Over 10 Hours: Delta Air Lines' Longest Boeing 767 Flights

Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest user of passenger Boeing 767s. According to ch-aviation, it has 58 frames, not all of which are active. They comprise 37 767-300ERs and 21 767-400ERs. In contrast, United Airlines ranks second globally, with 53 767s.

Earlier this month, Delta inaugurated service from Salt Lake City to Lima, becoming the first nonstop scheduled passenger flight from Utah to South America. It is served daily on the 767-300ER. Although only a temporary operation, it has become Delta’s new longest 767 route from Salt Lake City. But with a block time of up to 9h 20m, it is not long enough to make the carrier’s longest list.

Over 10 Hours: Delta’s Longest 767 Flights In December

Credit: GCMap

This analysis, which uses OAG data, is for December​​​​​. As you’d expect, the results will inevitably be different at other times, so treat it as a snapshot of the festive month. As the table shows, the order varies somewhat based on the great circle distance. Needless to say, none of the routes were well-trafficked enough to have over a million passengers a year.

Influenced by strong headwinds, New York JFK to Honolulu ranks first based on time. Delta has served this very long domestic airport pair since 2014. However, Buenos Aires to New York JFK is number one based on distance. Oddly, this long route has just one departure on the 767 in December, with the A330-900 deployed on the rest of the month’s services.

A New Route Made The List

Credit: Delta

On October 27, Delta took off from Atlanta, its busiest hub and a key fortress facility, to Marrakech, the ever-popular Moroccan city for inbound tourism. While flights mainly run three times weekly on the 238-seat 767-400ER, the frequency increases to daily around Christmas. It contributes to Atlanta’s big rise in transatlantic flights this winter.

Until May 2024, Marrakech did not have any flights to North America. Now it has three carriers, clearly underpinned by substantial financial incentives and strong tourism-driven promotions. Air Transat launched service from Montreal in June 2024, followed by United from Newark four months later. Perhaps strangely, United deploys its high-premium, low-capacity, 167-seat 767-300ERs.

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Only 1 Of Its Longest 767 Flights Is Served More Than Daily

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Let’s return to the routes shown in the table. Only Atlanta to Barcelona has more than a daily 767 flight in December. This market sees the 767-400ER, which is an unpopular but exciting variant. It is Delta’s fifth-longest 767 route overall, but fourth for the 767-400ER.

Up to 10 weekly departures are available in the festive month. As you might expect, this is around Christmastime and the New Year, providing additional capacity at a time of higher demand. A second daily service to Spain’s second most populous city departs from Georgia on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays between December 20 and January 3. No more than one daily service existed in the same period a year ago, when the A350-900 and 767-400ER were deployed.