Vale Qantas Boeing 767

It was an honour and a privilege to be part of the penultimate and final Qantas Boeing 767 service, an aircraft that pioneered and epitomised aviation in Australia for 29 years.

Background
The date for the final Qantas Boeing 767 service should have been in 2010. However, delays in Boeing 787 Dreamliner deliveries necessitated an additional four years of service for the workhouse of the Australian skies.

In a bid to streamline its domestic fleet following the biggest loss in its history, Qantas brought forward a mid-2015 retirement date for the final Boeing 767 service to the end of 2014. This sent aviation enthusiasts everywhere into a flurry of excitement and sadness as to when the final service would be.

The Boeing 767 was a pivotal aircraft for Qantas, and prior to its collapse in 2001, Ansett. The aircraft not only served as a workhorse for domestic routes, but it opened up opportunities for Australian airlines to expand into Asia and beyond on routes the Boeing 747 could not support. International destinations that have been graced by the Qantas Boeing 767 have included Auckland, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sapporo and Honolulu. The aircraft travelled as far as Toronto and Mumbai.

The Qantas Boeing 767 was the first aircraft I flew on where I got to go on a cockpit tour (QF123 to Singapore as a chubby four year old). It was the aircraft that brought me the long way home from Japan on exchange (Tokyo-Cairns-Brisbane-Sydney). It was the aircraft where I experienced my first flight in Business Class. It took me to several destinations domestically, including Cairns, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Melbourne. It is an aircraft that helped develop and solidify my passion for aviation, and it is why I wanted to farewell this durable and majestic aircraft.

The date for the final Qantas Boeing 767 service was announced (originally) as QF490 - an 8pm service from Melbourne to Sydney on Saturday December 27. I booked this flight, as a red-e-deal - in my eyes a bargain in order to be part of aviation history. Qantas then brought forward this service to 5pm, to operate QF452. Qantas graciously offered anyone on the 8pm service a chance to rebook onto the 5pm service free of charge. I was on the phone to Qantas within an hour of receiving the notification to change my flight.

On December 10, in acknowledgment that this would be a flight filled with aviation nerds, the flight number was changed to QF767 - a fitting tribute to farewell an iconic and revolutionary aircraft.

In order to make a true day out of it, a week before the final service I booked on the penultimate flight being QF435, the 1pm service on the same day from Sydney to Melbourne.

For completeness, I will review both the penultimate and the final service. Join me as I, with over 250 other passengers, said a final goodbye to the Qantas Boeing 767.

Penultimate Flight
Flight Number - QF 435
Aircraft - Boeing 767-300ER
Aircraft Registration - VH-OGL – City of Wangaratta

Departure City - Sydney

Arrival City - Melbourne

Seat - 34A 4K

Class - Economy Business

Prior to Departure
I arrived at Sydney Airport around 11am for the 1pm service, and within 2 minutes I was through security and into the Qantas Club lounge.

Qantas Domestic Terminal in Sydney

Being booked in Economy on both legs, I decided to upgrade my flight to Business at the service desk to bid farewell to both the economy and business cabins of the Boeing 767. Jennifer at the service desk saw my flights (well, who else besides an aviation nerd would fly to Melbourne for 2.5 hours and back?), and realised I was bidding farewell to the Boeing 767 today.

On asking if I could have a printed copy of my boarding pass, she smiled back and said "I will print you off two just in case. It is a sad day for all of us here, we will miss the 767". On printing the boarding pass, she said in a sad voice "Oh look, the boarding passes have 767 Farewell on there".

QF767FAREWELL @QANTAS

My interaction with Jennifer set up the mood from all the Qantas staff I encountered for the day. All the staff were not only personable and professional, but were also proud of working for the company and genuinely sad to see a chapter close in aviation history.

After having a chat together for a good few minutes, she told me "now, make sure you exit now and go to the Business Lounge instead, which you can also use during your time in Melbourne". I smiled, said thank you, and made my way there.

