The Boeing 747 went into commercial service in 1970. It was a bet the company move for Boeing in collaboration with Pan Am. The plane became known as the ‘Queen of the Sky’ and there’s still something magical about climbing the staircase to its upper deck.
United’s 747s have a storied history. After other US airlines retired the bird that’s too costly to fly in many cases unless close to full, and that’s no longer the biggest jetliner in the world at a time when the trend is to buy smaller planes and fly point-to-point or offer more frequencies, United continued to fly the aircraft.
United’s livery of my youth. By Torsten Maiwald, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons
After United bought Pan Am’s Pacific routes, it operated round-the-world service and it was a source of pride, not profits (something United, American, and Delta argue should be illegal in the case of their competitors from the Mideast).
At one point United flew New York JFK – Los Angeles – Hong Kong – Delhi – London Heathrow – New York JFK. United flights 1 and 2 traveled in opposite directions. The specific city pairs varied over time. I absolutely loved flying United’s 747s domestically a couple of decades ago.
- At one point there was a stop in Bangkok between Hong Kong and Delhi
- New York JFK was replaced with Washington Dulles (I used to take this flight domestically somewhat regularly)
- I believe Los Angeles was also replaced with San Francisco at one point
The final United 747 flight is planned as a recreation of part of its original route. On November 7 it will fly San Francisco to Honolulu. (Full disclosure I was offered a complimentary seat on the flight but won’t be accepting.) They’re planning “a 70s inspired menu, retro uniforms for flight attendants, and inflight entertainment befitting of that first flight.”
Credit: United Airlines
United is showing off its Boeing 747 on a farewell tour for employees — giving them a chance to tour it on the ground and to take it up in the air. They have scheduled 2 hour 747 flights to nowhere, take off and cruise around then come back down.
Hat tip to @FlyingHighRyan on Twitter:
Now this is cool! @united is giving team members the chance to fly on a 747 for a final time with a tour around the airline’s hubs. pic.twitter.com/asCS41Eu4F
— Ryan Ewing (@FlyingHighRyan) September 28, 2017
Service was better then and so was the coach experience on the 747 in its early days though I’ll take the service degradation with better seats in premium cabins myself (some airlines around the world manage to offer both of course).
Thanks. For those of us who still want to fly Upper Deck while we can, can you list a few airlines that still fly the 747- (or newer 800) longhaul? I have flown BA several times, but I am interested in another airline.
I remember when United would have a whole fleet of 747’s parked at every gate on their Honolulu concourse. It was an enormous airlift of the US middle class on vacation that has completely dried up as voting for the GOP shifted all of the middle class wealth to the top 1-2%. The middle class who once crowded Waikiki hotels are gone, replaced byJapanese. They can’t afford to fly to Hawaii every year or two, but still will vote for the party now again preparing to shift even more of the US wealth to the very richest. Even the rich are complaining they don’t need the money, Buffet, Gates and other non-pigs decrying the GOP theft of the entire middle class.
@KimmieA
Pretty sure it’s just Lufthansa, Korean Air, and Air China that operate the 747-8I
LH still flies the 747. It’s REALLY nice.
Here’s a link to ALL the carriers that fly the 747.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boeing_747_operators
Several carriers do, BA is even bringing a 747 to my home airport Austin
@Greg: As we in NYC often say, “Oy Vey!”, which is Yiddish for dismay or exasperation!!!
Much as I might agree in broad strokes that policies imposed by successive Republican administrations since Reagan’s deficit exploding, “Trickle Down”, “Voodoo Economics” were first introduced in the early 1980’s are the root of many problems dividing our country now, and have resulted in obscene and outrageous concentrations of wealth that will only further divide our country as long as they continue, in this instance, I’m going to strongly disagree with your reasoning regarding the demise of 747s on domestic routes in general, and the example of Honolulu you noted.
Back in the day, when 747s were used for mainland to Hawaii flights, or elsewhere for long-haul intercontinental/over water segments, aircraft/engine technologies were vastly different than since the turn of the century, and the airlines’ route and business models matched those needs for those types of flights at coastal gateways and/or mid-continent hubs.
Specifically, overwater flights beyond a certain distance/time (those with exact knowledge feel free to include; I lack the time to research that info at time of writing) required aircraft with more than two engines per FAA and others (ICAO, etc.) regulations.
This meant that only 707s, DC-8s originally, and later, 747s, DC-10s or L1011s could fly mainland-HNL.
