Article from BTNews 20 NOVEMBER 2017
Farewell (almost) to the Queen
Airlines around the world are saying their farewells to the Boeing B747, the so-called Queen of the Skies and original “Jumbo jet”, as new fleets arrive to take its place.
EVA Air and Garuda Indonesia are among carriers which have already retired the aircraft. Delta Air Lines has scheduled the last flight of a B747-400 for 17 December and earlier this month United Airlines flew a B747 for the final time, recreating the first flight of the aircraft operated by the carrier in 1970 from San Francisco – Honolulu.
The farewell journey had more than 300 passengers, staff and guests on board and featured a 1970s-inspired menu, retro uniforms for flight attendants and inflight entertainment reminiscent of the first flight.
British Airways, currently the largest operator of the type, has said it will retire all 36 of its B747-400s by the end of 2024, with 24 leaving service between now and the end of 2022 to be replaced by a mix of Airbus A350s and B787 Dreamliners.
Delta’s B747 flights over the next two weeks will be the last to be flown by any US passenger airline.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum
paul kay, United Kingdom
I rushed out into the garden as a kid when we lived under Heathrow approach on a cloudy day in 1970 I think it was and the eerie massive shape as it was then classed was outlined just above the drizzly low cloud when Pan-Am N769PA lined up on the ILS and screamed over, its silhouette making us gasp open mouthed...what a leap for humanity in just over 50 years!!