The Business Lounge was quite busy for a lunch time departure to Melbourne on a Saturday. But naturally, there were several people inside, who like me, were bidding farewell to the Boeing 767 today. I bumped into aviation journalist David Flynn, who then introduced me to multiple other enthusiasts which continued on a theme for the rest of the day. Many individuals, coming together, to create a party atmosphere to farewell the 767. It was a very cordial atmosphere, only to be topped on arrival in Melbourne.

VH-OGM and VH-OGT from the Business Lounge

The Business Lounge had a full food and beverage offering (including complimentary beer, wine and spirits). In addition to the antipasto and sandwich bar, hot options today included a moorish Thai Green Chicken Curry, as well as (from memory) two soup options. The lounge also offers an all day barista service, complimentary wifi, and access to a fully equipped business centre and meeting rooms.

Food and Beverage offerings in the Business Lounge

At around 12.40pm boarding for the penultimate service begun on VH-OGL begun.

VH-OGL - City of Wangaratta

Onboard
Whilst now an obsolete product offering, the Boeing 767 offered a very comfortable passenger offering for the majority of routes it operated - primarily being on the Golden Triangle, as well as the odd flight to Perth, Cairns and Darwin.

Business Class on most aircraft had a 2x2x2 configuration, with a 38-inch seat pitch. This is similar to the seats that continue to be offered on the Qantas Boeing 737 fleet. Unlike the Business Class offering over at Virgin, Qantas domestic Business Class seats offer legrests and footrests.

Panorama of Boeing 767 Business Class Cabin

The Boeing 767 aircraft offered a unique entertainment offering called "Q Streaming", that will be expanded onto more of the domestic fleet including QantasLink Boeing 717, and refurbished mainline Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 330-200 aircraft. Each customer gets their own iPad that can be mounted to the seat back. Passengers are then able to stream movies, TV, radio and news content onto each individual device. Qantas was one of the pioneers for a wireless entertainment offering.

Q Streaming - first introduced to the Boeing 767

The captain, Michael Galvin, introduced the flight as the penultimate Boeing 767 service, with a special welcome to those loyal customers who are flying down to Melbourne and back up for the final service.

VH-OGT - you will be missed!

Departing out of Sydney

The service offering was beyond expectations for a domestic flight. In Business Class, Qantas recently introduced an "all day dining" service between Breakfast and Dinner flights. This meant that passengers now have a choice of three options on all flights. On today's flight, the menu was as follows;

Savoury French Toast with Jarlsberg, Mushrooms and Spiced Tomato Chutney

Chicken Caesar Salad

Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

Each of the options was served with Rye Sourdough as well as a small White chocolate, fruit and ginger brownie for Dessert.  I went for the Savoury French Toast. The service was exemplary for a short flight, with the crew offering several drink top ups that included a full bar service. Multiple rounds of Rye Sourdough were also offered (not pictured).

All Day Dining - Savoury French Toast

Before I had a chance to recline my seat, it was time for the Qantas Boeing 767 to make its final landing into Melbourne, a point not lost on the crew and the captain.

Landing into Melbourne

It was a smooth and on time landing by First Officer Kirrily Zupp into Melbourne. It was the last time I would land on a Boeing 767 into Melbourne, but the farewell party was just beginning.....

Between Flights
Meeting the Technical Crew
As I was disembarking the aircraft, I thought I would ask if it would be possible to go into the cockpit - the reply was an enthusiastic "absolutely".

I was able to shake hands with Captain Michael Galvin, and managed to get a photo in the cockpit with First Officer Kirrily Zupp. Mike has been flying the 767s since the aircraft first joined the Qantas fleet over 29 years ago, with Kirrily being the most senior first officer has been flying the aircraft for over 15 years. I was thankful to have the chat with the technical crew prior to the final service - for there would be 250+ people like myself wanting to do exactly the same thing on the final flight.

With First Officer Kirrily Zupp

I was surprised about how friendly the technical crew were. They were happy to take the time to take photos, enthusiastically said hello and goodbye and were genuinely excited and sad to be a part of aviation history. On exiting the cockpit, Mike remarked "we will see you in a couple of hours".

Disembarking the aircraft, the next stop was to invade the J Lounge with other aviation enthusiasts.

