with the capability to deliver a commercial derivative air refueling system. Responses are due Thursday.

The post Lockheed Martin Drops Out of Air Force ‘Bridge Tanker’ Competition appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on FreightWaves.com.

The Boeing 767 is Air Transport Services Group’s flagship freighter for its aircraft leasing and cargo airline businesses. Out of 110 aircraft currently in service, 91 are 767s. The medium widebodies are just the right size for express delivery linehaul routes — not too big, not too small — which require fast turn times and high load factors to make them economical.

So why is Wilmington, Ohio-based ATSG betting big on the Airbus A330? The primary reason is fleet modernization using an aircraft that has recently become much more affordable and can carry even more cargo by volume than the 767.

Last week, the company announced plans to purchase 20 used A330s, convert them to freighters and lease them to express delivery operators and other customers. It has also placed deposits with a German maintenance and overhaul outfit to secure production slots two years from now.

ATSG is essentially a leasing company that offers many services around the leases — aircraft maintenance, outsourced cargo and passenger flight operations, charter brokerage, training, and warehouse and logistics services – to diversify its revenue stream.

Officials gave a detailed rundown on Friday of the A330′s merits and why the plane is a good fit for its business strategy.

CEO Rich Corrado said the A330-300 will be an excellent plug-and-play replacement for the 767s, which Boeing began building in the early 1980s. A330s began entering service more than a dozen years later and the -300 has about a 20% greater cubic space advantage over the 767. It can also carry about 8% to 10% more in weight.

The A330-200 is equivalent in size to the 767, is slightly more expensive to purchase in the secondary market and costs more to operate because it’s a heavier plane. It has long-range capabilities that aren’t necessary in an express environment but would be of value on other assignments.

Chief Financial Officer Quint Turner told American Shipper the company will consider both variants, depending on factors such as availability.

Officials have previously forecast about 200 767s still operating as passenger aircraft would make good conversion candidates based on their age. As the number of 767s dwindles over the next decade, the A330 will become the next-generation platform, Corrado said.

“The A330-300 looks to be a real solid solution for the same customers that the 767 is providing service for today. It’s a newer-generation aircraft,” he said.

There are about 200 A330s in prime conversion range of 13 to 25 years of age, according to company officials.

Three ATSG customers, including DHL Express, already use the A330 all-cargo aircraft. The in-house airline of Deutsche Post DHL Group has 12 A330s in service, according to Planespotters.net. Several of those are passenger-to-freighter A330-300s, which were converted by Elbe Flugzeugwerke, a joint venture between Airbus and Singapore Technologies Aerospace that will also retrofit the ATSG planes. It has also purchased a few used A330 production freighters.

Corrado expressed optimism that DHL will lease the Airbus freighters and said talks are underway with other airlines.

Cheaper prices are one reason the A330 has recently become so attractive to ATSG. During the pandemic, many airlines were forced to cull their fleets to survive the implosion in passenger travel. Values for the A330 have dropped about 25%, putting the total cost of ownership on par now with the 767, according to the ATSG CEO.

“The economics make sense. … We think it’s going to be a long-term solution in the medium-wide body segment,” he said.

Chief Commercial Officer Mike Berger said the A330 also is a plane that its charter passenger subsidiary Omni Air International could use for its Defense Department contracts and provides interoperability with the Airbus A321 narrowbody freighter that ATSG is beginning to market.

ATSG is a joint venture partner in 321 Precision Conversions, which has designed and obtained regulatory approvals for a conversion package. The company is outsourcing the work to engineering outfits, including ATSG’s own conversion house, PEMCO. Two conversions are underway for outside parties and ATSG will begin receiving some converted A321s early next year.

Berger said the A330 and A321 have a common cockpit, which means pilots only require supplementary flight training rather than a full, new rating for a different aircraft type, making it easy to switch them between aircraft.

“There’s significant crew savings,” he said.

In the Driver’s Seat

Management reiterated that leasing aircraft offers long-term, consistent cash flow compared to providing cargo transportation, which is more volatile because of its exposure to supply-demand fluctuations.

“We just think long-term it’s a better use of that asset … versus putting it in a charter environment where we’ll get maybe a year-and-a-half of robust usage, but then we’d be back in a situation where we’d be getting into an intermittent usage on both the crew deployment and the asset,” Corrado said.

Airlines and logistics companies are booking leases up to two years in advance to ensure capacity because of the ongoing shortage of air cargo capacity and growth in e-commerce.

The strong market has put ATSG in a stronger negotiating position with new customers, as well as existing ones seeking lease extensions, Corrado said.

Companies with lease terms set to expire in the second half of the year are already asking for extensions. Under normal conditions, lease rates decline with each extension, but ATSG is now able to maintain rates, he added.

Between the A330 conversions and 47 more planned for 767s and A321s, ATSG could have more than 180 aircraft in its portfolio by 2025.

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