Friday Feature

The "Queen of the Skies" slipping into retirement...Boeing 747-400 fleet update

747-451 MSN 23719 L/N 696 N401PW Boeing. 747-400 First Flight April 29th 1988. This aircraft would go on to become N661US with Northwest, delivered December 8th 1989, the 38th 747-400 delivery

747-451 MSN 23719 L/N 696 N661US Northwest Airlines 12/89 - 1/10 (Merged with Delta)

N661US in new Northwest cs

N661US Delta Air Lines 1/10 - 9/15 Preserved Delta Heritage Museum - Atlanta, GA

Boeing's famous hump backed 747, the first wide body passenger airliner, is slipping slowly into retirement. It's freighter variant is expected to live on well into the future: in the guise of both 747-400Fs, as well as currently in production 747-8Fs. A modest fleet of 747-8I passenger aircraft are also in the early phase of their career with Air China, Lufthansa and Korean Air. This fleet update will focus solely on the 747-400.

523 passenger or combi 747-400s were delivered between September 1988 and April 2005, and were for many years the backbone of long haul services. Nowadays, a visit to any major international airport, will reveal long rows of 777-300ERs, the aircraft that has more than any other effectively replaced the 747-400.

The -400 was a major upgrade on the 747 classic, featuring a two pilot digital cockpit, crew sleeping quarters, performance enhancing winglets and a host of other enhanced features that brought the 747 into a new era.

747-467 MSN 23814 L/N 705 VR-HOO Cathay Pacific Airways 9/88 - 3/10 (Retired Victorville, CA 11/10)

The first delivery was to Cathay Pacific September 26th 1988. Powered by Rolls-Royce engines, it was followed four months later January 26th 1989 with Northwest Airliners (launch customer) receiving it's first Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft.

747-451 MSN 23818 L/N 715 N663US Northwest Airlines (first NWA 747-400 delivered, original colors)

The first General Electric powered aircraft was delivered to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines May 18th 1989.

747-406 MSN 23999 L/N 725 PH-BFA KLM 5/18/89 - 10/16/16 (Retired Teruel, Spain)

The breakdown of deliveries by engine manufacturer is Rolls-Royce 106, Pratt & Whitney 188 and General Electric 229.

Fleet Profile

310 747-400s (passenger or combi variants) were in service by January 1st 1995, and this rose to a peak of 495 by 2006. By 2014 this had reduced to 311, and at the beginning of this year 193 remained in service.

The list below illustrates the change between the major operators at the fleet peak in 2006, versus January 1st this year

1 British Airways 57 / 38
2 Japan Airlines 42 / 0
3 United Airlines 31 / 21
4 Lufthansa 30 / 13
5 Qantas 30 / 11
6 Singapore Airlines 26 / 0
7 Korean Air 24 / 5
8 KLM 22 / 17
9 Cathay Pacific 21 / 0
10 ANA 23 / 0
11 Thai International 18 / 9
12 Malaysia Airlines 17 / 0
13 Northwest Airlines 16 / 7 [Delta]
14 Air France 16 / 0
15 China Airlines 15 / 7
16 EVA Air 15 / 3
17 Air China 12 / 3
18 Virgin Atlantic 12 / 7
19 Air India 13 / 4
20 Air New Zealand 8 / 0
21 Asiana Airlines 8 / 3
22 South African Airways 8 / 0

Eight operators listed above no longer operate the type. This includes Japan Airlines, at that time the second largest 747-400 operator, and the world's largest 747 operator of all types over the entire program history - from the 747-100 through -400. Other notable operators of all 747s that now no longer operate any (excluding freighters) include Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, ANA, Malaysia Airlines, Air France, Air New Zealand and South African Airways.

178 passenger 747-400s remain in service today 9/15 as follows:

1 British Airways 37

G-BNLK MSN 24053 L/N 790 5/90 - current (BA's oldest still in service)

2E United Airlines 14

N104UA MSN 26902 L/N 1141 1/98 - current

2E KLM 14

PH-BFW MSN 30454 L/N 1258 10/00 - current

3 Lufthansa 13

D-ABTK MSN 29871 L/N 1293 12/01 - current

4E Thai International 10

HS-TGA MSN 32369 L/N 1273 5/01 - current

4E Qantas 10

VH-OEJ MSN 32914 L/N 1331 7/03 - current

5 Rossiya 9

EI-XLC MSN 27100 L/N 1236 1/17- current

6 Delta 7

N676NW MSN 33002 L/N 1303 1/10 - current

7E Saudia Arabian 7

TF-AAC MSN 29262 L/N 1199 7/12 - current

7E Virgin Atlantic 7

G-VXLG MSN 29406 L/N 1177 9/98 - current

8 China Airlines 6

B-18207 MSN 29219 L/N 1176 9/98 - current

9E Wamos Air 5

EC-KQC MSN 26949 L/N 1030 12/14 - current

9E El Al 5

4X-ELA MSN 26055 L/N 1027 4/94 - current

10E Air India 4

VT-ESO MSN 27165 L/N 1009 12/93 - current

10E Korean Air 4

HL7402 MSN 26407 L/N 1155 12/98 - current

11 Others 17 (10 operators)

Storage currently totals 80 aircraft. 165 have been permanently retired, while 5 have been written off.