J Lounge Invasion
I made my way to the J Lounge, where prior to arrival I had arranged to be guested in by a fellow aviation enthusiast from an online forum (thank you if you are reading this!). On walking into the lounge, it was well and truly taken over by aviation enthusiasts. For those of you familiar with the lounge,  the far end of the lounge nearest to the buffet became aviation geek central.

#QF767FAREWELL @QANTAS on the departure screens in MEL

The atmosphere was very cordial. Fellow enthusiasts, all of whom I did not know prior, were happily discussing all things aviation and otherwise, with topics of discussion ranging from Status Credit runs, to recent service changes, to speculation on what will occur on the final Boeing 767 service. One of the highlights of the day was putting a face and a real name to aviation forum usernames.

Old Roo (B767), Retro Roo (B737) and New Roo (A330) lined up in Melbourne

The food and beverage offerings in the Melbourne lounge were very similar to the Business lounge in Sydney. However, staff came around with trays of Gelattisimo gelato (flavours from memory were mixed berry or cookies and cream). In my opinion, the Qantas offering is unsurpassed for domestic lounge offerings anywhere in the world.

Gelatissimo Gelato - perfect on a sunny Melbourne day!

At around 4.20pm, all of us aviation geeks made our way to the gate which was packed prior to departure.

Final Flight

Flight Number - QF 767

Aircraft - Boeing 767-300ER
Aircraft Registration - VH-OGL – City of Wangaratta

Departure City - Melbourne

Arrival City - Sydney

Seat - 35B
Class - Economy

At the gate
QF767 was lined up for departure from Gate 3 in Melbourne. Prior to departure, all of the technical crew as well as some of the cabin crew were at the gate talking to passengers as well as taking photos. The gate area was filled with media crew filming the event, and aviation enthusiasts that created a celebratory yet commemorative atmosphere. The gate area was dressed up in balloons. Some of the cabin crew about to board the flight did shed a few tears - understandable if flying the 767 was your career for years or even decades.

Gate area prior to departure of QF767

There were some people at the gate who seemed confused as to what the commotion was about, however the boarding announcement did make it clear that this was the last Boeing 767 service to operate within Australia. Reactions from a (miserable) select few were quite negative given the gate area was lively and departure was delayed slightly (by less than 10 minutes). But 99% of the people on the flight, included those who were on the flight unintentionally, were joyous at the fact they could be part of Aviation history.

I think the conversation below (not necessarily exactly worded) stuck with me, and I think shows how an aircraft like a Boeing 767 can be appreciated by 'avgeeks' and non 'avgeeks'.

Man "Is this really the last ever 767, so they're not going to fly them anymore?"
Me "Yes, that is why the flight is full of aviation geeks like myself"
Man "So wait, after today, there are no more 767s?"
Me "Yes, that is right"
Man turns to wife and daughter "How lucky are we, on the last flight ever"
Wife "We didn't even know, we booked this flight six months ago"

The boarding announcement was made, with reference made to the final flight and to aviation geeks. There was a cheer as boarding was announced.

QF767 - Ready for departure

Onboard
I felt a bit upset boarding the Boeing 767 for the last time, an aircraft that has served Qantas, Australian aviation and my aviation geekiness well over the years. The crew were in a celebratory mood, and I have never seen a Melbourne-Sydney flight as lively as this one. Walking onboard, everyone was speaking to eachother. Crew members and other passengers were offering to take photos. Everyone was smiling, very different to a 6am Monday morning service.

Greeting each passenger onboard was a Qantas logo gift bag to commemorate the final service. Inside were special "Farewell Boeing 767" t-shirts, a book about QantasLink and a Boeing 767 sticker. A nice gesture on the part of Qantas!

Souvenir bags on each seat - Thanks Qantas!

Chatter in the cabin ground to an instant halt as soon as Captain Michael Galvin started speaking. The introduction to this final service was professional and full of passion. He mentioned the point that today's flight had a compliment of 12 crew instead of 7, and that we will give the Boeing 767 the send off that she deserves.

