My first-ever flight with Delta Air Lines was on a Boeing 767-400ER. It was an arduous trek from Johannesburg Airport to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with a refueling stop in Dakar, in the early days prior to the airline assigning its Boeing 777-200LRs to the route. Since then, many of my flights to Europe have been aboard the 767-400, operating in its natural transatlantic habitat to cities that didn’t require the capacity of Delta’s larger widebodies.

The 238-seat 767-400ER has performed a valuable transatlantic role for Delta over the years, providing a « middle gear » between the 211-seat Boeing 767-300ERs and the 282-seat A330-300s (and more recently, the -900s). Yet the aircraft itself is a curiosity, as Boeing only sold 38 of the largest 767 – 21 to Delta, 16 to United Airlines (via Continental), and one for the Bahrain Royal Flight. Other airlines opted instead for the larger Boeing 777 or the Airbus alternatives.

Delta’s 767-400ER sub-fleet now has an average age of over 25 years, but the aircraft has proven so valuable that the carrier plans on flying the type well into the next decade, long after the -300ERs have retired. So where might you be able to fly on one of the world’s rarest Boeing widebodies?

A Gradual Shift To Domestic Operations

Delta has had a long love affair with the 767, having operated 124 of the type over the years, more than any other airline. The vast majority of these have been the soon-to-retire 767-300ER, but the value of the 767-400ER is that while it has slightly less range, the stretch of 21 feet (6.4 meters) allows for more capacity. And that is particularly attractive to an airline like Delta, where premium drives profit, because more space equals more opportunities for premium seats. Another example of this is Delta choosing the Boeing 787-10 with its recent Dreamliner order, preferring its greater capacity over the longer-range (but smaller) siblings.

Delta’s ongoing commitment to the 767-400ER is clear. It gave the fleet a major retrofit coming into this decade, and, unlike its soon-to-retire 767-300ERs, included it within the ongoing cabin refresh that it is currently conducting. But while the 767-400ER has historically been used predominantly (even exclusively in some years) for international flights, that role is changing now.

The 767-400ER is increasingly being replaced by the Airbus A330-900 on core European routes such as those to London Heathrow Airport and Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. But as ever more 767-300ERs head to the exit, the 767-400ER is being transferred to replace them on routes to secondary European markets. Crucially for aviation enthusiasts looking to catch a ride on this widebody rarity, the 767-400ER is also being positioned on more US domestic routes.

All but one of Delta’s 767-400ER routes operate from the airline’s hubs at Atlanta and New York JFK. The sole outlier is the route from Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport to Paris, which will operate with a 767-400ER this summer. The carrier has also made a significant shift of the aircraft type from JFK to ATL. So let’s take a closer look at data from Cirium for the first half of this year (1H 2026), compared to the same period last year (1H 2025), and explore the opportunities to fly the largest 767.

The Top 767-400 Routes From Atlanta

If you are looking to fly on the 767-400ER, Atlanta is the place to go. In 1H 2026, Delta’s home base will have 3,256 flights (arrivals and departures) to 24 destinations using the 767-400ER, accounting for 58% of all flights with the type. This is up from just 39% in the same period last year. Another notable change is that nearly 25% of those flights will be on domestic routes, up from 16% last year.

Just the top five routes from Atlanta are a microcosm of how the airline is shifting its 767-400ER operations. Trunk routes like London Heathrow and Paris are seeing reductions, replaced by larger widebodies. At the same time, the -400ER is increasing on « thinner » European routes, in this case the hubs of competing Star Alliance airlines. At the same time, the larger 767 is also shifting to Miami as a new route, and other notable new domestic routes from ATL with the -400ER include JFK, Phoenix and San Francisco.

The Top 767-400 Routes From New York

In contrast to Atlanta, Delta’s 767-400ER usage at JFK is declining. In 1H 2026, Delta’s home base will have 2,258 flights (arrivals and departures) to 12 destinations using the 767-400ER, accounting for 40% of all flights with the type. This is down from 60% in the same period last year.

The most notable change is on Delta’s premier JFK-LAX route, which it flies up to 11 times daily. Currently, the 767-400ER shares duty with -300ERs and the occasional A330, but by the summer, it will be an all-767-300ER route. Some of the -400ER capacity is shifting to Atlanta, and for those that remain, increasing service over the summer months to secondary European cities like Venice, Madrid and Dublin is Delta’s preferred option.