In Everett, we mourn the demise of 747 passenger service

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By year’s end, no U.S. carrier will fly passengers on the iconic Boeing jet, the first jumbo.

On Nov. 7, United Airlines flew its last 747 on a final flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. The sold-out flight was a throwback, with the crew wearing 1970s-style uniforms. Delta, the only U.S. passenger carrier still flying the 747, posted on its website Tuesday a schedule of its last jumbo jet flights, all next month.

A Delta 747-400 flies between Detroit and Seoul’s Incheon airport. The airline’s final regularly scheduled 747 flight from South Korea is Dec. 17. A Delta employee farewell tour aboard a 747 includes flights from Detroit to Seattle Dec. 18, Seattle to Atlanta Dec. 19 and Atlanta to Minneapolis-St. Paul Dec. 20.

After that, according to Delta, the 747 will make a few charter flights through Dec. 31. In the new year, the United 747 will be with other aging aircraft in California’s Mojave Desert; Delta’s retired 747 will be stored in Arizona.

It’s not the end for the 747, which is still in production in Everett. The freighter version, with no passenger windows, remains much in use. Late last year, UPS ordered 14 of the 747-8F freight carriers. Some foreign airlines continue carrying passengers on 747s. British Airways now has the world’s largest 747 fleet.

Anyone wanting to buy the passenger version, the 747-8 Intercontinental, or 747-8I, could still order one. A Bloomberg article from earlier this year explained why that’s not happening much. There’s waning demand for the four-engine 747-8, which can carry more than 450 passengers, because twin-engine wide-body planes such as the Boeing 777 can also haul hundreds of people while burning less fuel. Maintaining 747 engines is also an issue, the Bloomberg article said.

http://www.heraldnet.com/news/its-the-end-of-an-era/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=d6aea3a7e0-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-d6aea3a7e0-228635337

[wasupaloopa]

1. Now I know I am old. When you see a plane like the 747 come into service and go out in your

life time the years are creeping up on you.

[SonofDonald]

2. In grade school we had a show and tell

A girl I knew brought a bunch of metal ingots, they were a part of her presentation, the metal used in the landing gear of a 747.

Her Father was one of the engineers who designed the landing gear.

Yeah now I feel old, I have friends working at Boeing still, my best friend retires in another year at 31 years working there.