The skies of the world are quickly becoming a different place than they were just a couple of decades ago. Until recently, the “Queen of the Skies” was the Boeing 747, which was the first and one of the greatest jumbo jets capable of ferrying several hundred people to a single destination in one flight. Now, passenger B747 numbers are dwindling, with zero examples in operation in regular service in America. But, there are still a handful of passenger Boeing 747s left in America, and they’re flying charter service for the last airline you’d expect.
December 6, 2022, was a bittersweet day for aviation enthusiasts. That was the day when Boeing rolled the very last B747 out of its iconic production line in Everett, Washington. This last example of a worldwide icon was a Boeing 747-8 Freighter, registration N863GT. It went into service at Atlas Air soon after, where it’ll enjoy a career of hauling cargo for hopefully decades.
It’s been even longer since the last time there was a Boeing 747 operating scheduled revenue passenger service for a U.S. airline. Delta Air Lines was the final holdout keeping the Queen in the sky, and even though it flew its last Boeing 747 passenger flight on December 19, 2017. That flight saw an example of the majestic jet make one last run from Seoul to Detroit.
Delta then flew its last 747, registration N674US, on a farewell tour, where the jet got to visit the factory that built it 18 years prior. Then, the party was over before 2017 even ended. As the Seattle Times reported back then, Boeing 747 No. 6314 pushed back from a gate at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport one last time. Around four hours later, the aircraft reached its resting place, the Pinal Airpark in Arizona. Since then, the aircraft has been butchered up for parts, but the airframe is still mostly there as of October 2025.
The Boeing 747 once represented the pinnacle of aviation engineering, the wonder of flight, and helped usher in the era of affordable air travel that we have today. Now, planes like the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380 represent how airlines used to run their businesses. While some international carriers still fly the type, the ol’ Queen is living on borrowed time. Yet, the draw and the wonder of the 747 haven’t really gone all of these years later. I still get excited every time I see one, and I don’t care that it’s a freighter.
While you aren’t going to board a B747 on your next Delta or United flight, it is technically still possible that you could be lucky enough to fly aboard a 747 flown by an American airline. According to Simply Flying, Atlas Air, which is best known for its cargo services, is the last American airline maintaining a small fleet of Boeing 747-400s with passenger cabins for charter use.
Why The Boeing 747 Was The Queen
There’s a reason why the Boeing 747 is still mesmerizing some 58 years after the very first was built. The B747 changed the world of aviation, and that’s no hyperbole.
The Boeing 747 story started with the hit that came before, the Boeing 707. First flown in 1957, the legendary 707 wasn’t the first commercial jet, but it was one of the most successful. It was one of the jets that reshaped air travel and ushered in the Jet Age, which influenced pop culture and even car design.
The 707’s launch customer, Pan American World Airways, worked closely with Boeing on the aircraft’s development. The 707 was such a massive success that, soon enough, airlines expanded to the point where they felt they needed something bigger. In the eyes of Pan Am CEO Juan Trippe, he could lower fares on a per-seat basis if he could just fit more people into a single plane. Further, he believed that if there were fewer huge planes rather than lots of smaller ones, the big planes could ease airport congestion. Boeing had a similar idea during the conceptual stages of the 747.
There was another event that would thrust the jumbo jet from being just a concept to reality. In 1961, the United States Air Force began looking into a replacement for the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster. This proposed aircraft, the Cargo Experimental-Heavy Logistics System (CX-HLS), needed a fuselage large enough to carry the military’s largest cranes, missiles, radars, and other equipment. The CX-HLS would have cargo doors in the front and rear to allow for quick loading and unloading. Then there were the performance requirements. Fully loaded, the CX-HLS would weigh 600,000 pounds (around twice that of a Boeing 707), have the range to carry a 100,000-pound load 6,000 nautical miles, and be rugged enough to permit landing on rough fields.
Boeing, Convair, Douglas, General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Martin Marietta all submitted bids on the project. Ultimately, Lockheed won the bid.
Boeing adapted the military heavy transport development into a project to build the aircraft that Juan Trippe was dreaming about. Not everything from the military project made it over, but the parts that did, namely the distinctive flight deck pod above the rest of the fuselage, did make it over to the B747 project. The engines that were being developed for the military transport, four 43,000-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney JT9D-3 turbofans, also made it over.
