Boeing's 747-400, a Faded Queen of the Skies

[marmar]

(BloombergBusinessweek) Back in the late ’80s, global airlines scrambled to place orders for Boeing’s (BA) 747-400 widebody, then the industry’s most coveted aircraft for its sheer size, high-tech cockpit, and creature comforts. Now, ten-year-old passenger 747-400s are worth a record-low $36 million, about 10 percent less than similarly aged planes last year, according to London-based aviation consultancy Ascend, as carriers seek more fuel-efficient models. There’s even little interest in converting the passenger jets into air freighters because of a slump in air cargo demand.

Some 48 of the humpbacked passenger 747-400s worldwide have also been placed in storage, according to Ascend. The onetime “Queen of the Skies” has been shunned in favor of Boeing’s smaller 777 widebody (which has two fewer engines sucking fuel) or Airbus’s mammoth A380 double-decker. “There’s not a lot of demand for the 747,” says Paul Sheridan, Ascend’s head of consultancy Asia. “They’re mostly being broken up for parts.”

The decline in prices contributed to Singapore Airlines (SIA2) having a surprise loss in the quarter ended March after the sale of the carrier’s last 747-400 brought in less than it expected. Japan Airlines has stopped using the planes, and operators including Cathay Pacific Airways, Korean Air Lines, and Malaysian Airline System (MAS) are following suit to help counter jet fuel prices that have jumped about 30 percent in two years. “When oil prices are high,” explains Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer John Slosar, “the last thing you want to do is hold on to your older planes.”

The Hong Kong-based airline said last month that it’s speeding up the retirement of its 21 passenger 747-400s. The carrier will shed nine through early 2014 as it adds more 777-300ERs for long-haul flights. Cathay is also retiring three 400-series freighters this year due to the arrival of new 747-8 cargo planes that are slightly larger and more fuel-efficient. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-21/boeings-747-400-a-faded-queen-of-the-skies

[TlalocW]

1. Maybe I shouldn't say this

But when I saw Faded Queen, I thought of Nathan Lane's character in, "The Birdcage."

TlalocW

[Woody Woodpecker]

4. Got the reference.

Thanks for the laughs.

[liberal N proud]

2. Still one of the most graceful plane in the sky

Love to watch them coming for landing, there is always a point where they look like they are standing still.

Not a bad plan to fly on either.

[Woody Woodpecker]

3. The A350's, the A380's , the Boeing Triple 7's, the new Dreamliner, and the 747-8

are a major upgrade from the huge hog they call the 744.

[Capt.Rocky300]

6. Those of us...

in the industry prefer to call it "The Whale" and "The 400". Don't know where you got the hog and 744 from. I've never heard either of those terms applied to it.

[Confusious]

19. Fuel hog?

google Wild hog -> wild boar, has a hump like a 747?

[Blue_Tires]

17. True, but that's almost the same as boasting

how much better my 2010 Corvette is over my modified 1991...

[DCBob]

5. Its still my favorite plane.

I will miss it.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. Same here...

I wish I had the money to hop a ride on one before they go away forever.

[pansypoo53219]

21. in 4/03 i took a return flight from denmark. the amsterdam to NYC on one.

window seat, just in front of the engine. man it was not quiet.

[Bad_Ronald]

7. I remember when I was a lad, there was a travel agency....

...in my neighborhood that had an ultra-detailed & realistic 747 model in their window. I used to marvel at it each time I passed their window. The 747 was/is a truly remarkable & beautiful aircraft, not to mention being an incredibly innovative feat of engineering that changed the way people traveled. It'll be sad when they're no longer gracing our skies.

[Taverner]

8. We need to find a better way to travel cheaply and quickly...

...than pressurized tubes...

[RC]

9. Transporters are still a dream.

Got any ideas on how to get to Hawaii, or Europe or Asia as quickly as flying in pressurized tubes?

[Taverner]

22. Yes. SeaTrains.

[Initech]

18. I heard about a company that was testing Futurama-style vacuum tubes the other day.

Although you're still traveling in a pressurized tube...

[FarCenter]

10. The first 747s went into service in 1970.

The bubble on the top was a first class lounge accessed via the spiral stairway.

In economy they had another lounge with a bar service.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. Even in its heyday the 747 needed to carry belly cargo to be economical

With less passenger and cargo demand the number of routes it is practical on drops off dramatically. Although it will probably bounce back as oil prices fall.

[Blue_Tires]

14. That one engineering aspect is what gave the 747 classics a long life to begin with

At the time, the designers thought the future of travel was going to all be supersonic, so they wanted to make sure the 747-100 had a useful "second" service life as a freighter...

[FarCenter]

13. Field Guide To Aircraft Boneyards

http://www.johnweeks.com/boneyard/

[Blue_Tires]

15. I don't get the writer's point...

He's shocked that airliners are retiring fifteen-plus-year-old 744's with long service lives before their major C/D checks?? Most of them have the 747-8 already on order, anyway...

[marmar]

16. Hardly anyone has ordered the 747-8. Lufthansa is pretty much the only major airline.....

..... that's ordered the passenger version.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Right...I was getting it mixed up with the 747-8 freighter

Although I did see that Turkish may decide to order soon...

[krispos42]

23. How about simply moderizing the engines?

Seems a waste to scrap a plane when you can update the engines with the latest from Pratt&Whitney, GE, or Rolls-Royce.

[Blue_Tires]

24. it's still not going to help you escape the C/D check

which is too expensive, and keeps the aircraft out of revenue service for a long while...

Airlines just don't want to take that financial hit, especially if they can get a sweet deal on something newer from Boeing...

[cbrer]

25. Represents American Industry and Ingenuity.

And the airline Lufthansa is just beginning to put their new fleet of 747s in service. What a beautiful plane.

Boeing also has one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world.

[marmar]

26. The 747-8 is beautiful, but it seems to be a commercial flop so far.

nt

[cbrer]

27. Lots of competition

And aerodynamic improvements, even among Boeing products. Not to mention newer, lighter airframes, and shrunken avionics packages. Hell, even fiber optics have saved at least a few hundred pounds.

I just flew coach on a triple 7 from Dulles to Dubai, and it was more comfortable than a 747-400. And pretty quiet.