ABX Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Transport Services Group, unveiled a throwback livery back in September and has been flying it on one of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft. The retro paint scheme was designed to celebrate its 40th anniversary year. The livery features the retro Airborne Express logo and tail colors. The new livery is on aircraft tail N768AX, one of the earliest Boeing 767s acquired by ABX Air. The aircraft was converted to a freighter and given the original Airborne Express livery in 1998. ABX Air has operated the aircraft for over 31,200 flight hours and over 12,500 landing cycles during its years of service.
The livery took four days to install. On September 30, 2020, the aircraft made a special stop at the Wilmington Air Park to be the focal point of a celebration for the company’s 40th Anniversary before returning to revenue service in the ABX Air network. Employees were given a commemorative coin and cookies with an image of the Boeing 767 freighter.
“ABX Air is the culmination of 40 years of airline history that grew under the Airborne Express livery,” noted David Soaper, president of ABX Air. “We wanted to honor the customers and employees who were a part of our history, and we couldn’t think of a better way than the throwback livery.”
From its inception in 1946, Airborne Express served the shipping needs of business customers around the globe, growing to become one of the largest express delivery companies in the world. Its dedicated airline, ABX Air, was formed in 1980 to operate the company’s aircraft and sorting centers. When Airborne’s ground operations were acquired by DHL in 2003, ABX Air became an independent public company.