Though it boasts a massive fleet, United shows preference for some aircraft over others. The Boeing 737 family composes much of its domestic and short and medium-haul fleet, while Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner aircraft dominate the airline's long-haul operations.
These two aircraft and their different variants (the 777-200/300, 787-8/9/10) allow United to match projected demand with an appropriately sized plane, giving the airline great flexibility without purchasing different aircraft types.
However, United also operates the smaller Boeing 767 , which is deployed on a mix of medium and long-haul services from select hubs.
While its 767 fleet is smaller than that of the 777, according to airfleets.com, the aircraft still plays a significant role in the airline's daily operations. Of the Boeing 767 family, United operates two models: the 767-300ER and 767-400ER.
United has significantly fewer of the higher-capacity 767-400ERs in their fleet, though they are still used on flights across the United network. But where exactly did these aircraft fly in January?
United's 767-400ER at a glance
United currently operates 16 767-400ERs, though the airline plans to retire its entire 767 fleet by 2030- leaving just five years left for what was once the workhorse of United's fleet.
The airline has only one configuration for the type, which seats 231 passengers in a three-class layout. The 767-400 features United's Polaris, Premium Plus, and Economy cabins, though some more spacious seats are sold at a higher price in coach.
34 Polaris seats are featured at the front of the 767-400ER, according to United. These business class pods are the airline's most premium offering and are now featured on all United long-haul aircraft.
Following Polaris are 24 Premium Plus recliners. These seats are an enlarged and more padded version of an economy seat and boast 38" of pitch. It comes with additional special features as well, including:
- A larger in-flight entertainment screen
- More seat width and pitch
- More recline
- Pillow and blanket
- Amenity kit
Following these cabins are 173 economy class seats, though not all of these seats are created equally. 48 Economy Plus seats are featured at the front of the coach cabin.
They offer 34" of pitch, compared to a standard seat's 31". After this slightly improved cabin, there are 125 standard economy seats. The entire economy cabin is arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, while Premium Plus is organized in a 2-2-2 layout.
Hawaii flights are the 767's longest
Using data from Cirium, an aviation data analytics firm, it seems United's longest 767-400ERs routes are to Hawaii. The airline has a strong presence in the Pacific region and offers an impressive number of flights from its western hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and even Denver.
However, the carrier also connects eastern destinations with the popular tropical vacation spot. Its hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport receive direct services to Honolulu using the 767 variant.
The longest route the 767-400 is deployed on is from Newark to Honolulu. In January 2025, the airline has 27 flights scheduled in each direction with the aircraft, making for almost daily services from the New York City airport.
The route, which spans 4,962 miles, has 6,237 seats available in each direction, and is scheduled to take 11 hours and 25 minutes.
Dulles to Brazil
The next longest service United flies its largest 767 variant on is to South America. In January 2025, the airline used the aircraft to fly from Washington Dulles International Airport to São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport in Brazil.
United offered 31 outbound frequencies from Washington and 31 inbound flights this past month, meaning the airline offers daily service between the two cities.
The 4,817-mile route plays an important role in connecting two important business centers. United offers 7,161 seats in each direction, which is tied with several other markets to be the carrier's highest-capacity Boeing 767-400ER route.
However, based on the market's impressive total of 67,828,992 available seat miles, it is the largest market served by the 767-400ER.
East Coast to Europe
As of January 2025, United's hubs in Newark and Washington, DC are the only ones in the United network to regularly receive the largest 767 variant.
Both of these airports act as an important gateway to Europe from the United States, and it seems the largest 767 variant is well-suited to operate flights across the Pond. United flies all the following routes with the 767-400ER from its East Coast hubs (in descending order of route length):
As seen, the majority of 767-400ER flying is done through Newark, with some Washington Dulles routes as well. Transatlantic services are a potentially lucrative but very competitive market-especially for important business centers like Berlin or Munich.
The Boeing 767-400ER's limited but still larger capacity allows for strong load factors and competitive frequencies- all of these routes are operated daily or almost daily, with the exception of:
- Washington Dulles to Rome
- Washington Dulles to Munich
- Newark to Munich
- Washington Dulles to Lisbon
It is important to note that on some routes to Munich, United operates in conjunction with its Star Alliance partner Lufthansa. This adds additional capacity through codesharing, so United does not have to operate more flights to Munich to offer more seats.
Evidently, other routes simply do not have the demand to be served on a more frequent basis.
The shortest transatlantic route United deploys its larger 767 on is service from DC to Lisbon. The route is only 3,592 miles long, and 1,155 outbound seats and 1,386 inbound seats are for sale.
United flies to Lisbon from Newark as well, operating daily flights with a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
Domestic deployment of the 767-400ER
Not all of United's 767-400ER routes cross oceans. In fact, the carrier has two routes that do not leave the United States and its territories. Not surprisingly, both originate at one of the airline's East Coast bases.
The widebody aircraft are flown from Washington Dulles to Las Vegas, Nevada and Newark to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, the shortest service, from Newark to San Juan, is flown once daily by the aircraft. The route is only 1,608 miles long, but United offers 7,161 seats in each direction.
This makes for a total of 23,029,776 available seat miles in the market. This falls short of the ASMs in 767-operated European markets, but outpaces Las Vegas service significantly.
What's next for United's fleet?
United's 767s are aging, and the airline is facing a growing need to replace the Boeing jets with newer models that possess similar capacities and capabilities.
However, there is currently a hole in the market as airlines try to replace Boeing 757s and 767s- neither Boeing nor Airbus have launched a clean sheet, middle-of-the-market aircraft that has similar balances between capacity and range.
This has not stopped United from updating its fleet. The airline continues to take delivery of new 787 Dreamliners. The smaller models of the aircraft have some overlap with the capacity of the 767.
Meanwhile, United has several A321XLR aircraft on order, which are designed to replace the airline's 757-200s.