"Today you are flying on a Qantas Boeing 767"

Safety Demonstration - getting ready for departure

On departure from Melbourne we were given a water cannot salute. It was a nice gesture, however most of the water missed the aircraft. No issue though, as there was another chance in Sydney for a water cannon.

The final ever take off for the Boeing 767 was smooth, and it was great to hear those GE engines power up one last time! On completion of a successful departure, the entire cabin applauded.

A photo of the Boeing 767 Economy Cabin in its unique 2x3x2 configuration. 

The party mood kicked off with a Qantas engineer using the final Boeing 767 service to propose to his girlfriend. I rushed out of my seat to try and get some of the proposal on camera. She said Yes!


With Qantas being Qantas, a final Boeing 767 service with aviation enthusiasts blocking the aisle would not in any way prevent the crew from offering a full food and beverage service.

Cabin Crew doing a last ever dinner service on the Boeing 767

In economy class, complimentary Champagne was offered to all customers, in addition to all beverages being complimentary (beer and wine is usually only free on weekday flights after 4pm). Passengers in economy class were also given the choice of two dinner options;

Chicken Biryani Rice with Naan Bread

Pasta Salad with Prosciutto.

Yes, for all of you non-Australian readers, that is a choice of two dinner options in a 1.5hour domestic flight.

Chicken Biryani Dinner Box

This is the first time I got to try the revamped Qantas dinner box and I was impressed. The food was of excellent quality, especially given this is a 1.5 hour domestic flight in economy class. Each passenger was also offered a Lindt chocolate ball as dessert.

Lindt Chocolate is always worthy of its own photo!

Arrival
The arrival was unlike anything I have ever experienced - and gave a fitting send off to the Boeing 767. After gaining approval from Sydney ATC, the aircraft circled around the Sydney CBD and towards Bondi and Manly around three times. Captain Michael Galvin ensured that passengers on the left and right sides of the aircraft would be afforded excellent views of Sydney. The pictures speak for themselves (apologies for the quality as I was in an aisle seat).






After the initial orbits, the captain came on again to say that because of the original decision to orbit Sydney, our flight arrival would be delayed a bit more as our landing slot was lost, so he would have to continue to flyover the Sydney CBD. The cabin ERUPTED in applause, as did I. Yes, we were all excited that our flight was going to be delayed into Sydney.

At around 6.55pm, the aircraft touched down on Runway 16-R, with the cabin applauding. The aircraft taxied to Gate 6 at the Sydney Domestic Terminal one last time. When pulling into the gate, the new theme song for the Qantas "Welcome Home" advertisements played over the loud speaker. The taxiways going into the terminal were lined with several Qantas staff members taking photos, and the aircraft was given one last final water cannon salute. We pulled into the gate at around 7pm local time, to a final round of applause from the Cabin.

I will let the (shortened) video below speak for itself. Unfortunately as I was in an aisle seat it was hard to get a steady shot!

Post Flight Festivities
Most people disembarked the flight in quite a leisurely manner, with the crew actively chatting to passengers. I partook in the opportunity to get another photo in the cockpit, as well as taking photos with several of the crew prior to disembarking for the last time. It was great to see the Captain and the crew push back on security who wanted to clear the aircraft. I was also very thankful to get a Boeing 767-338 safety card signed by Captain Mike Galvin.

One last photo in the Flight Deck of the Boeing 767.

With Leah - one of the most lively crew members I have had on any flight ever!

After disembarking the Boeing 767 for one last time, around 50 aviation enthusiasts made our way to the Qantas J lounge where we reflected on what was arguably the best day of flying any of us have experienced. From the J Lounge, we were able to see the 767 push back from the gate - drawing to a close 29 years of service to Australian aviation.

Disembarking from VH-OGL one last time!

VH-OGL pushing back from Gate 6 - Farewell. 

Summary
This was a fantastic day of flying, and I still smile at having had the opportunity to partake and enjoy in such a wonderful aviation experience. The crew were exemplary, personable and professional over the course of the entire day.

Credit to Qantas for organising such a fantastic experience, and giving the Boeing 767 the true send off that she deserved. It was such a memorable experience, and one I am sure I will never forget.