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Boeing Quietly Pulls Plug on the 747, Closing Era of Jumbo Jets

Soumis
 
Boeing Co. hasn’t told employees, but the company is pulling the plug on its hulking 747 jumbo jet, ending a half-century run for the twin-aisle pioneer. (www.bloomberg.com) Plus d'info...

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wopri
Wolfgang Prigge 11
Did you see the legroom in the mock-up photo? Those were the days my friends....
PegLegGuy
Billy Gee 1
-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL-1MIX4Qso --
joannmcgovern
Joann McGovern 4
I'm sad to hear this. I was in the Boeing Field Flight Tower when they were first doing the touch and go's. I was working at Plant II. I'm thinking this was in 1968. It was such an amazing sight - the beginning of a new era of flying.
sgbelverta
sharon bias 4
Many 747's had cockpits with the air filtration system that was not connected to the rest of the plane. They also had their own food service area. That's why they were used so heavily to move folks around when Covid-19 first appeared. Do another large aircraft have this feature? If not, that might be a reason to keep these planes flying. Who knows were this pandemic is going to go.
fitzhoyt
fitzhoyt 4
I LOVE the 747's. I love flying on them and I love just watching them take off and land. Such a beautiful plane.... Sad..... I will miss them.
ewrcap
David Beattie 7
Wow! Top Secret. Nobody knows. Shhhhhh! What a silly headline.
lbhorton
Larry Horton 3
For years I wanted to fly on a 747 but never had the right flight. Finally caught one out of Frankfurt on Lufthansa headed to US. Airline gave me an upgrade to premium economy and it was a most enjoyable long flight. Glad I finally made it before they were pulled from passenger service.
CHBHA
CB HARDY 3
I flew home from Desert Storm on a World Airways 747. Abu Dhabi-Rome-Shannon, Ireland-New York-Tucson.
bentwing60
bentwing60 2
Thank You for your service!
jbsimms
James Simms 0
Flew back on a 747 also, but mine was on an ex-Flying Tigers 747, had a small FedEx sticker next to the door. Wish I’d taken the tail # down as well as the C-141 I flew over on.
MontanaGriz
J Fleharty 3
I hope the teams working on that assembly line will be okay. Nothing is certain for anyone at Boeing at present.
bobsnafu
Bob L 2
Boeing Co. hasn’t told employees, but the company is pulling the plug on its hulking 747 jumbo jet, ending a half-century run for the twin-aisle pioneer. LOL No need to now. Flight Aware made them privy to this 'secret'
ssobol
Stefan Sobol 3
Maybe they haven't told them yet because they still have two years of production left.
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling 0
Probably all freighters. The conversion companies will be making big money converting the many that will be freed up as carriers start abandoning them in increasing numbers.

And someone I read about, used a 747 for their home. Fuselage only, but that's got to be a lot of work, trying to keep it intact and corrosion under control. And the spiral stairs are a huge collectors item, being featured in many homes and boats/etc...
jbermo
jbermo 2
Not only the end of the B-747 but the end of all 4 engined airliners.
mbrews
mbrews 3
here is a telling comment, from the end of the referenced article : " Ultimately, Boeing’s decision on the 747 boiled down to resource allocation, said George Dimitroff, who leads valuations at aviation consultant Cirium. Could the assembly line floor space be better used on another airplane, such as the 767, which shares a bay in Boeing’s Everett, Washington, factory ? "

My personal take : such a move enables Everett to ramp production rate for 767-based USAF tankers, and a few 767 freighters for Fedex. Much less likely we'll ever see a 767 neo (re-engined) on that line, although I would personally welcome it.
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling 0
If they can figure out a way to do it, and screw over their unions, they will do it. They complain, many other businesses do to, complain about 'labor costs', and yet I'm sure the bloated management layer costs peanuts. I've watched companies I consulted with struggle under the incredible burden of bloated and horribly over compensated management and owners. With Boeing's change in management, I'm sure the costs have only gotten higher. Sad. Sick. Unsustainable.
AlanBDahl
Alan Dahl 3
Between my last 747 flight in 1997 and 2018 despite traveling overseas a fair amount I hadn't flown an another 747. But when I went to Greece two years ago I was able to fly on a Lufthansa 747-400 and I had forgotten just how much better and more comfortable the 747 was than the 777 even in coach. I really regret that its seen the end of its production but with the radical changes in aviation as of late and the even more radical changes coming in the next few years I guess there simply isn't a place for it. At least the Air Force One 747s will be flying far into the furture...
steerts
I remember one flight to HNL from DFW: My wife, 2 kids and I had first class to ourselves and Burt Bacerach. The bar upstairs had a basket of fruit on it plus enough booze for a regiment. I also flew jump seat on a couple of flights on that beautiful airplane. It was like no other and I will miss seeing it. God bless Boeing.
SkywardEyes
SkywardEyes 1
Was your HNL flight on BN or AA? Thanks for sharing.
tsengsoundersfc
Albert Tseng 1
Love the 747. Sad its going away. Hope Boeing will continue to build 747 F
JKMSEM
John Middaugh 1
Sad, that all good things must come to an end! What a Majestic aircraft. My first flight on a 747 was right after finishing Helicopter flight school in '71. I was astounded, that Boeing was able to build such an aircraft. Just the thought of how many Huey helicopters it could carry at one time, and the overall capability was astonishing. An era, that the flying public will never experience again.
bingobanner
Russ Brown 1
"Hulking"? Never: Queen of the Skies.
dlfehmel
Doug Fehmel 1
I flew the 747 dozens of times when I was living and working in West Germany/ BRD from 1980-1996. PAN AM/ TWA/ Lufthansa/ British Airways. I flew on a Combi Version from Frankfurt to San Francisco. Cool flying a 747 with just half the passengers on a conventional 747.
clkuehl
Craig Kuehl 1
Didn’t I read that in the NYT weeks ago? At any rate I flew an early 747 LHR to JFK in 1970.
watkinssusan
GOOD BYE BIG BEAUTIFUL BIRD! I have flown on a few and I remember being in sacramento at the airport once when PAN AM was training and the 747 was doing "touch and goes"..now that was something! I remember the 747 that carried the shuttle coming in to the houston airport once,and it is now parked for visitors to see at the Houston space center visitors center...
jbsimms
James Simms 1
Flew over to Korea on a Northwest 747 MAC Charter w/abt 450 other service personnel, dependents from STL to Osan AFB via OAK & Yokota AFB, 12 hours between OAK & Yokota. Flew back on a 747 from Kimpo to SeaTac. Most memorable was landing @ Kai Tak in a Thai International 747 looking into someone’s apartment as they watched TV.
bizprop
Roy Troughton 1
The 777-300ER freighter will likely be the replacement the 747-400F’s.
tsengsoundersfc
Albert Tseng 1
I'm pretty sure airlines will prefer 747-400F/8F since it can carry more cargo. Unless Boeing builds 777-9X F then 747 is truly over
damavab
Does anyone know how that is possible?
kptnsky
mikey mikey 3
open the door and load pallets? ;)
millibar100
Miguel Otero 1
Sad day, but haters are happy.
markfollmer
Mark Follmer 1
Wow, what a surprise!

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KicksOnRoute66
Roger Anderson 0
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