Are A321s taking over US transcon?

[jimmyg]

The 757 was intended to replace the 727, but for some reason Boeing got its market research wrong. Rather than building a 150 seat replacement for the 150 seat 727, Boeing made the 757 a 200 seater. As it happened, most of the airlines that were replacing their 727s didn't want a 200 seater, but wanted a 150 seater. Boeing did not immediately have one available, and this provided a market opening that was ultimately taken up by Airbus, who built the A320, and by McDonnell Douglas, who built a stretched version of the DC-9 the MD-80. This was the market opening that allowed Airbus to move from a niche player in the airliner world to being clear number two in the 1990s, and to perhaps even be number one today. Boeing eventually filled this gap with a new 150 seat version of the 737, but a few years later.

Although it missed its intended market, the 757 is a superb aircraft. This was largely because the engineers did a really good job, and the aircraft ended up having much longer range than it would have needed for the 727 replacement role. Part of the reason for this is that the engine that Rolls-Royce designed for the 757, the RB211-535, turned out to be a fantastic piece of engineering. The aircraft also managed good fuel economy, although it was not especially comfortable for passengers. The aircraft does very well in "hot and high" conditions, where air conditions at the airport make landing tricky due to altitude or climate. We routinely used it at airports such as Aspen Eagle and such for it performance and to date has to be one of my favorite aircrafts I have flown. Later It became extremely popular for European charter operators for both European and trans-Atlantic routes, and also very popular for US airlines operating coast to coast. This was a successful market niche, although not nearly as big a niche as would have had it been a genuine 727 replacement.

The lower end of the market now is being taken by the 737-800 or the Airbus A320/321 and the higher end will be taken by the new technology Boeing 787 or 777X and Airbus 350.