United’s 747s disappearing sooner than expected (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
United Airlines had been hinting for a while that it might speed up the retirement of the venerable Boeing 747 from its long-haul fleet. This week company officials confirmed that October 2018 is the target date for the end of the airline’s 747 flights.
United execs said in an investor conference call that all 20 of the aging wide-bodies should be permanently grounded by then, as the airline relies on 777s and 787 Dreamliners to take over its long-distance routes.
The newer long-haul aircraft in United’s fleet can’t carry as many passengers as the 747. Its 777-200s accommodate 266 to 364, and Dreamliners can seat 219 (787-8) or 252 (787-9), vs. a passenger capacity of 374 for United’s remaining 747-400s.
United will likely be the last U.S. airline to fly the 747, since the only other one that has the plane in its fleet – Delta – expects to retire the last of its few remaining 376-passenger 747s by the end of 2017. Delta is turning to Airbus jets as long-haul replacements, including the A330 and the new A350.
Don’t miss: Is the 747 nearing its end?
Newly refurbished economy section in a British Airways 747. (Image: British Airways)
The U.S. carriers are not alone in turning away from the 747 . Boeing recently said that because of a lack of new orders, it plans to reduce production of the 747 – its current model is the 747-8 – from 12 a year to just six. Competitor Airbus is seeing a similar shrinking of demand for its competing jumbo, the A380.
Economics are at the heart of the trend. The four-engine 747 can’t compete on fuel efficiency with the newer twin-engine wide-bodies from both manufacturers. Other international airlines have also been taking the 747 out of their fleets over the past several years, although a few – like Lufthansa and Korean Air – are using the newer 747-8, and British Airways has been overhauling its 747s to keep them flying for the years ahead.
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Thanks. I look now and then, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
I flew SFO-ORD last week (day before Thanksgiving) and got upgauged from a 777 to a 747. Always cool to get a complimentary upgrade into international-style business class on a domestic flight.
(And less cool to have the plane go mechanical, get to ORD 2 hours late, and miss my connection.)
Have had many a nice experience upstairs on the 747 starting with AA back in 1980 JFK-LAX, SA IAH-JNB, LH First Class IAH-FRA via CLT, and many a PA flight!
Not all airlines put a premium cabin in the bubble. I recall taking a SwissAir 747 in economy and was seated in the bubble.
Every now and then you’ll see one on SFO-ORD– but not lately See https://travelskills.com/2016/02/23/one-easy-last-chance-ride-united-747/
Any domestic 747 flights left, or is it pretty much international only at this point?
I fly United’s 747 SFO-FRA every December and always try to seat in row 13. Love it upstairs!
Time to start looking for award space so I can finally fly on the upper deck of a 747 before it goes away!
As much as I like the 777, 787 and the A350, you just can’t beat 4 engines. I always feel a little safer and more relaxed on a long-haul flight if I have four engines, which means the 747, the A-380 and (less so) the A-340.
The BAe-146 4-engined WhisperJets are fun too.
A shame, the greatest plane ever built.
Corrected. Thanks. Our source for this was a USA Today article
We’ve made corrections to this post. Thanks.
I think you misread the article. It reads the 772 seats 266 to 364 and the 744 seats 374. Happens to the best of us.
2018 was the target date that UA had planned to retire the 744’s anyways, so nothing new in this article.
” … as the airline relies on 777s and 787 Dreamliners to take over its long-distance routes.” Actually United’s main replacement for the 747 will be the A350 (and some 777-300ERs), but the 787 won’t really be replacing the 747 in any meaningful sense.
” … a passenger capacity of 266 to 364 for the variants of United’s remaining 747-400s.” Where did you get this? United has just a single configuration of the 747-400 now, with 374 seats.