For obvious reasons, scheduled passenger flights on Boeing 757s are decreasing fast. Due to retirements, 84% of the remaining services are within the United States. This is because Delta Air Lines still has 102 757-200s and 757-300s, while United Airlines has 61 frames.

Despite Delta being the world’s leading operator of passenger 757s, none of its services feature in this article. That is not surprising. While the SkyTeam member uses the type on two European routes and some South American links, they are not especially long. Moreover, Cirium Diio data shows the 757 operates fewer than 3% of Delta’s services to those continents, compared to 14% for United.

The World’s 757 Flights Timed At Over 8 Hours In September

Using Cirium to examine every scheduled service by the so-called Greased Bullet in September indicates the following are timed at over eight hours. This is based on the maximum block time (chocks-off-to-chocks-on). It is what’s published on airline websites, in other booking places, schedules, etc. United’s incoming Airbus A321XLRs will replace the 757 on many of its entries.

Various routes had a max block of 8h, so they were too short to be included. This includes Lima back to Newark, which would have been the only South American entry. Compared to September 2024, flights between Dublin and Chicago O’Hare—which had a block of up to 8h 40m—no longer use the type. While the 757 was exclusively flown a year ago, United deploys the much larger and more premium 787-8 and 787-10 in the current month.

The Table Contains 2 Routes That Have Never Been Served Before

On May 16, 2025, United made history by beginning the first service ever from the US to Faro, which is located in the ever-popular Algarve region of Southern Portugal. It is, of course, served from Newark, where United has 72% of the flights. Significant financial incentives and other risk-sharing agreements will likely have been agreed upon as a condition for launching the creative but unusual route.

Initial booking data shows that United filled approximately 84% of available seats in May/June, with fare and yield data unavailable. Given the newness of the route, it appears to be a promising start, but we must await figures for the full season, which will be available later this year. Even then, we will only know part of the picture.

On May 31, United took off from Newark to Bilbao, which will also benefit from meaningful incentives and risk-sharing agreements. The route marked the first time that the city (in Northern Spain) has had transatlantic flights. As United no longer serves Tenerife South, the carrier’s overall Spanish operation (regardless of equipment) consists of five airports: Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca.

2 Of Icelandair’s 757 Routes Featured In The Table

Blocked at a high of 8h 05m in September, Icelandair’s 757-200-operated services from Keflavik to Denver and Portland featured. Seattle didn’t, as it is served by the A321LR and 737 MAX 8 this month. Nor did Vancouver, as only the MAX 8 is scheduled for September.

Icelandair currently has a daily 757-200 flight to Denver. However, frequencies necessarily reduce during the winter, when the route will also switch to the lower-capacity, 160-seat MAX 8, which will further help improve yields and loads in the off-season. As of September 9, the latest information shows that Icelandair plans a double daily Denver service next summer, with all flights (for now) being on the 757-200.

Source: Simple Flying