Here’s what I wrote in my retrospective in 2022:
Just like with the 707, Pan American’s Juan Trippe had some say in the 747’s development. Targeting those aforementioned lower fares, Trippe asked for the new aircraft to carry twice what a 707 could. As the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission notes, an early design for the 747 blew right past Trippe’s goal. This mammoth design called for two full-length decks with passengers seated in two aisles. Carrying more than 400 passengers, the Commission notes that the design called for a seating capacity three times that of the largest 707. However, concerns about emergency evacuation times and cargo capacity meant the design would be scaled back.
Instead, Boeing widened the fuselage cross-section, allowing a single deck with twin aisles and ten abreast seating. Then, additional space would be found in the hump above that deck. The new design allowed a seating capacity of 366 in a three-class configuration but alleviated the need for two full decks. Boeing agreed to deliver the first 747s to Pan American by the end of 1969. When that agreement was reached, the aircraft manufacturer had just 28 months to design and build the plane, from Boeing:
The 747 was the result of the work of some 50,000 Boeing people. Called “the Incredibles,” these were the construction workers, mechanics, engineers, secretaries, and administrators who made aviation history by building the 747 — the largest civilian airplane in the world — in roughly 16 months during the late 1960s.
The Boeing 747 made its first flight right into the history books on February 9, 1969. The first would enter service with Pan Am only 11 months later. The B747 was the first commercial “jumbo jet” and, over time, would prove the concept of lowering ticket prices by cramming more butts into one plane.
The Boeing 747 might be the most iconic commercial airplane in history. Pilots waxed poetic about the 747’s abilities and engineering, passengers marveled at its size, beauty, and luxury, and the media was hooked. For decades, if you wanted to depict a plane in a movie, you chose the Boeing 747. If you wanted to produce an air disaster film, you would use a Boeing 747. Allegedly, over 300 films depict a 747 in some way or form. A goofy version even shows up in Soul Plane of all movies. The 747 earned the nickname “the Queen of the Skies,” and all evidence seems to point to the big enchantress earning it.
Unfortunately, the Boeing 747 was also built for a different era. In the 747’s prime, airlines worked on the “hub-and-spoke” model. In this model, airlines would operate flights from one city (a spoke) to a large, centralized airport in another city (a hub). From there, passengers may transfer to another plane to fly to another spoke.
This model allowed for the same number of destinations with fewer routes and fewer aircraft. Airline passengers from a variety of different cities would feed into the spoke airport, board an aircraft, and ride to the hub airport. The hub-and-spoke model favored larger aircraft as an airline could pile hundreds of people into one aircraft before flying it.
The downside of this model was that passengers often had to make a connection to reach their final destination. Also, if an airline built up a hub to the point where it was practically the only major airline operating from it, passengers had little choice but to pay that airline’s ticket prices.
Today, there’s more of an emphasis on non-stop flights. You can now fly non-stop between two destinations that might have required a stop at a hub in the past. The hubs aren’t gone, but point-to-point routes are highly competitive. As such, airlines don’t need to pile several hundred people into a single plane anymore when something like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320 will work fine. Thus, the last holdouts still operating 747s and A380s tend to operate them on longer routes with a high density of passengers.
This means that the Queen isn’t really needed for passengers anymore, and so many airlines have retired their A380s and 747s for smaller aircraft. If you’re like me and you’ve never flown in a 747, time is running out. Weirdly, it’s technically still possible to ride in a 747 without leaving America or without being in the White House.
The Cargo Airline That Can’t Get Enough Of The 747
Atlas Air Inc. is nominally a cargo airline. If you’ve flown out of a major airport, you’d almost certainly seen a Boeing 747 freighter emblazoned with Atlas Air on its flanks. Atlas Air is currently the world’s largest operator of the 747, with more than 60 examples in its fleet.
Atlas Air was founded in 1992 by businessman Michael Chowdry and started with a single Boeing 747-200 passenger airliner that was converted into a freighter. The company’s business model involved leasing out its aircraft to other airlines on an aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) contract. Back then, Atlas Air says, airlines treated carrying cargo as an afterthought. So, an airline was able to shore up its cargo operations by leasing from Atlas Air. China Airlines was the first to do this, and this was so successful that Atlas picked up a second 747-200 converted freighter and then more customers.
