Flight Friday: 767F And 777F Utilization Drastically Outpaces 757F

This week’s Flight Friday looks at the utilization, in flight cycles, of three Boeing cargo aircraft types over the previous two years and compares them against 2019 equivalent-month rates. Figures are displayed as a percentage of 2019 rates.

In recent years, the industry has witnessed a surge in cargo operations. This has arisen from consumers making significantly less in-person purchases, and therefore the need to transport cargo quickly increases.

The chart generally reflects this, with both Boeing 777F and 767F utilization soaring past 2019 levels. This is in part due to increased fleet size, with continuing 777F and 767F deliveries/passenger-to-freighter conversions completed. However, the same is not true for the 757F, due to it being an aging platform with few “new” freighters being added to fleet. In the narrowbody market, passenger-to-freighter converted Airbus A321s and 737-800s are now favored.

Utilization of the 777F and 767F in cargo operations appears to follow a cyclical pattern throughout the period wherein cycles take a sharp uptick in the early months of the year and slowly taper off as the year continues. However, this quirk in the data is created by January/February 2019 utilization being exceptionally low, making the 2019 comparisons for following years appear inflated.

However, with each January uptick, figures creep higher, resulting in an overall upward trend in utilization for both aircraft types. This reflects the ever-growing demand for air cargo in the modern world. But growth for these types is not linear. January 2025 figures are only marginally up on 2024, especially when compared with the significant jump between 2023-24.

Conversely, the 757F has not followed the same trajectory. Having exceeded the 2019 equivalent in March 2023, utilization subsequently slumped, even dipping as low as 80% in October 2023. As cargo demand remains buoyant, the first response by airlines is to upguage, placing larger aircraft on pre-existing routes. The 757F, being the only narrowbody featured in this analysis, has fallen victim to both this and its decreasing fleet.