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United, Delta 747 schedule: final flights

January 24, 2017

A United 747-400. (Image: United)

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. According to Routesonline.com, the last 747-400 departure from SFO will be a flight to Seoul on October 28, returning October 29.

The schedule for other 747 retirement flights includes San Francisco-Beijing, SFO-Frankfurt, SFO-Taipei and SFO-Tokyo Narita, all set for October 28; a seasonal SFO-London flight through October 27; and SFO-Shanghai service through October 5.

Except for a 787-9 going onto the Shanghai route, the United 747s will be replaced by 777-200ERs. Routesonline notes that the schedule is subject to change.

Like many other airlines, Delta is starting to get rid of these graceful, gas guzzling old birds. (Photo: Delta)

Delta is also due to phase out its 747s this year. (Photo: Delta)

For nostalgia buffs, the website also posted a “flashback” to United’s January 1979 timetable, showing that the big plane was used on a number of domestic routes at the time. It flew from San Francisco to Honolulu, Newark (via Chicago), and New York JFK; from LAX to JFK, Honolulu and Denver; and from Chicago O’Hare to LAX, JFK, Toronto, Honolulu, Detroit and Denver.

Delta Air Lines is also due to take its remaining 747s out of service later this year, but has not yet issued a schedule, other than saying it will happen in the fourth quarter. For a final ride on a Delta 747, you can fly from Detroit to Tokyo or Seoul. And from Honolulu, Delta is still running the big bird nonstop to Kansai (KIX) near Osaka, Japan.

Korean Air 747-8 (Photo: Korean Air)

United and Delta are the last U.S. airlines to fly 747s. But the iconic wide-body will still be available from other carriers. British Airways, for instance, recently overhauled the interiors of its 747-400 fleet, and Lufthansa and Korean Air are flying the newer version of the aircraft, the 747-8. Air China flies a 747-8 between SFO and Beijing.

Chris flew on a Qantas 747-400 last year between SFO and Sydney- check out his Trip Report here.

How do you feel about the retirement of this grand old bird? Please leave your comments below.

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United to kick out The Queen earlier than expected

January 11, 2017

The life of United's remaining 747s just got shortened. (Image: United)

The lifespan of United’s remaining 747s just got shortened. (Image: United)

If you’ve been hoping to book a final flight on a United 747 before the iconic jumbo jet is retired, you better start exploring your options before The Queen gets the boot.

Last year, United said it had set a target date of October 2018 to eliminate the remaining 747s from its fleet. But now that date has been moved up.

United President Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees this week that the company expects the final 747 flight to take place in the fourth quarter of 2017.

And the reason United is eager to remove the aging planes is largely economic. The 747 “once represented the state-of-the-art in air travel,” Kirby said. “Today, there are more fuel-efficient, cost-effective and reliable widebody aircraft that provide an updated inflight experience for our customers traveling on long-haul flights.”

Like United, Delta is starting to get rid of these graceful, gas guzzling old birds. (Photo: Delta)

United has been flying 747s since 1970. It is replacing its 747s with 777s and 787 Dreamliners on long-haul routes.

The earlier retirement of the planes will put United on a schedule similar to Delta’s, the only other U.S. carrier that still flies 747s. Delta also plans to get rid of its remaining 747s by the end of this year, replacing them with long-haul Airbus models including the A330 and the new A350.

It will be interesting to see whether Delta or United throws a better send off celebration. In today’s announcement, Kirby said, “we’ll honor the 747 with an unforgettable retirement celebration — we’ll keep you posted with more details on her final flight in the months ahead.”

We’ll be watching on that bittersweet day.

A fond farewell to Cathay’s Queen of the Skies at SFO in 2014 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

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United packs ’em in: 10 abreast on 777s; more 737s

March 9, 2016

United boosted its orders for new Boeing 737s for a total of 65. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

As United Airlines puts more 787 Dreamliners onto international long-haul routes, it will remove 777s from some of those markets and reconfigure them with higher-density seating for domestic flights, according to USA Today.

The newspaper said United confirmed that the plan calls for 19 of its 777-200s to get an extra 20 seats, including nine planes that are already used domestically — mostly to Hawaii — and 10 coming off international service. By switching from nine-across, 2-5-2 seating in economy to 10-across in a 3-4-3 layout, the reconfiguration will boost the planes’ total seat count to 364, with 336 in coach and 28 in business class. Those extra dreaded middle seats will be 17 inches wide versus the current 18-inch width.

United's current domestic 777-200 configured 2-5-2 in economy (Image: United)

United’s current domestic 777-200 configured 2-5-2 in economy is used primarily for Hawaii flights (Image: United)

Other than Hawaii, the report didn’t indicate where the higher-density 777s might be used. It noted that American Airlines also has some 777s with 10-across seating, and so do some foreign airlines (such as Emirates); it also said that about half of the 777s Boeing delivered last year had 10-across economy seating. The work is expected to take a little over a year, and will also involve the installation of in-seat power ports and Wi-Fi for streaming entertainment. New business class seats will recline to a fully flat position. The new economy seats will also get mobile device holders for both tablets and phones, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, United this week also announced plans to buy another 25 new 737-700s for delivery starting at the end of next year, in addition to the 40 it has already ordered. The company said the orders will help it move its fleet toward “larger, more efficient aircraft” as it continues to phase out 50-seat regional jets. “United expects to have fewer than 100 aircraft in its 50-seat fleet by the end of 2019,” a spokesman said.

The new 737-700s will feature larger overhead bins and the new “Boeing Sky” interiors with sculpted sidewall panels and LED cabin lighting with soothing colors.

Finally, United said it will move up the delivery dates for some additional widebodies – four 777-300ERs and five 787-9s – to start in 2017, in order to speed up the retirement of all remaining 747s from its fleet. Those 747s should all be gone by the end of 2018, United confirmed this week.

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