THE RECENTLY approved US FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 has created a five-year hiatus for Boeing to continue production of its 767F, which takes the manufacturer beyond the point when international standards requiring cleaner engines are instigated.
Under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreements, commercial aircraft manufacturers will be unable to sell airframes that don’t meet the new global carbon emission standards after January 1, 2028. Airframes built before this date which do not meet the new standards will not have to undergo modifications. Aircraft built after January 1, 2028, will have to meet the updated requirements.
Without the exemption, which pushes compliance back to January 1, 2033, the 767F would not have been able to remain in production beyond January 1, 2028. In the longer-term, the action has the potential to limit the operation of the 767F to the US domestic market, unless other regions take a similarly sympathetic view. UPS has a fleet of 90 767-300Fs with 19 currently on the order book. FedEx has a fleet of 137 -300Fs with 15 yet to be delivered. Boeing plans to develop a freighter variant of the 787 but that may not arrive until the middle of the next decade.