Now that United's 747s are gone, Delta has announced their plans for saying goodbye to the Queen of the Skies. They will be doing a farewell tour starting in Detroit then going to Seattle, Atlanta, and ending in Minneapolis on Dec 20th with a hangar party at each stop. Unfortunately these flights and events are not open to the public or I would be there when it comes to MSP. They are auctioning off a few seats on the flights, but bids are in SkyMiles and not cash. After the farewell tour, they will be using the 747s for some charter flights through Dec 31st.
http://news.delta.com/seven-things-know-about-delta-s-big-goodbye-iconic-747
Such a shame to see them go. My dad used to take me airplane watching all the time when I was growing up and I remember watching these 744s wearing the "Bowling Shoe" when they were brand spanking new.
Delta 747 Sendoff
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A real shame. An airplane that was once the symbol of American ingenuity flies into the sunset. Now if you want to fly on one, you need to look at British Airways, Lufthansa, Korean Air or Air China. Lufthansa has 747-8's in service, and I reckon KA does too, but BA still has 747-436's in service. Not quite sure about Air China's fleet. I'm a frequent flyer with KLM, and they still have some of their 747-406's in service but they will be retired at some point in favor of twin engined 777's or 787's. Give me a four engined jumbo any day of the week, but their future looks bleak. The A380 suffers the same fate, and unlike the 747, the A380 does not have a cargo version.
Features of the BIG PICTURE
Newer ships are simply more fuel efficient; yes or no?
Four engine crafts bowing to two engine crafts might be "aircraft decontenting".
Older fleets of any craft will have upwardly moving maintenance costs; yes or no?
Routes have been changing. Newer, bigger planes service the big, populated runs and other, smaller legs need smaller planes.
I happened to catch a 747 from St Louis to Chicago (O'Hare) once while I was in college, seemed strange to me at the time but I knew it was just a small leg of a much longer route. Pretty impressive to be inside something that size that could get off the ground.
I think I was on another one years later flying to Germany and was too busy stressing out about the business trip to notice it much.
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