Boeing confirms last 747 to roll off production line in 2022 Boeing has confirmed that production of its 747 aircraft will end in 2022. The company on Tuesday announced that the last four 747s will all be sold to freight operator Atlas Air Worldwide. The 747 revolutionised aviation in the 1970s by hauling more people, at lower cost, than had previously been possible. By making …
That's a military plane.
Since UPS and FedEx generally convert old passenger planes, there's no reason to use anything but passenger seats or crew jump seats since they've already got them and they're already FAA approved, and the FAA doesn't really have much to do with military planes so their seats... aren't.
I understand FedEx leaves the 1st class seats installed in their 747 upper decks.
And the Antinov AN-124 wasn't? It was designed as a strategic airlift plane for the glory of USSR. It just so happens to be useful to the Capitalist pig dogs of the decadent West! * starts ranting incoherently about how much better things were when you had real queues outside the shops and empty shelves before chugging another bottle of vodka *
Tramp icon, natch.
So much for how the Soviet Union treated their soldiers.
Having spent time in a couple of military transports, I can confirm that the C130 is pretty much the same. Does the AN124 have a "passenger" toilet? The Hercules does not.
Also had a flight across the Atlantic in a KC135. Same type of seats but it had a really neat window in the floor!
It will be decades before the last 747 makes a final approach and landing, but that date is definitely moving closer.
While I am glad that newer designs are more economically and environmentally sound, I must admit the 747 is one hell of an engineering feat.
Plus, it looks absolutely stunning.
I will miss long flights between Frankfurt to Washington, drinking whatever beer Lufthansa has on offer.
Agreed.
I remember being in First Class on business between London and Forth Worth, where it was even snug enough for me to be prepared to watch the initial runs of Babe (the Babe Ruth movie) and The Bodyguard (please don't hate me). Beer and wine has much to answer for, both in solving and creating all life's problems.
Slightly less impressed on a BA flight part of a return from another business trip to Karachi, as I was near the toilet, and some guy had picked something up and kept going to be (loudly) sick! Took the edge off the smoked salmon, somehow.
The Jumbo was a beauty of a plane, though.
I hear what you are saying - flew a BA 747 London-Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta (over the Himalaya’s) and also Air NZ London-Hawaii/Fiji/Tahiti (amusing the huge plane at the shed Airport at the Cook Islands as a stop on way back).... but TBH past the glassy-eyed-ness the Airbus A350XWB and Boeing 787 are far-far jollier places in cattle class thankfully these days.
Not many of them still in passenger service. No US airline flies them, Qantas has got rid of the 747, and even BA - the biggest recent user - has sent them off to the boneyard or breakers. Lufthansa and Korean are your best bet for a Jumbo flight these days as they both bought the 747-8 Intercontinental in relatively large numbers.
Worth a look at this documentary on the development of the 747, which was a skunkworks job while Boeing's board was entranced by the SST project.
Best bit for me is the way they bounced Pratt and Whitney's CEO into Doing Something about the slight problem of exploding engines.
While 137.7 metric tonnes is impressive for an aircraft, you'll still see several times as much on display at a typical truck stop, never mind the miles long trains that chug across the USA and Canada. Aircraft are good for high value freight that has to get there quickly.
Have flown many 747s from SFO, LAX and SEA to LHR, AMS & CDG and will miss the slightly shorter journey times as 747s fly about 80 knots faster than 777s and 787s.
Only flew once in first class, on a Singapore 747-400(?) from Mumbai to LHR back in 1991. Great airline, plane, and exceptional service from the cabin crew - a true memory to savor for many years.
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