The Delta 747 Experience as seen from the road near Delta HQ (Chris McGinnis)
This week Delta opened a fantastic new exhibit near runways at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The new “747 Experience” at the Delta Museum features a retired Delta/Northwest Boeing 747 (Ship 6301) that’s been spiffed up, hollowed out, peeled back and lovingly restored for up-close-and-personal interaction with the public.
This year Delta and United will retire their 747 fleets. So if you’ve ever flown on this graceful bird and would like to see it again, or if you’ve never been on one and always wondered what it’s like, here’s your chance!
Delta flew TravelSkills to Atlanta for the grand opening and a look-see before the crowds arrive– here’s what we saw!
Chris (seated on stairs to “the bubble”) was one of the first to take a scramble through the new 747 exhibit at the Delta Museum in Atlanta
The ‘747 Experience’ provides a look into the history and magic of the iconic Queen of the Skies, which Delta will retire from its fleet by the end of 2017. (No details of final flights have been revealed yet. Currently Delta’s 747s fly from Detroit and Honolulu to Asia.)
For those United loyalists who want to book a seat on the airline’s last 747 flights, the carrier has set the schedule for the plane’s retirement later this year. All the affected routes are out of San Francisco. The last 747-400 departure from SFO will be a flight to Seoul on October 28, returning October 29.
TIP: Delta’s closer ties to Korean Air means that you’ll still be able to fly on a 747 using your Delta SkyMiles, but you’ll be flying on one of Korean’s new 747-8 birds- what a treat!
The end of the 747 era will usher in the beginning of the Airbus A350 era for Delta— the first new 306-passenger widebodies arrive this summer and should be on proving runs by the fall. Delta has 25 A350s on order, and should get the first five by the end of this year. The new planes will be used primarily on Delta’s transpacific routes.
General admission to the Delta Museum (including the 747 Experience) is $15 for adults, $12.50 for seniors (65 years or older), $10 for children under 18 and free for children under 5. The exhibit is open noon – 4 p.m. on Thursday – Tuesday. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.deltamuseum.org.
Let’s take a look- and be sure to read the captions!
Two permanent staircases and and elevator provide access to the big bird (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Rear staircase to enter and exit ship 6301 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
You’ve got to get up under one of these ships to realize its enormity (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Part of the 747 experience is crawling around and under the plane, touching the landing gear and peering up inside the underbelly (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
I walked up the rear staircase, walked in and saw the entire aft economy class section cleared of seats, with a glass floor and open ceiling for a full view. Very cool! Amazing how much space there is without the seats. Delta plans to rent this space for private events like weddings or meetings. Great idea! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
In the renovated area, the exhibit gives visitors a unique look behind the scenes. An exposed ceiling and glass floor reveal the insulation, wires, air conditioning ducts and more that are essential for the operation of a commercial airliner. The walls are lined with historic achievements in aviation, specific 747 graphics and statistics and a video screen capable of projecting various multimedia displays.
Delta flight attendants stationed at the event in vintage uniforms from the 1970s (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Did you know that there are two staircases on the 747? The one in the back goes to the crew rest area. Regrettably, you can only look at the rest area thru a plexiglass pane, but you can climb the tight staircase (Chris McGinnis)
Glass floor allows views into the guts of the plane (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
On one side of the plane you can walk out on the wing for a fantastic, unique view of the 747’s beautiful curves (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Unusually up-close exterior views from the wing walk (Chris McGinnis)
It’s important to point out that this 747 first belonged to Northwest Airlines, which merged with Delta. These are vintage Northwest uniforms from that era– the red one designed by Yves St Laurent (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Vintage pilot and maintenance uniforms from the 1970s. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Up inside the bubble, Delta has removed the rear galley and replaced the wall with glass so you can look down into the main deck. So cool! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Looking forward in the bubble, Delta has preserved the Delta One cabin (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Visitors can enter the cockpit, and peer at the seats and controls through plexiglass (Chris McGinnis)
Looking back from the cockpit, you can look into the pilot crew rest area (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
A Delta Red Coat from back in the day. Remember those coats? (Chris McGinnis)
! An unusual view of the nose of this beautiful aircraft from the fore entry/staircase- click for Instagram! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Delta says that Ship 6301 logged more than 61 million miles, enough to make 250 trips from the Earth to the moon, between its first flight with Northwest Airlines December 1989 and its last with Delta in September 2015.
Did you ever get a chance to ride on a Delta or Northwest 747? What do you think of its impending retirement? Please leave your comments below!
–Chris McGinnis
Disclosure: Delta provided TravelSkills with an economy class ticket between San Francisco and Atlanta to attend this event.
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