767-200ER | 1987

Airline - Global Airlines
Aircraft - Boeing 767-200ER | N5261G
Delivered to Global Airlines, 1987
Stored at Pinal Airpark, 2005
Sold to Kievan Airlines, 2007
Stored at Kiev Boryspol Airport, 2014
Sold to BLTB Aviation Holdings, 2016
Sold to Realines, 2016
Livery - Standard 1985-1997
Country - United States of America

In 1987, Global Airlines began taking deliveries of the Boeing 767-200ER, with the first being N5261G (shown here). The -200ER of the 767 fitted the airline's business model perfectly. It played three key roles: joining the 747-200 on key domestic routes to add frequency to JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO and LAX-IAD, increasing capacity on domestic routes which could not support a 747, such as JFK-ORD or LAX-MIA, and creating and helping build an extensive transatlantic and South American route network. While the 747-200 continued to fly to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Frankfurt, other routes - eg Rome, Manchester, Barcelona, Geneva, Vienna, Caracas, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, etcetera - were all operated by the 767-200ER. In 1989, Global Airlines even received authorization to operate a four-times-weekly service to Moscow Sheremetyevo from New York JFK and Washington Dulles, and twice-weekly flights to Moscow from Los Angeles, after which point it had the most weekly flights into the Soviet Union of any US carrier.

All of Global Airlines' 767-200ERs were configured with 30 Sleeper First and 159 Coach seats. Due to space constraints and changing customer demands, Executive First was not installed on any aircraft after the 747, with Sleeper First becoming the airline's flagship product on most routes. The 2-1-2 configuration in First maximized seat width and comfort, while 2-3-2 in Coach also kept passengers happy. The 767s were the first aircraft type fitted with Airfone technology, with a handset at each seat in First and three handsets per row in Coach. This allowed passengers to make satellite phone calls in-flight. While the aircraft types already in operation were never fully retrofitted with Airfones, the 727s, 737s, and 747s were eventually fitted with shared phones near each exit door. Naturally, passengers on both domestic and international 767-operated flights received the same lounge access and service both on the ground and in-flight as if their flight was operated by a 747.

While the original order was for 35 aircraft, it was quickly extended to 52, which were all delivered by 1993. Between 1995 and 1997, Global Airlines received an additional 11 767-200ERs, which would have brought the total up to 63, except for the tragic loss of N5299G in December of 1996, while operating flight GA1725 from Santiago, Chile, to New York. The aircraft struck a mountain four minutes after takeoff, while turning to return to the airport due to a mechanical fault, killing 122 of the 201 passengers and crew. This was the first accident in the airline's history, and remains the worst to this day.


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