Was in all that soup in the Southern Plains
yesterday (TX and OK). Really ugly flying.

On the way to the airport, I heard that the
very last commercial flight of the 747 took
place. I think it was an oriental flight.
Didn't get time to confirm story.

Nothing left but box haulers and *really*
expensive private charters? I looked in here
and didn't see a mention. Grand old girls.

In article >, Jess Lurkin says...
>
>
>
>Was in all that soup in the Southern Plains
>yesterday (TX and OK). Really ugly flying.
>
>On the way to the airport, I heard that the
>very last commercial flight of the 747 took
>place. I think it was an oriental flight.
>Didn't get time to confirm story.
>
>Nothing left but box haulers and *really*
>expensive private charters? I looked in here
>and didn't see a mention. Grand old girls.

The thing is Boeing is still building them.

I read the article about it on Sunday...here:

https://jalopnik.com/the-boeing-747-jumbo-jet-takes-its-final-u-s-commercia-1821365922

The Boeing 747 'Jumbo Jet' Takes Its Final U.S. Commercial Flight This Week

....Boeing’s 747 is perhaps the most iconic commercial airplane of all time.
Introduced half a century ago in 1968, it was a technological marvel and a
dependable workhorse. Through that time, they’ve built more than 1,500 of these
winged beasts. Production has recently dropped way off, and Boeing’s customers
have stopped buying them. As such, Delta Air Lines will retire its last
remaining 747 this Tuesday following its last Seoul-to-Detroit route.

This marks the last time the 747 will be used on a commercial flight with an
American carrier, according to news reports.

----> Boeing says it will still continue building 747s as freight carriers for
certain clients who still need the four-engine behemoth. Additionally,
specially-outfitted 747s have been in use as Air Force One since 1990, and
there’s no sign of that changing. From the AFP:

Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s vice president of marketing, said in June, “Frankly we
really don’t see much demand for really big airplanes. There will be just a
handful moving forward. Things we do for VIPs, things we do for the president,
military operations, but we don’t see a significant demand for passenger 747s.”

As airlines and air freight companies increasingly move to smaller, twin-engine
aircraft in order to save on fuel, demand for 747s has certainly waned. At its
peak in 1990, Boeing produced 122 of these huge planes. Recently, however,
overall air cargo business has been slowing down, and there’s less demand for
such a large plane.

The original 747 was the key to jumpstarting affordable mass market air travel
in the US. The 747 “made flying available for everyone,” said Boeing’s chief
company historian, Michael Lombardi.





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