Not happening. A321neo is not a true 757 replacement. AA/US fleet managers are freaking out because you cant get the A321neo or 739MAX to fly the long and thin TATL routes the 757s currently fly. That's why the oldest 757s are being retired but the newest ones are being held onto as long as possible.

To be clear, the aircraft in question is not an A321NEO but an A321NEO LR which Airbus has proposed to be a direct replacement to the 757 for long haul flights. I don't see any 737 ever filling this role however (thankfully).

The main problem with trying to guess whether something can fill the 757's role is that the 757 wasn't always able to fill the 757's role.

The 757 was built as a replacement to the 727. And it was never marketed with TATL service in mind. The 321 LR NEO is specifically going after longhaul flying. Once the 763s are retired, the smallest widebody aircraft will be the 787. Which might be too much capacity for a number of longhaul routes.

What role are you talking about? :confused:

I believe the implication is that the 757 isn't terribly well suited to TATL flying as it is, considering the (sometimes frequent) tech stops and (even more) limited utility when operating TATL from anywhere but the northeast.

Actually, I believe ubernostrum is referring to a couple of very specific issues. First, when the 757 was first built, I believe the ETOPs rules effectively prohibited TATL flights for twin engine planes; and second, only the later high-takeoff weight versions of the 757 can reliably make it across the Atlantic westbound. I understand, for example, that AA's 757 variants are significantly more capable (i.e., have higher maximum takeoff weights and so can carry more fuel with a full passenger load) than many of the ex-CO planes in UA's fleet. The upshot is that a lot of 757s can't reliably fulfill the 757's TATL role even today, let alone back when the ETOPs rules were more restrictive for twin-engine planes.

One interesting side note is that the loosening of the ETOPs rules effectively made the 757's stable mate, the 767, the queen of the Atlantic for many, many years.

I haven't been an airplane geek since I was 15, many years ago, but I believe that's the long and short of it.

I don't believe that's what ubernostrum was talking about, though there's no need to nitpick. :)

In any case, the 757 doesn't make a particularly effective TATL aircraft except for some specific routes, whether that was the point being made or not.