iscover
On Tuesday, VH-OGG flew out from Sydney Airport to Victorville sporting a very different look from earlier this year when it was decked out with Disney characters for the movie Planes. Gone were Dusty Crophopper, Rochelle and El Chupacabra, while the Flying Kangaroo on the tail had also been removed.
VH-OGG was delivered to Qantas in 1990 and was named City of Rockhampton. Its last commercial flight was on July 30, when it flew as QF454 from Melbourne to Sydney.
The second 767 to exit the fleet later this week wil be VH-OGK, which was withdrawn on August 6 after completing QF462 from Melbourne to Sydney.
Named City of Mackay, VH-OGK entered the Qantas fleet in 1991 and its first revenue flight was from Vancouver-Papeete-Sydney on October 24 of that year.
Qantas has said previously all passenger 767s will have exited the fleet by October 2015. The airline has one 767 freighter that was expected to remain flying.
The airline has so far received four Airbus A330-200s that have been returned from Jetstar, which in turn has been bringing Boeing 787s into service.
Jetstar was anticipating to have returned all 11 A330s and have an all 787 fleet by the end of 2015.
adammudhen
says:These rockets are getting very long in the tooth, but my first wide-body flight was on a QF 767 so I’ll always have a soft spot for them.
Peter Knispel
says:It’s sad to see them go as they had the best economy seating layout of any plane flying domestically. The 2-3-2 arrangement meant that you were always only one seat away from an aisle.
Matthew
says:How many 767’s left in the fleet?
wrwaustralia
says:With only 3 domestic parking gates in Melbourne for the A330 compared to 7 gates for the B767, how will Qantas maintain the current schedule ?
Fred
says:wrwaustralia, look at Brisbane, 5 gates for 767 and 2 for A330, Sydney also only has 3 gates for the bus compared to 8 for the 76′!
You had better get used to flying in a 737 unless you flying to Perth. The bus gets hot brakes on most landings and then can’t be turned around as quick as the 40 minutes on the 76′.
If they’d put winglets and new cabin features in this jet like the new owner of these aircraft is about to do, you’d have a proven design that uses 6 percent less fuel and can operate profitably over short and long sectors and doesn’t pose the same problems that a 60m wingspan bus does when trying to park it!
Remember the 76′ was designed in the time of the US fuel crisis in the late 70’s and if given the right upgrades, it could still keep flying for a long time yet ‘profitably’. It’s just a management mindset that says if have to have something shiny and new to be better; not always true. Airline executives rarely get out of their offices and see their product like a customer does, they’re always pampered.
Dee
says:Would loved to be on the “Last Leg” flight to Victorville aboard one of the 767’s, gladly have paid for it as well, Ah well, dream on.