United brings 747 farewell tour here
The four-engine Boeing 747 is giving way to other wide-bodies, but it’s time for a flight of nostalgia
United flies a Boeing 747 to Houston and uses a lottery system to select employees for a farewell flight. It is taking similar flights at hubs around the country before retiring the iconic jumbo jet.
THE Boeing 747, a double-decker aviation icon with a history rooted in romanticism and practicality, is approaching the end of its service among U.S. airlines.
The jumbo jet helped make flying affordable while offering spacious seating, piano bars and other amenities that may make travelers nostalgic. A staircase illuminated the sheer size of the world’s first two-aisle plane, and the 747 became to aviation what Coke is to soda or Kleenex to tissues.
“The 747 introduced us to the era of wide-body airplanes, which we have never left and will never leave,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group. “As long as airplanes are flying, there will be demand somewhere in the world for a twin-aisle airplane.”
But that demand won’t be for 747s. The planes have lost ground to more fuel-efficient
aircraft that can travel farther.
United Airlines is retiring its remaining 747s after a final flight on Nov. 7, and Delta Air Lines expects to retire its fleet by the end of this year. International carriers, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and its flight to Bush Intercontinental, will continue flying the 747.
But U.S. airlines will no longer operate the plane once hailed as “Queen of the Skies.”
On Wednesday, United offered employees a farewell flight from Bush Intercontinental. Those who won seats through a lottery system took a flight to nowhere in particular. The ride was about the plane, not the destination, as the 747 ultimately returned to Houston.
“We celebrate our history,” said Dean McDavid, United’s director of flight standards. “We enjoy our history. And we look forward to new technologies and greener skies.”
United is replacing its 747s with the Boeing 777 ER, which can fly 16 hours nonstop compared with the 747’s 15 hours. It also burns less fuel, McDavid said. On a flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong, the savings are 100,000 pounds.
The carrier expects to add the Airbus A350 to the replacement fleet when it takes delivery in 2022.
The original 747 was 225 feet long and had a tail as tall as a six-story building, according to Boeing’s website. It made its first flight on Feb. 9, 1969.
Notable users over the years include NASA, which modified two 747s into Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and U.S. presidents, who fly in 747s as part of the Air Force One fleet.
Notable, too, were luxurious extras like the piano bar, even though airlines quickly realized that wouldn’t add profits like additional seating.
“People remember that,” said Brett Snyder, author of the airline industry blog crankyflier.com, “but it hasn’t been that way in ages.”
The carriers also learned that only select destinations had enough demand for the behemoths.
There have been several iterations of the 747s since its debut, and on June 28, 2014, Boeing delivered the 1,500th 747 to come off its production line.
The 747-8 is the latest model, and Boeing had delivered 118 of them through last month. This includes 74 deliveries for the 747-8 Freighter and 44 deliveries for the 747-8 Intercontinental.
“We know the primary demand for very large airplanes going forward will be in the cargo market,” a Boeing spokesman said by email. “The freighter version of the 747-8 is wellpositioned to capitalize on the recovery we’re seeing in the cargo market and the need for replacing existing freighters. The 747-8 Intercontinental remains a good option for VIP customers and heads of state.”
Harteveldt agreed that the 747-8 will likely be more popular among freight carriers than passenger lines. The plane’s heyday for fliers spanned the 1970s through late 1990s.
“The 747 is like an adorable whale. It’s just a cute airplane,” he said. “… Because they were so large, 747s were almost always put on an airline’s most important route.”
The plane was featured in advertising and promotional videos. But over time, Boeing and Airbus released planes that could carry a large number of passengers with two engines instead of four. Fewer engines mean less maintenance and fewer working parts. Passengers found them quieter, too.
The newer planes were also more fuel-efficient and could fly longer routes.
“Initially, the 747 enabled airlines to do a lot,” Harteveldt said, “but later the 747 actually constrained airlines.”
United’s final voyage on Nov. 7 will re-create its very first flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. The throwback trip will offer a 1970s-inspired menu, retro uniforms for flight attendants and in-flight entertainment befitting that first flight.
The 747s have been enjoying a farewell tour at a variety of airports. Longtime employee Rolando Nolasco had flown every United aircraft except the 747. That changed on Wednesday.
“This plane has a history,” he said.
Connie Douglass clutched her own piece of history as she boarded the plane: a picture of her in a jumbo jet in 1974. She hadn’t been in one since.
“It’s saying goodbye to an era,” she said.
Other passengers weren’t quite ready to say their final farewell. Mike Denoff is trying to fly on the 747 as much as possible. He mostly finds them on international carriers these days, and he’ll be truly sad when all airlines cut their operations.
“It’s just a beautiful aircraft,” he said.