Boeing 757 Line To Shut Down

This is very disappointing to me. Boeing has decided to shut down the 757 production line, due to a lack of orders for the aircraft.

When I worked for Delta, the 757 was, by far, the best narrowbody aircraft to work on. More often than not, what it could carry was limited by cargo volume, not weight. In the entire time I was doing load planning for flights, I can only recall one 757 that ended up being weight restricted. That airplane, like the 767-300 variants, could carry just about anything that was dragged out planeside.

The 737s always seemed to be weight restricted, the McDonnell Douglas MD-88s were a balancing nightmare, and the Lockheed L-1011s were falling apart along with being temperamental and difficult to balance properly.

But the 757, oh did Boeing get it right with that one. Roomy cargo bins so that you didn't scar yourself (something I did in an MD-88 - and a 767-300ER for another airline), easy to load, and almost impossible to get out of balance, even if you tried (and I'd play around with extremes in trial balances, just for fun. The 757 almost never went out of balance.).

I know that I'm partial to the 757/767 series aircraft, but this really hits hard. I worked 727s, 737s, 747s, MD-11s, L-1011s, MD-88s, Airbus A320s and even a Russian IL-62. But no airplane could hold a candle to the 757 for being able to do its job well, to do it efficiently, and to be friendly to those of us who had to work it. It was nearly indestructible, utterly reliable, and comfortable, both in the cabin and below deck. And the early 757s were already approaching 15 years old when I started there.

The 757 was a great airplane, it's passing is regarded with great mourning from my little corner of the world. The 757 set the standards bar awfully high. Hopefully Boeing will be able to match it again one day.