Report: Boeing to Close Historic Jet Production Line
-
Boeing plans to shutdown production of the Boeing 747 in about two years, according to Bloomberg. Above: A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-200 model aircraft photographed after it was recently delivered to the Australian airline.
Less
Boeing plans to shutdown production of the Boeing 747 in about two years, according to Bloomberg. Above: A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-200 model aircraft photographed after being recently delivered to the Australian
… plus
Photo: Qantas
Boeing plans to shutdown production of the Boeing 747 in about two years, according to Bloomberg. Above: A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-200 model aircraft photographed after it was recently delivered to the Australian airline.
Less
Boeing plans to shutdown production of the Boeing 747 in about two years, according to Bloomberg. Above: A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-200 model aircraft photographed after being recently delivered to the Australian
… plus
Photo: Qantas
In recent years, airlines have celebrated their “final” Boeing 747 flights with a litany of nostalgic goodbyes by the elegant and ancient “Queen of Heaven”. But now, a more final end is only two years away, when Boeing is ready to stop production of the latest version of the jumbo jet, the 747-8.
That’s according to a Bloomberg report, which says that even though Boeing has not officially announced the end of production for 747, it was able to decipher the decision from recent financial statements. The last order for a passenger version of the Boeing 747 was three years ago, in 2017, by the US Army for two planes to serve as Air Force One. Since then, Boeing has only sold the plane as a freighter. , and built only six of them per year.
It is a sad day for aviation enthusiasts to see the end of an era that began in 1970, when the great four-engine tops made their debut. These days, airlines are more interested in buying smaller, lighter and more efficient twin-engine aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.
At SFO, the most recent shipment of the 747 was by Qantas, which in December sent its 747-400 back to Sydney. It was not just the last 747 flight from SFO, but the final Qantas 747 flight from the United States. (Read more about that flight here.) Qantas switched to the sleeker, smaller Boeing 787 Dreamliner for its SFO-Sydney flights, which are currently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Qantas recently announced that it would withdraw all of the remaining 747s from its fleet this month.
Don’t miss a single bit of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE Weekly Email Alerts.
Prior to that, United hosted a major event for its last Boeing 747 flight in November 2017 – a special trip from San Francisco to Honolulu. The airline threw a huge party at the airport and on the plane, and when it landed in Honolulu, airport officials covered it with a giant floral lei. (Read about it here.)
United spent nearly a year saying goodbye to 747 throughout 2017, with several “final” flights to its various hubs and an appearance at San Francisco Fleet Week celebrations in the fall.
The end of an era. Our beloved # B747 takes center stage in her latest #FleetWeekSF 👑 #QueenOfTheSkies # UA747Farewell #Avgeek pic.twitter.com/kANzS5x2QV
– United Airlines (@united) October 8, 2017
One of my 747 favorite stories happened just before that, when the old Queen came to the rescue in the same year that United retired her. Remember the torrential storms that swept the West Coast in early 2017, shutting off most of the air traffic along the coast and leaving travelers isolated? United pulled one of its jumbos from Japan service and used it in some SFO-LAX runs to break the backlog and get people home. (Read more about that flight here.) Imagine the surprise (and relief) of passengers waiting to fly home in a 737 or A320, and discover they would fly in a 747!
Delta retired its B747 in December 2017 with a final flight between Detroit and Seoul. Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand stopped flying their 747s to San Francisco in 2014. And before that, EVA Air’s 747s flew in 2012. More recently, only Air China regularly flies a Boeing 747-8 between SFO and Beijing. British Airways, Lufthansa and Korean Air have also occasionally flown 747s to the OFS, but not recently due to the pandemic.
Read all recent TravelSkills posts here
Chris McGinnis is SFGATE’s senior travel correspondent. You can reach him by email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don’t miss a shred of important travel news by subscribing to their FREE weekly email updates!
SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means that we may receive paid commissions for editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retail sites.
