My understanding is that, in the '70s, the space in the upper deck (other than the cockpit) was often used as a lounge or bar.
20 years ago we flew Cathay Pacific biz class on the upper deck of a 747–our first biz class flight. It was pretty awesome–among other things a FA came to tell us that our bags were on the plane while we were still at the gate.
And MAN you can tell that was 1970 from the promo shots…
American Airlines had a piano bar up there (compact, electric, but still!).
I believe at the first major refit a lot of airlines had all that come out, and revenue seats go in.
I’d offer that years before, certainly before Airbus was as ubiquitous as now, flying wasn’t regarded as just some conveyance as it is now. Indeed it seems that other than among aviation enthusiasts, so few give a damn about what make/model of plane they’re flying on, if they even think of it at all.
One of my favorite YouTubers, Mentour Pilot has done some good videos about the 747’s history and legacy. (Don’t be put off by the thumbnail. It’s good.)
Not sure it’s been mentioned in this thread, but you can still fly in a 747 on an international flight from/to the US. For example, Lufthansa still has a daily 747 from San Francisco to Frankfurt.
Boeing lurves that name. Nobody else, not even airline marketing departments. calls it anything but “787” or sometimes “787 Dreamliner”. Kind of like back in the day marketers always called the 747 the “747 Jumbo Jet”. Nowadays just the “747”.
Heh. The Large Cargo Freight version of the 747-400 was christened the Dreamlifter because it was made to carry 787 parts. So yeah they really really like the name.
In my 40 years at Boeing, I only worked on a 747 once and that was a temporary hire to perform some wiring changes on one destined for a middle east airline. Within 10 minutes of getting the work done and sold to QA, I was laid off with 2 other guys. I was rehired a year later and stay another 34 years till I retired. I only flew on 747’s twice, once from Chicago to Seattle in 1975 after fog at SeaTac closed the airport for 4 days. The second time was from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand in 2013. That was the last customer flight for that plane, it was going to be converted to a freighter. The return flight to San Fran 18 days later was on a new 777.
Interesting.
My last 747 flights were Los Angeles - Auckland NZ & return on 747-400s. In 2009 on Air New Zealand. By then ANZ’s 747s were earmarked for eventual parking and one of the two was a bit ragged inside; the other’s interior was in much better shape. I made the same round trip once more in 2010 and it was 777s both ways. Though then in 2010 they still ran the 747s on some days of the week, I happened to miss them. Sounds like you caught one of the last of the Mohicans in 2013; they were all gone by the end of 2014.
The crews flew AKL-LAX, lay over 24h, LAX-LHR, lay over 24 hours, then return in reverse: LHR-LAX-AKL. 4 long flights separated by three 24-hour intervals off. And 17 hours of time change each way.
My first 747 ride was about 1971 on a TWA 747-100 JFK-LHR. I racked up a lot of time on their 747-100s and -200s.
Cool! My first 747 flight was in 1972 (I was five). It was also the first time I ever flew. It was Chicago to Los Angeles (I remember because we went to Disneyland).
I also remember screaming in terror as the plane rumbled down the runway. I can only imagine the horror of nearby passengers. But, as soon as the plane left the ground, I was in awe and stopped screaming. I was completely quiet the rest of the flight and either stared out the window or explored the plane (the stairs to the upper deck were really cool to me). Also, back then, I got to see the cockpit and “fly” the plane. Different times.
I will miss the 747. My favorite commercial passenger plane by far.
You can fly a 747 from LA, Atlanta, or Hawaii to Seoul on Korean Air or from SF, LA, Chicago, Dulles, Miami, or JFK to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. Not sure how much longer that will be true.
Flown on them a couple of times.
The best was my flight out of Germany in '88. I was rotating back stateside from my duty assignment in Germany and was initially packed into coach. But a flight attendant asked if I wouldn’t mind moving so a family could sit together. I didn’t mind.
She moved me up into the 1st class “hump,” seated me next to a Navy PO2. The next lowest ranked passenger was an O-6 Colonel, then it was nothing but Stars after that.
Last one, baby.
I know this thread has long since morphed from just passenger flights to all things 747 …
The last passenger one was delivered some time ago. This is the last one of any kind, and it’s a dedicated freighter going to Atlas Air Cargo. The only people who’ll ever fly in it are the pilots.
I toured the factory as a kid while they were building the very first of them, before any had been delivered. I’ll retire later this year, never having flown one as a crewmember. My career started well after the first deliveries and came to an end long before the last of them goes to the scrapyard.
Amazing machines both then and now. With even more amazing machines coming down the pike to replace them.
This has sort of become the superjumbo thread, so I’ll drop this here. I assume they’ve run the financial calculations for their business model, but I can’t see it working long term.
In the article the CEO is claiming he can make money with a 65% load factor. That suggests he’s grossly overcharging for what you’re getting. Or that an awful lot of expenses are being skipped. Some of which can be skipped for a year or three, but real quickly the rest of the expense tail attaches to your business and you either greatly increase prices or your profitability crashes.
There are lots of ways for an ambitious entrepreneur to make money for himself personally by designing, launching, then sinking a doomed Titanic of a business. This may be no more than that. But it will be entertaining to watch.
Thanks for the cite.
I’ve enjoyed my flights on the A380. (much more than i ever looked the 747. In fact, i was expecting to dislike the A380 based on my antipathy towards the 474.) I had no idea it had already gone out of fashion.
Hopefully that’s the only thing that crashes.
The 747 was such a beautiful plane. And an icon of glamorous, safe travel for Boeing. Let’s hope that Boeing can dig itself out of the unsafe, lying hole they put themselves into with 737-MAX.
My dream is to fly an A-380. Those things are MASSIVE!
