paulry

Today signals the end of an era....

https://australianfrequentflyer.com....a.99745/page-4

https://www.airlineratings.com/news/...bute-49-years/

Beoz

RIP the 747. I dare say they will be doing the same for the A380 before long.

Some interesting info on the final flights here. https://simpleflying.com/qantas-first-747-farewell/

Talking about old aircraft, there is a Qantas 767 freight plane that does continual return trips to Auckland. I believe (and I could be wrong) this was the first wide body, 2 engine jet to do mass commercial. What strikes me about this jet is the noise, its just loud. It takes off about 10:30pm every night and you can hear it all over eastern Sydney.

Amazulu

I see that BA and Virgin Atlantic have also prematurely retired theirs too. Lufthansa, Korean and Air China operate the nearly new 747-8I (which is the same vintage as the A380) and other airlines still operate the 747-400, so they'll be about for a few more years yet

Amazulu

Emirates are still taking delivery of new A380s and it works for them as they have so many (economies of scale) whereas other airlines that operate <20 cannot make it profitable in many circumstances.

Correct about the B767 (along with the Airbus A300/310)

abner

Meh, during the years when I was a road warrior (or as my VP put it "your job is on a plane, the question is where you spend your weekends"), neither business nor first (where points permitted) on a 747 tended to have the best available seating or entertainment, compared to newer planes, particularly on US-based airlines, which is what I was mostly stuck with for corporate reasons. UA in particular really dragged the chain over Oz - US long-haul routes.

Beoz

I hope the A380 stays on. Its a majestic beast.

Looks like BA are retiring their 747's too.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/0...ing-747-fleet/

PS - it was already mentioned

Amazulu

Err, okay

paulry

I reckon 747s will still be around for a bit, but under the current circumstances these big workhorses wont be used much for mass passenger travel. Once we've got past these CCP virus days, I predict they'll gradually fade away like the old and much loved DC3s (the Daks).

quoll

Funny, I can remember the first one coming into service and seeing it fly over London into Heathrow - I missed the last Qantas one flying out of Canberra the other day. There are probably a few 707s and VC10s still knocking around the world somewhere so I imagine the 747 might still be around for cargo flights in the future. Wonder if there are still any Goonie Birds (DC3) flying up in PNG, they were there for a long time after the rest of the world got rid of them.

paulry

I'm sure the DC3s have gone a long time ago. They had an amazing long life going back to the 1930s. My Dad once told me a story about a friend of his who emigrated many years ago from the UK to Australia on one of those. They sold their house, bought the plane and packed all their household contents into a DC3 and off they went. It must have taken them ages to get here with very many stops.

The oldest bird that I am aware Qantas still uses is the De Havilland turboprop Dash 8. I've flown a couple of trips to Brisbane on them.

Amazulu

There's one or two 707s still flying (and the USAF tanker version, the KC-135 is still going strong and will be for many more years) but no VC-10s - the RAF retired their last tanker VC-10s a few years ago. There are plenty of DC-3s (C-47s) still flying - it's a tough old bird!

tomar

I was a stewardess on the DC 3 in Zambia in the 1960’s. I had some interesting times, carried plenty of livestock as well as passengers. Landed mostly on grass strips, went ‘tec’ on one occasion and the flt deck and I went for a lunch which we knew was on with several expats,as the artist David Shepherd was in the area. the aircraft was amazingly ok on our return. Couldn’t get away with that now!! There were other occasions that we did fly back on a wing and a prayer. Flew over so many wonderful herds of elephants and other wild animals that were plentiful then.
Never flew on a 747, but have been on many others including Concord which was a flight to remember.

tomar

I was a stewardess on the DC 3 in Zambia in the 1960’s. I had some interesting times, carried plenty of livestock as well as passengers. Landed mostly on grass strips, went ‘tec’ on one occasion and the flt deck and I went for a lunch which we knew was on with several expats,as the artist David Shepherd was in the area. the aircraft was amazingly ok on our return. Couldn’t get away with that now!! There were other occasions that we did fly back on a wing and a prayer. Flew over so many wonderful herds of elephants and other wild animals that were plentiful then.
Never flew on a 747, but have been on many others including Concord which was a flight to remember.

quoll

They do say that when your DC3 comes to the end of its days you need a new DC3! They were just being phased out by the Fokker Friendships up in PNG when I lived there but have been on them several times up into the Highlands. Saw one not too long ago as we lived very close to Duxford in Cambridge and their air shows were legendary with old planes going over on their displays for the shows. I recognised it straight away.

scot47

Is the symbolic of the end of mass air travel ?