Q: When will Boeing stop building the commercial 767 freighter in Everett?
A: Boeing plans to close out commercial 767-300F production in 2027 once it delivers its remaining orders to FedEx and UPS. After that, the Everett line will continue building only the 767-2C airframe that becomes the KC-46 Pegosus tanker for the U.S. Air Force. The program has been running continuously since 1981.
A 45-Year Everett Program Is Running Out Its String
If you’ve driven Paine Field Boulevard any time in the last four decades, you’ve probably seen a Boeing 767 rolling out of the Everett factory — often in the trademark purple tail of FedEx or the brown of UPS. That image is about to become historic.
Boeing is on the final glide path for commercial 767 production. According to multiple industry sources and Boeing’s own October 2024 announcement, the company plans to complete its remaining commercial 767-300F freighter orders in 2026 and 2027, then close out the passenger-and-freighter version of the program for good.
What’s left on the order book? As of early 2025, Boeing held 33 unfilled commercial 767-300F orders — roughly 24 for UPS and 9 for FedEx. Those aircraft are the last commercial 767s the Everett factory will ever produce. UPS took delivery of the 100th 767 freighter in its fleet from Everett in early 2026 — a milestone that now doubles as a countdown marker.
For Everett, this isn’t just an airplane program winding down. It’s the end of a production line that helped define what the city does for a living.
What Happens to the Everett 767 Line After 2027
Here’s the part that gets lost in national coverage: the 767 line in Everett is not shutting down. It’s narrowing.
The 767-2C — the “green” airframe that Boeing modifies into the KC-46A Pegasus refueling tanker for the Air Force — is built on the same final assembly line as the commercial 767-300F. When the last commercial freighter rolls out, the line stays open, but only for military tankers. Congress has specifically exempted the KC-46 program from the 2028 commercial production cutoffs written into federal clean-air rules, which means Everett is expected to keep building 767-based tankers well past 2027.
The practical effect inside the factory is a mix shift, not a shutdown. Commercial freighters are replaced on the line by military airframes that follow the same basic production flow but feed a different customer and a different delivery cadence.
Boeing delivered 14 KC-46 tankers in 2025 and has publicly targeted 19 deliveries in 2026. The 105th KC-46 delivery — the one that rolled out of Everett on April 3 for McConnell Air Force Base — is a good barometer of where the program is headed: well over half of the planned 179-aircraft fleet has now been built and accepted. Boeing also holds firm orders for 60 additional KC-46s, including tankers for Israel, Japan, and the U.S. Air Force.
Translation: the 767 line is not an endangered species. But the commercial 767 line is.
Why This Matters for Everett’s Aerospace Workforce
The commercial-to-military mix shift on the 767 line raises real questions for workers and local suppliers, even if the line itself survives.
The first question is volume. Commercial 767-300F freighters and KC-46A tankers are both built in Everett, but the KC-46 has historically moved at a slower per-month cadence than the freighter. A line that’s building 19 tankers a year is a different line than one that’s also pushing out commercial freighters for FedEx and UPS on the side. Fewer airframes moving through the same floor space can mean fewer touch-labor hours, even if headcount on a given shift looks similar.
The second question is supplier revenue. Washington state’s aerospace supplier base — more than 600 companies concentrated heavily in Snohomish County, by regional economic development estimates — has always been anchored by Boeing commercial programs. When Boeing’s production mix tilts toward defense, the supplier revenue picture tilts with it, and some commercial-freighter-specific components simply stop being ordered.
The third question is the one Everett has been asking since the 787 moved to South Carolina: what comes next on the Everett floor? The 737 MAX North Line, which Boeing is targeting for a midsummer 2026 activation, is the most visible answer. But the North Line is a new program standing up, not a drop-in replacement for the commercial 767. The workforce flows inside Boeing’s Everett operations will be more complicated than a single program handoff.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
A few figures worth pinning down as the 767 commercial program winds down:
- 1981: Year the first 767 rolled out of the Everett factory, a few months after the 767-200’s maiden flight.
- 33: Unfilled commercial 767-300F orders on the books as of early 2025 — the final production run.
- 24: Of those, belonging to UPS.
- 9: Of those, belonging to FedEx.
- 100: UPS 767 freighters in fleet after its February 2026 delivery — a program milestone for the carrier.
- 19: KC-46 tankers Boeing is targeting for delivery in 2026.
- 105: KC-46 tankers delivered as of April 3, 2026.
- 179: Total planned KC-46 fleet for the U.S. Air Force.