Atlas Air would further demonstrate its commitment to the 747 by ordering 10 new Boeing 747-400Fs in 1997 and another two more in 1998. Atlas Air is so obsessed with Boeing 747s that, when everyone else was ditching them, it was doubling down on the big widebodies. It was fitting, then, that the very last 747s built went to Atlas. Thanks to this airline and the many others who love this big hauler, aviation fans will see 747s in the sky for decades to come, even if they can’t actually take a ride in them. Atlas even operates Boeing’s unique 747-400 Large Cargo Freighters that carry 787 Dreamliner parts.
To be clear, the 747 isn’t the only steed in the Atlas fleet, as it also runs other widebodies like Boeing’s 767 and 777. It also has an order for 20 Airbus A350F for hauling cargo. But there’s a twist, as Atlas has also offered passenger charter services since 2010.
Atlas Air Begins Hauling Passengers
In 2009, the US-Africa Energy Association chose Atlas Air to operate charter services for Sonair Servico Aéreo SA., the subsidiary of the Sonangol Group, then Angola’s national petroleum company. Sonair purchased two customized Boeing 747-400s and had Atlas Air fly them for three weekly non-stop flights between Houston, Texas, and Luanda. Angola. The flights became known as the “Houston Express”, and the aircraft were flown in a three-class configuration with room for 189 passengers.
Later, Atlas Air would fly the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Miami Dolphins, and the Seattle Seahawks. The airline’s 747s are also used to transport members of the military and even train the crews who fly Air Force One. But Atlas Air says it’s happy to charter one of its five 747s out to wedding groups, sports teams, rock bands, or anyone else who wants a super big plane to fly somewhere.
All of these Boeing 747s are of the 747-400 type and were built in the early years of the 2000s before Atlas had a passenger operation. Two examples, N263SG and N322SG, are in a luxury VIP configuration with 189 seats, most of which are business class. There’s a third VIP jet in the Atlas fleet, N480MC, in a High Density configuration that’s able to handle 374 passengers.
Finally, the two last 747-400s in the Atlas fleet, N481MC and N482MC, offer 453 seats in a standard three-class configuration. Atlas advertises some sweet features in its passenger 747s:
First Class seats for the ultimate in luxury and service.
Business Class seats for maximum privacy and comfort.
Economy class seats with a larger seat pitch than traditional carrier.
State-of-the-art in-flight WiFI entertainment system with in-seat power.
Range: 7,285 nautical miles.
Of course, these jets flew for other airlines before landing at Atlas. For example, Atlas VIP 747 N263SG was built in 1999 and delivered to All Nippon Airways. Then it fell into the hands of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines in 2007, where it flew for a year before ownership changed to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest in 2008. Atlas Air picked up the aircraft in 2010.
Another example is N482MC, which was delivered new to Virgin Atlantic in 2001. Virgin then flew the aircraft until January 2021, when Atlas Air picked it up. This jet features 14 first-class seats, 64 premium economy seats, and 375 economy seats. In other words, all five of these planes are sort of time capsules to what flying a commercial 747 was in the 2000s and 2010s. N482MC is mainly used by the United States Air Force to transport military personnel.
These planes don’t just sit around, either. N481MC was last seen flying today from the Philippines to Hawai’i. The 747s aren’t alone, either. If a 747 is a bit too girthy for your charter needs, Atlas Air also has five Boeing 767-300s with all-economy class configurations.
These planes are sort of an anachronism today. The Boeing 747-400 made its first flight on April 29, 1988, before going into service in 1989. Production of passenger models would continue until 2005. These gorgeous jets were 231′ 10″ long, had a maximum takeoff weight of 875,000 pounds, and thundered down the runway using four Pratt & Whitney PW4062 turbofans good for 63,300 pounds of thrust each. Other engine options included the General Electric CF6 or the Rolls-Royce RB211 with somewhat similar outputs.
Inside, pilots enjoyed a flight deck featuring CRT screens for instrument displays and a Honeywell flight management computer. In a tight all-economy configuration, a 747-400 could haul up to 660 people like sardines.
Boeing built 694 of them. According to Simply Flying, of that production, only 43 passenger variants remain in service. Of those, only 26 examples are actively flying. The airline with the largest fleet of active passenger Boeing 747-400s is Lufthansa, which still runs eight of them to and from Frankfurt in Germany.
While passenger 747-400s are rare, they can be found all over the world hauling cargo. Pop open a game of SkyCards and hone in on a major cargo hub, and you’re bound to see one or two of them taking off or landing.
