The Boeing 757 is a loved aircraft among airplane enthusiasts and pilots . However, the aircraft has been out of production since 2005, even though Boeing desperately needs a mid-market commercial aircraft. While Boeing has upgraded the 737 and 777, it hasn't upgraded the 757 (or even the now-aging Boeing 767 ).
An upgraded 757X would have been expensive and challenging and risked not being the advanced aircraft needed for the 2030s. Here are some reasons why Boeing didn't update its Boeing 757 in the mid-2010s. The midsize airplane gap The Boeing 757 went out of production in 2005, leaving a gap in the midsized commercial aircraft market.
This issue is further compounded by the fact that the widebody Boeing 767 is also out of production as a passenger aircraft. Boeing delivered the last passenger Boeing 767 in 2014, and since then, it has just delivered freighter variants and the military aerial refueling KC-46A variant of the aircraft. It has 104 commercial Boeing 767s left on the order book.
This means that Boeing offers nothing between the MAX and the 787 Dreamliner. Airbus has moved into this yawning gap with its Airbus A321LR and now its Airbus A321XLR . The XLR entered commercial service in November 2024 and boasts an impressive 4,700 nautical mile range while being much more efficient than previous aircraft.
At the same time, JetZero is aggressively developing its Z4 blended wing-body aircraft also intended to fill the midsized market. If developed, it will have a 4,0.