Indeed, it was not until the 767 was introduced in the early 80s, and then much, much later that the concept of Extended Twin Engine Operations, or “ETOPS” was trialled and proven by TWA on its 767-200s, that aircraft with just two engines were certified for very limited segments with diversionary airports required to be within a set time/distance for engine malfunctions leading to shut-downs of one engine and an ability to reach an airport equipped to handle emergencies on the remaining sole operating engine.
This was the late 80s at the earliest, and even then, ETOPS on small widebody aircraft like 767s and A310s were still largely confined to certain types of trans-Atlantic flights where routes allowed for a continuous chain of available airports along the way that made these flights possible during much of the 1990s.
In your example, of Hawaii, ETOPS came much later, and only after many years of experience and technical data was accumulated and demonstrated advancements in engine texhnoligies for safe operations using twin-engine aircraft for segments where there are no airports along the way to divert to safely using one engine in an emergency.
As such, and because certain itineraries for North America to Australia and New Zealand still required a stop for fueling in HNL on United, Continental, Qantas, and other airlines, 747s were still the likeliest aircraft deployed for these missions for reasons of regulations requiring 3 or more engined aircraft, gateways/hubs required to fill these large capacity aircraft, and perhaps, yes, more of a passenger-centric service ethic than the sleazy, dishonest, and even abusive, greed grabs seen today that disreputable business people promote and “justify” as being valid because they, and their loved ones, never really have to experience the shameful conditions and other humiliations that most of is do.
Simply put, 727s ( despite having 3-engines, but range limited), or twin engined DC-9s, MD-80s, and 737s commonly used “back in the day” when HNL and many other major airports around the world had an abundance of 747s lined up at their gates, or in line waiting to take off, could NOT fly these routes, as their later generation derivatives like the 737 do, or as 757, A320s, and other later generation, but smaller, widebodies such as 767s, 777s, and A330s by Boeing or Airbus now do.
In other words, it’s largely due to technology advancements and the resulting increased range of planes like the 737, 757, and Airbus A320/321, that led to the demise of the much beloved, and most assuredly missed “Queen of the Skies” from domestic flights, and in the not too distant future, likely even premier long-haul flights.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
I know, it sucks. My “rants” on the (abysmal) “improvements” (a bald-faced lie if ever there was one) seen in recent years for coach products crammed onto 777s to accommodate the ridiculous whines made by space hogs who now require a half (or more) of the available cabin real estate be devoted to coddling them, at the expense of the approximately 85% of other fare paying passengers who have seen their space significantly diminished in teeny-tiny seats, crammed into ridiculously, not to mention likely UNSAFE spaced rows, seen on these boards and elsewhere, are well known.
But these are issues of society, in general, NOT an explanation for why 747s are no longer lined up at the gates in HNL.
There are, indeed, many reasons why 747s have fallen from favor. However, IMO it is NOT “Reaganomics” or other clever, equally destructive and unwelcome Republican “reverse Socialism” policies they come up with to trick large segments of our country to roll over, happily surrender, and so pliantly be willing to freely redistribute society’s wealth to those who already have way more than they need — and yet still demand even more.
Cheers!
I flew to Honolulu from SFO on a 747 in the 70s. It was only my 2nd time going to Hawaii and I was thrilled with the staircase and upper deck where they even had a bar. I was in my 20s with little worldly experience – this was the best at that time. Great memories for sure. Sorry they feel the need to retire the old girl, she was a first class plane.
Waikiki Beach is still empty of the US middle-class, no matter what they fly there or why they fly it. I used the example of the fleet of United 747 crowding Honolulu airport as an example of the biggest airlift I had ever seen, including military.
As to ETOPS I am still wary of trusting one less engine on flights like to Hawaii where the supposedly Midway airport is actually further from the mainland than Hawaii.
I wonder if the ‘throwback’ flight will include a smoking section.
@ Howard Miller – thank you for the thoughtful and well argued post.
Where is the 747 heading after the SFO-HNL flight?
Kimmiea- Korean uses the upper deck of the 747-8 for business class. It’s a great use of 67.5k Korean miles (from chase) for JFK-ICN-HKG with both flights being 747-8s. Even better is the nose in First for only 80k points. Those 2 are the first two flights of my RTW in February.
Great in its day but now long in the tooth. Inferior HVAC system and lack of personal vents make it uncomfortable on long flights – especially when flown by an airline run by accountants (British Airways) who leave it lifeless on the DFW tarmac between turnarounds in the Texas sun. Interior so hot on boarding that it takes the flight as far as Iceland to become cool.
Gary, why did you turn down taking one of the United 747 last flights? You didn’t explain your reason(s).