The Queen’s Not Dead Yet
Sadly, chartering one of the Atlas 747s probably isn’t going to be for most people. Atlas doesn’t give pricing, but, depending on who you ask, a Boeing 747-400 can be $15,000 per hour to run on the low end and closer to $30,000 per hour on average. So, if you want a 747 for your wedding, you’d better be loaded. But, if your rich friend is getting married, maybe nudge them towards chartering a 747, and you might be able to experience a rare opportunity to fly in a 747 aboard an American airline.
Still, I love everything about this. I adore that, technically, passenger 747s are still flying for an American airline. It just blows my mind that the airline flying them is usually known for cargo operations.
While the chances of you flying on one of these Atlas jets is low, at the very least, you now have a handful of fun planes to look for at the airport. If you see an Atlas Air Boeing 747 with all of its windows intact, there’s a chance it’s one of these passenger jets. The world is going to be a sadder place when the 747 is gone, but for now, there’s still time to dream.
Top graphic image: Atlas Air
I mean, if we could round up around 400-450 Autopians to pitch in it doesn’t sound impossible to book our own Atlas Air flight…
First class goes to members who opted for Rich Corinthian Leather.
The thing which gets me is how much fuel they use.
If you do the sums is comes out at around three litres a second per engine, depending on model.
So with all four motors that is 12 litres a second.
The fuel lines are thicker than my arms.
And I have seen environmental experts, fly for 17 hours from New Zealand, who step out of 747s and lecture on the dangers of CO2 in the atmosphere….
You can participate in society while still advocating for change. That doesn’t make you a hypocrite, it’s just working within the constraints you have available.
What’s it like in that well?
I work for a global environmental NGO. If we don’t have to fly (and we track all of our travel for a sustainability report every year) we don’t. But you can’t change minds and influence policy on a Zoom call; you have to be in the room with the right people. As TDW says below, it’s working within the constraints you have.
Lufthansa actually has 26 Boeing 747s in service right now with routine flights to multiple locations in the U.S., so they’re not super difficult to catch a ride on if you’re headed to Europe.
My office is directly under the flight path for SEATAC airport in the Seattle area, and I can always tell when a 747 is overhead before even looking because they are noticeably louder than other widebody airliners.
‘If it ain’t BOEING, we ain’t going !’ – Long time former Boeing employee.
I don’t get the nostalgia. I switched from flying Delta to United back in the 00’s because I had to fly to Japan pretty regular and Delta was flying cramped 747’s with 3-4-3 seating while United had 777’s with 2-5-2.
My only good experience on a 747 was the one time my wife and I used points to fly business to Europe for a motorcycle trip. Business class was on the second level and we were stuck on the tarmac 3 hours while they tried to fix the plane. The 2nd level had working A/C – the main level did not.
These planes will never not be cool. When we lived in phoenix (Tempe technically for those from the valley) the air lanes went right over us, there was at least one passenger 747 that came in semi regularly, maybe Air France? Always stopped to watch every time I caught it coming in. I also think the pop culture significance is largely amplified by the bubble top that makes it recognizable as different from every other passenger jet even by the layman.
When I came back from Germany a few years ago, I picked my flights just to fly back on a Lufthansa 747-400 from Frankfurt. Knowing their days are dwindling, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. They’re a little worn at this point and not as smooth as a 787 imo, but it was incredible to be on one of these beasts, even if it was in standard economy.
(I also got to ride on an A380 to Germany!)
I saw my first 747s (two of them) from the 101 on a nighttime drive to San Francisco from the peninsula in the early 70s. They were parked at SFO, nosed up to the perimeter fence along the highway, floodlit, in PanAm white. I had never seen anything so big, glorious, beautiful.. i pulled over and just gawked.
I remember flying a 747 from Newark, NJ to San Francisco around 1971. I was 18 and the best thing was the diner-like booth seats in the economy-class lounge up-front! I have a vague recollection of flying on Continental and having a u-shaped bar in the front of the plane. During my adult flying years my favorite was when I could fly business class non-stop between San Francisco and Seoul on Singapore Airlines. Now, the only flight that would interest me would be on one of those middle-east airlines that offer a private room on an A380. However, no one is paying me to do that.
