The USA has more domestic widebody flights next month than it has had in any July for the past 16 years. Some 11,365 flights are due to operate, twice as many as July 2019. The reason: carriers have continued to reassign otherwise idle aircraft, helped by the growth in leisure demand. We see what’s what.
B767-300ER is the number-one widebody
Some 10 widebody types will operate domestically in July, with the B767-300ER down for the most flights, OAG data confirms. Despite American Airlines retiring its Boeing 767s last year, the -300ER features prominently because of Delta and United using them much more intensely. Indeed, in July 2019, the 763 had 'just' 966 domestic flights across three carriers – now it's over 2,500 with two.
- B767-300ER: approximately 2,576 flights
- B777-200/200ER: 1,919
- B767-400: 1,623
- B777-300ER: 1,426
- A330-200: 1,271
- B787-9: 958
- B787-8: 817
- A330-300: 514
- B787-10: 114
- A330-900: 147
B767 flights have increased by 177%
At family level, the 767 is king, with nearly four in ten widebody flights (37%) next month. Use of the aircraft has grown by 177% versus July 2019, OAG data shows, the result of so many of them and the ease of their redeployment from international routes. In May, Simple Flying looked at the evolution of the 767 in the US.
Interestingly, domestic A330 flights (by both the -200 and -300 combined) are up by 173%, despite American retiring its 24-strong fleet inherited from US Airways. Now, only Delta and Hawaiian operate the aircraft, although the rise in use is entirely because of Delta.
While capacity from Hawaii to the mainland is at the highest level ever this summer, Hawaiian's number of domestic A330 flights is the same as in 2019. In comparison, Delta's have risen from 62 to 958, with 19 domestic routes seeing the aircraft. Hub-to-hub Atlanta to Salt Lake City has the most A330 flights, followed by Minneapolis-Portland and Honolulu-Seattle.
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108 widebody routes in July
Next month, 108 domestic routes are scheduled to see widebody service, including a small number of one-offs and infrequent operations. These 108 will touch 33 airports, including Anchorage, Guam, and San Juan. Los Angeles to JFK, once so important for B767-200ERs, has the most flights.
- Los Angeles to New York JFK: approximately 577 round-trip flights
- Miami to JFK: 464
- Honolulu to San Francisco: 372
- Los Angeles to Miami: 372
- Atlanta to Las Vegas: 345
- JFK to San Francisco: 320
- Atlanta to Salt Lake City: 314
- Honolulu to Los Angeles: 314
- Dallas Fort Worth to Miami: 280
- Atlanta to San Diego: 266
Atlanta's widebody flights are up tenfold
While Honolulu has the most widebody flights, as it normally has, several airports have seen big increases. Chief among these is Atlanta, which now has over 2,200 domestic services in July, a tenfold increase versus 2019.
Delta's widebody network from its largest hub now encompasses 18 routes (up from six) using five aircraft types, especially the B767-400. Atlanta has jumped 14 places to become the USA's second-largest airport for widebody flights.
The longest and shortest routes are...
These 108 routes have an average sector length of 2,279 miles, with Honolulu to Boston the longest at a whopping 5,095 miles. (For context, that is over 800 miles farther than the route that saw the most Ilyushin 96 flights.) Going to Hawaii, so flying into the wind, the flight time is between 10 and 11 hours, according to RadarBox.com.
At just 373 miles, Atlanta to Cincinnati is the USA's shortest widebody route in July. Operated by the 763, Delta has 26 flights in each direction from July 6th. Going to Ohio, it'll operate flight 2682, leaving Atlanta at 22:59 and arriving at 00:23. After remaining overnight (RON), it'll depart back to Atlanta at 07:00 as flight 2512.
Are you planning to fly on widebodies next month? Let us know by commenting.