US ‘big three’ legacy carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are among the last remaining operators of the Boeing 757-300. This narrowbody twinjet is a stretched version of the original Boeing 757-200, and it was produced in relatively limited numbers, with just 55 examples rolling off the factory line.

Despite, or perhaps because of, its rarity, as well as its curious long and thin appearance, the Boeing 757-300 has become a popular choice among avgeeks around the world when it comes to both photography and travel. However, these aircraft aren’t getting any younger, and their dwindling significance is evidenced by their reduced schedules at Delta and United in December 2025 compared to this time last year.

Crunching The Numbers

According to scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are collectively set to operate a grand total of 2,503 flights with the Boeing 757-300 this month, offering 585,702 seats in the process. However, in December 2024, these figures respectively stood at 3,193 flights and 747,162 seats, meaning that the schedule this time around is smaller by a factor of some 21.6%.

Present fleet data from ch-aviation shows that Delta Air Lines currently has 16 examples of the Boeing 757-300 at its disposal with an average age of 22.9 years old, compared to 21 at United Airlines with a mean age of 23.4 years old. At both carriers, these sub-fleets are dwarfed by those of the standard 757-200, with Delta and United flying 94 and 40 examples of the type respectively. Boeing explained at the time of the 757-300’s launch:

« At 178 feet 7 inches (54.5 meters), the 757-300 is the largest single-aisle twinjet Boeing has made. It is 23 feet 4 inches (7.1 meters) longer and holds 20 percent more passengers than the 757-200. »

United Airlines

The smaller of the two Boeing 757-300 schedules among this pair of high-profile US operators belongs to United Airlines, with the Chicago-based Star Alliance founding member accounting for 1,099 flights and 257,166 seats. United Airlines’ year-on-year decrease in 757 coverage has been almost twice as severe as that of Delta Air Lines, with the carrier operating 28.9% fewer flights with the type this month, compared to 14.8% at Delta.

Passengers looking to fly on these aircraft should aim for flights out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). From here, the carrier has penciled in 78 services to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), 73 to Los Angeles (LAX), and 43 to Denver (DEN) this month. Elsewhere, Honolulu (HNL) is also a popular destination for the type, with 45 flights in each direction from there to the two Californian hubs of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

According to present fleet data made available by aeroLOPA, United Airlines configures its Boeing 757-300 aircraft in a two-class layout that has space for a grand total of 234 passengers. This capacity is split between 24 domestic first class recliners and 210 economy seats (of which 54 have more legroom).

Delta Air Lines

As detailed in the video below, Delta’s Boeing 757 usage as a whole is down this year, with the carrier’s 757-200s also seeing less usage than in December of 2024. As far as the larger 757-300 is concerned, the Atlanta-based SkyTeam founding member is set to operate 1,404 flights with the type this month, offering 328,536 seats in the process. Much like United, Delta also configures these aircraft with 24 first and 210 economy seats.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the place to go if you want to sample Delta’s 757-300s, with 125 flights penciled in from the carrier’s Detroit (DTW) hub and another 109 from Minneapolis (MSP). Other routes where the 757-300 sees two or more flights a day in each direction on average include Minneapolis to Phoenix (PHX), Detroit and Minneapolis to Fort Myers (RSW), and Detroit to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International (FLL).