I almost forgot about the ‘cheap’ flights that were available for awhile when Singapore Airlines would need to shuttle planes from San Francisco to Vancouver, B.C. This was in 1988 and I flew for a business conference. After that, my wife and I would take that flight to vacation in Vancouver, B.C. through the early 1990s.
The short hop Japanese spec 747 had to be one of the strangest flights I was ever on. I was a kid but remember all these people around then getting on then in the air for a while the back off. It seemed like it took almost as long to load and unload everyone as the flight did. They did kind of seem practical in a way. The big trans Pacific routes always seems practical in a a380 or 747. 787 just not the same but I do like the lighting. I knew a few captains for Singapore airlines and got a short tour of the crew quarters when landing on a flight they had flown. The a380 crew quarters seemed nicer to me. But I guess it’s what you are used to.
I’m old enough and have flown around for a living long enough to have flown on a decent number of 747s. My first trip to Europe was on a pair of TWA 747s – and I always wonder if one of them was the one that operated TWA 800… I flew over the pond on BA 747s a few times, most notably on one Gulf War era flight were there were *19* pax on the Heathrow – Boston flight. They put all of us upstairs except for the one dude who was actually in first. Other than being sick as a dog with bronchitus, that was fun. One of the F/As basically adopted me and played cards with me and kept me in hot lemon teas for the whole flight. I’ve even flown on them domestically, United between ORD and SFO a couple times, and a couple times on Northwest from DTW to MSP.
I miss them, but they were definitely of another era. Wouldn’t mind one last flight on a 747-800, but I don’t think any AA partners fly them so it’s not going to happen.
One thing I REALLY miss about the early days of my flying career is the sheer variety of airplanes that the airlines used to fly. AA in particular has *ruthlessly* rationalized thier fleet post pandemic. I basically only ever fly on A319-320-321, B737-800s (keep missing out on flying on a MAX due to cancelled flights and/or missed connections, it’s gotten to be a bit of a standing joke that if I see one assigned to my flight it’s not going to happen), ERJ-145s or 175s, or CRJ7/9s anymore. Though I have flown long haul on thier 787 and 777to Hawaii and Germany respectively. And on US before they bought AA, the A330.
Back in the day just on Northwest it could be anything from a Saab-340 to an Avro RJ-85, CRJ100/200, almost every version of the DC-9, 737 in about four different versions, A319s and A320s, 727s, 757-200 and -300 (and I flew on the FIRST revenue flight ever of the -300, MSP-BOS), DC-10s in a couple varieties, and the aforementioned 747s. Plus I managed to fly on one lone TWA L-1011 JFK-BOS coming back from that first trip to Europe. 767s on TWA and Delta, and a HUGE variety of turboprops from ATRs Dash-8s of every length to Brazilias and Beech 1900s. Even a Metroliner once -the flying pencil! And a few Fokkers both prop and jet on US. But I completely missed the 707-DC-8 era sadly. And the A340 – so the only 4-engine birds I have flown on are the polar opposite 747 and RJ-85 (my absolute, all-time favorite airliner, the wacky little Brit.).
I too flew a lot for business before retiring a couple of years ago. Mostly domestically and up to Canada and down to LATAM.
My only flight on a 747 was a leisure flight from LAX to SYD. We had to stop off in Brisbane due to fog at SYD and insufficient fuel reserves. Flying back was on a Quantas A380. It was almost night and day. The A380’s cabin was so much quieter. On both flights I was in coach aft of the engines, so that was an equal playing field.
It was kind of cool watching the sun rise over the Pacific on the entertainment screen in front of me courtesy of a camera mounted at the top of 380’s rudder.
I also got to blast out of John Wayne/Orange County on a PSA BAe 146 (aggressive noise abatement procedure) and into Vancouver Harbor on a DeHavilland Twin Otter on floats.
Oh, and some Aeroflot jets of various types in and out of Moscow. I was in Russia for a month and back then (1986) it was the ultimate hub and spoke system. Regardless of where you were flying from/to, you HAD to go through Moscow.
“Back in the day just on Northwest it could be anything from a Saab-340 to an Avro RJ-85, CRJ100/200, almost every version of the DC-9, 737 in about four different versions, A319s and A320s, 727s, 757-200 and -300 (and I flew on the FIRST revenue flight ever of the -300, MSP-BOS), DC-10s in a couple varieties, and the aforementioned 747s.”