- 650+: American businesses in the KC-46 supply chain, spanning more than 40 states.
- 2027: Target close-out year for commercial 767-300F production.
What Everett Should Watch For Next
For residents and workers watching this transition play out in real time, a few milestones will tell the story more clearly than any press release:
Every FedEx and UPS tail that rolls out of Everett in 2026. Each one is one closer to the last. The final commercial 767 delivery will, almost by definition, be a historic day at Paine Field — comparable in Everett memory to the last 747 rolling off the line in 2023.
KC-46 delivery cadence. Boeing’s public target of 19 tankers in 2026 is the near-term measuring stick for how healthy the “military-only” future looks. A year that overshoots that target is a year the Everett floor stays busy; a year that undershoots is worth asking questions about.
The North Line’s real start. Boeing has said the new 737 MAX North Line at Everett will begin operating this summer. How quickly it ramps — and how many of the 767’s veteran assemblers move over to the North Line rather than retiring or leaving — will shape what the Everett campus actually looks like for the next decade.
Supplier-side announcements. Some Puget Sound-area suppliers are commercial-freighter specific and will see their Boeing revenue decline as the 767-300F wraps. Others feed both the commercial line and the KC-46. Watch for consolidation, retooling announcements, or new program wins in the next 18 months — those will be the leading indicators for how the supplier base absorbs the shift.
The Bigger Picture for Everett’s Identity
The 767 has been part of Everett’s identity since Ronald Reagan’s first term. It was one of the three big widebodies — 747, 767, 777 — that turned the Boeing Everett factory into the largest building in the world by volume. The 747 is already gone. The 767 passenger version ended years ago. The 767 freighter is now on the clock.
What’s left for Everett widebodies is the 777 and 777X, which are still being built, flight-tested, and prepared for customer delivery on the south end of the same factory. What’s new for Everett is the 737 MAX North Line coming online this summer, which will put a single-aisle commercial jet in an Everett paint hangar for the first time. And what’s continuing — quietly, reliably, for at least another decade — is the KC-46 tanker flowing off the 767 floor to U.S. Air Force and allied customers.
The 767 commercial program’s final year isn’t a crisis. It’s a transition. But for a community where roughly half of Washington state’s aerospace workers live and work, transitions deserve attention before they arrive, not after.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Boeing’s last commercial 767 be delivered?
Boeing has publicly stated it will wind down commercial 767-300F freighter production in 2027 after delivering its remaining orders to FedEx and UPS. Some of those deliveries are scheduled in 2026, with the final aircraft in 2027.
Is Boeing closing the Everett 767 production line?
No. The commercial 767-300F freighter is ending, but the same line will continue producing the 767-2C airframe that Boeing converts into the KC-46A Pegasus tanker for the U.S. Air Force. KC-46 production is expected to continue well past 2027.
How many commercial 767s does Boeing still have to build?
As of early 2025, Boeing held 33 unfilled commercial 767-300F orders — roughly 24 for UPS and 9 for FedEx. Boeing has been delivering against that backlog steadily, including a UPS delivery in February 2026 that marked UPS’s 100th 767 freighter.
How many KC-46 tankers has Boeing delivered?
Boeing delivered its 105th KC-46A Pegasus to the U.S. Air Force on April 3, 2026, when a new tanker arrived at McConnell Air Force Base. That’s well over half of the planned 179-aircraft total fleet. Boeing has targeted 19 additional KC-46 deliveries in 2026.
What does the 767 wind-down mean for Everett jobs?
The net effect depends heavily on the KC-46 delivery cadence, the ramp of the new 737 MAX North Line, and how Boeing moves veteran 767 assemblers within the Everett campus. The line itself isn’t shutting down, but the mix is shifting from commercial to military. For the regional supplier base — more than 600 aerospace companies in Snohomish County alone — commercial-freighter-specific vendors are most exposed, while KC-46 suppliers remain in the backlog.
When did the Boeing 767 first roll out of Everett?
The 767-200 made its first flight in 1981 and entered service in 1982. The final assembly line has been active in Everett since then — more than 45 years of continuous commercial 767 production.
Will the KC-46 tanker line in Everett keep hiring?
Boeing’s CFO has publicly acknowledged that the company is maintaining “higher levels of quality and engineering support” at Everett specifically for the KC-46 program. With roughly 75 tankers still to deliver on the current fleet plan, and additional export orders in the pipeline, the KC-46 line is expected to be an ongoing employer in Everett for years.
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