Meto,
Your point is valid that only CO and DL wanted the 767-400 but that precisely answers the question as to why it was a commercial failure compared to the 330.
I still have the packet that Airbus distributed to DL employees when they came to pitch the 332 as an L1011 replacement. Given that DL’s primary use of the L10 by the time they were ready to order the 764 or 330 was domestic, the advantage the 764 had over the 332 was lighter weight.
Further, one of DL’s requirements was that the 764 be able to land at LGA, the same requirement that was made by multiple airlines of the L10 and D10 at the time those aircraft were designed. Remember that DL is still petitioning the PANYNJ to lift the perimeter restriction but even if that does not happen, it is still very likely that the 767 in either the 763ER or 764ER variant will be back at LGA given that DL added a lot of capacity to LGA with the slot transfer and has been able to make it work. NYC will continue to grow but airport capacity likely will not. Eventually, slot value will dictate larger aircraft and that could trickle UP to the 767s. Remember that DL is planning to convert int’l 763ERs to domestic configuration in the next few years to replace some of the non-ER 763s that will be retired. The 764s have enough life left in them that they could do the same thing years after the 763s are gone. I don’t believe there is any other widebody or any other aircraft that can seat as many passengers as a 763 or 764 can in a typical domestic first/coach configuration.
Dawg,
Thank you for confirming what I said regarding the 333’s fuel economy on a similar configuration basis for TATL routes. That is the basis I said had to be used for comparison.
However, I never suggested that AA replace their 777s before the end of their usable life. I have said that AA appears to be pushing their 777s onto their TATL network while putting their newer technology aircraft on TPAC routes.
Remember also that AA chose to buy BOTH the 763ER and the A300 and the reason was as much because of the low cost of acquiring the 333s; the two weren’t comparable aircraft in terms of performance.
AA chose to order 737s and A320 family aircraft for much of the same reason.
AA chose to order ONLY the 787 family for its new generation widebodies – other than the 773ERs.
IN contrast, DL has intentionally chosen to segment its Atlantic and Pacific fleets with different aircraft for new models– the 330 and 350.
So, both strategies have been used by both AA and DL and none of us here have enough information to be able to say if either was valid or not.
Still, my point was that the 333 in comparable configurations burns less fuel on typical 4000 mile segments.
E,
On TATL sectors, the difference in speed between the 330 and 777 is negligible. Even on LAX-HND, the roundtrip difference between the 763ER and the 787 is only 20 minutes. The only real difference in speed is on direct, local routes which is pretty much just JFK. For connections, it all has to do with how well set up hub schedules are.