I was a Northwest Platinum Elite traveler from around 1996 until they were acquired by Delta. I was on around 200 flights each year and I do not remember NW ever flying any version of the 737s. Unless maybe it was before I started flying for my job.
I remember being on 737s from United and Southwest, but never Northwest. The first Northwest Airlink flight I was on was in a Jetstream, which some fellow travelers called the ‘junkstream’. These pre-dated the Saab 340s. I loved the Saabs, they were a nice upgrade and much more comfortable than the Beechcraft that United Express and Midwest Connect flew out of the smaller cities back then.
You’re right – I was mis-remembering. It was Continental that had all the old and new 737s, back when NWA more-or-less owned CO. Due to that I flew them pretty interchangably in that era, but was an NWA Platinum so I got the same bennies on both airlines. I was usually heading west, but if I was going south it would be on CO to Newark instead of NWA to Detroit.
I missed the Jetstreams, but I spent a ton of time on those Saabs hopscotching across MN and the Dakotas. The Beech 1900 was definitely a miserable thing to have to fly in. On one hop from Denver to Co Springs the engine cowling came off the airplane! The 90s were a different time in commercial aviation…
I started flying for a living in ’96 as well, but NWA didn’t start flying to Portland until couple years later, so the first couple years I flew everybody who flew there. Then once NWA came in, our biggest client was based in MN and I was going that direction 90% of the time so it made sense to just stick to them and CO the vast majority of the time. I too flew with them until the “merger”, then Delta cut service so drastically to Portland that I jumped ship to US, which is how I ended up as an AA Exec Platinum all these years. Kind of amusing given that until US bought AA and became AA, AA technically never flew to Portland, ME, so it was the one major I had never flown on!
Great article and history…these are cool and legendary planes. I still remember flying on these as a kid when they still served meals.
Also, it’s fascinating how much and how fast air flight changed travel in the 60’s and how much it affected ocean liner travel.
“By the early 1960s, 95% of passenger traffic across the Atlantic was by aircraft. Thus the reign of the ocean liners came to an end.”
Also, I was curious if anyone has also watched the YouTube channel Big Old Boats? It’s really good- for a while there I was obsessed w/ watching it. It’s very well made, interesting, and no AI ever. There is a really good video on the Edmund Fitzgerald; most of them are about ocean liners and some on lighthouses. My favorites are about the Great Lakes freighters. Also, maybe another good idea for Autopian articles: Ocean Liners!
I fly a lot for work on the company’s dime, so I don’t want to sound too out of touch here, but Lufthansa still flies the 747-800 to Frankfurt out of Newark, Chicago, Washington, Houston, LA, San Francisco, and Miami, and they’re keeping their passenger 747s well into the 2030s. It’s not that hard to fly on a 747 if you really want to. Their 747s are getting up there in years and starting to really show it in terms of dated interiors and technology. On my last Lufthansa 747 flight, my seat back was physically broken and wouldn’t stay upright. The flight attendant had to find me somewhere else, and they taped off the seat.
Lufthansa isn’t the cheapest airline from the US to Europe, and their quality has gone down a lot in recent years IMO, but $1100 will get you a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt and back on 747s in Economy class.
I used fly Business Class on the Delta 747s on the upper deck. Going up the spiral staircase was always fun, and the upper deck felt like a private jet with just one business class lie-flat seat on each side of the aisle. They also had a galley and dedicated staff for that level, so service was excellent. The pilots would often come out during breaks and chat.
I loved the 747 10 years ago, but the 787 is a very worthy successor: much quieter, higher pressurization and humidity, and great layouts (including bathrooms with a window!)
Same for me. The upper deck was great on a United 747. Economy – give me an 787 any day. The altitude is a big issue for me as I start getting altitude sickness at 7 – 8,000 feet. It is far more pleasant for me to fly 10 hours at 6,000 vs 8,000 feet pressurization.
The 787 might be my favorite new-generation airliner. I love the looks, I love the composites, I dig the no-bleed architecture, and the ride was so comfortable both times over the Atlantic. That difference in pressurization is no joke.
The Airbus A350 is nice for the same reasons.
You’re fine! I just reworded that sentence a little, as I was talking about your chances at flying on one of the Atlas 747s. I did note the Lufthansa bit somewhere in the middle of the story:
At this point, I don’t even care if I have to convince a cargo operator; I want to be in a 747 before they’re all gone! I’m also hoping another European automaker will invite me to Germany again sometime soon. 🙂
I was on a work trip in 2015 SFO-FRA, and chose the LH A380 since I’d never been on that type. It was a pleasant flight on a nicely equipped aircraft.
