After President Carter (RIP) passed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, airlines shifted towards smaller aircraft in response to market changes. The midsized Boeing 757, introduced in the same period, thus suffered in sales despite a rather successful debut.

As the post-deregulation aviation scene began encountering issues such as airport congestion and noise complaints, airlines gave the 757 a second chance. American Airlines and United Airlines placed a combined order of 100+ frames in the late 1980s; United received their first 757, N501UA, in August of 1989.

N569UA, the airframe the build is referenced after, was delivered in November 1992. As was the case with her sisterships, she was wearing the carrier's iconic Saul Bass-designed scheme. In use since 1973, the livery was modified somewhat with bigger titles and lower cheatlines sometimes before the delivery of the 757.

After 22 years with the airline, N569UA found a new life as a cargo jet with FedEx Express, now re-registered as N782FD. United would went on to retire all their PW2000-powered 757s, leaving only the ex-Continental Rolls-Royce RB211-powered ones in their fleet.


Credit to GalacticaAsia for the plane!