My cow-orker chose the UA 747. The seats were worn, the IFE was broken and the plane was rundown. UA would retire the type soon thereafter.
I’ve flown on seven different 747s over the years, but in two flights on A380s, I’ve only flown on one. The same plane happened to operate the outbound and return flights.
N482MC flew me out to Japan when I got stationed out there just a couple years ago, didn’t realize the history behind it at the time
It would be interesting to fly on one of these but my odds are looking increasingly thin. Almost booked a ticket on an A380 a month ago but people are so gaga over these double deckers that the two dozen seats remaining at the start of the booking process had been snatched before I could complete the transaction.
The A350 is less exciting to look at but a very nice plane to be a passenger on for those long hauls.
I remember being on a couple 747s when I was a kid. I never got to go upstairs, but just seeing stairs on a plane kinda blew my little kid mind.
Some newer planes have stairs to take you downstairs to a pod of bathrooms. It was a bit odd the first time encountered it but made a lot of sense in the days where flying people paid more than cargo. Not great for people with mobility issues though.
Same.
I flew on the pan-am ones as a kid between Miami to Santiago, Chile via Buenos Aires in the 80s – getting a row of 5 empty seats to sleep on was the ultimate!
Last year my wife got to ride one between São Paulo and Frankfurt. My airplane-loving son was extremely jealous.
I got to fly on one when I was a toddler but, unfortunately, I don’t remember it.
How was the leg room lol
I was lucky enough to be able to fly on Northwest Airlines 747-200 on two separate trips to Hawaii. (even luckier that my employer was picking up the tab since they were work trips)
The first time, I was upstairs both going out there and returning. The spiral staircase was cool, as was the storage compartments being alongside your seats instead of overhead.
The second trip, I was in first class up near the nose of the airplane, which was weird being a solid wall instead of the door to the cockpit.
I’ll always cherish those trips.
“They’re Flying Charter For The Last Airline You’d Expect”
Nah. The last airline I would expect to fly one of these is Cape Air. I would be very shocked if I expected a Cessna 402 to fly me and 8 other people 80 miles and instead got a jumbo jet. That would be a fun day, though.
It is cool some airlines are still flying these things. I would love an opportunity to be a passenger on one again. I was on a 747 for a flight over 40 years ago, but I was too young to remember it.
“I would be very shocked if I expected a Cessna 402 to fly me and 8 other people 80 miles and instead got a jumbo jet. That would be a fun day, though.”
I was once scheduled on a Delta flight from Savannah, GA to Atlanta, GA.
I expected a regional jet like a CRJ. Imagine my surprise when a 767 pulled up to the gate.
Not sure what it was but I was quite surprised flying from a regional airport in Tallahassee in the 80s to an Airport in atamp and it had 21 seats 2 on one side 1 on the other and you could see the cargo as it was in the rear with a cargo net holding it from hitting the passengers in the case of an accident. It was a rough flight for the 12 passengers due to rain, I have been on amusement park rides that seemed boring in comparison
Ages ago when I was traveling a lot for work, I was fortunate enough to make a trip to/from Taiwan in the second floor of (IIRC) a 747-400.
It was extremely pleasant and quiet, as far as air travel goes, and there were flight attendants assigned to the upper level so we were looked after quite well.
There are worse ways to get halfway around the world 🙂
My dad worked in the airlines in the ’80s and I got to fly in several 747s, so it’s a treat for me to still see one in the air. Even moreso when I see one operated by Kalitta Air since there’s a direct link to auto racing.
I stayed at the wonderful MyCloud transit hotel at the airport in Frankfort (literally IN the terminal) and spent most of the time staring at a line of Lufthansa 747s that Flightradar24 said were flying all around the world, it was heaven.
The codesharing agreement between DLH and UAL technically gives you the opportunity to board a B747 on a United flight to the US (e. g. UAL8836 takes you to O’Hare in a 747-8 unless it’s cancelled, which unfortunately nowadays happens more often than not).
I say this as a big fan: the headline’s a little click-bait-ey, in a way this site usually is not.
This headline didn’t get our usual drag-out headline debates, sorry about that. I have updated it. Better?
Much! And I very much appreciate the reply. 🙂