Boeing 747 turns 35 Years Old

(The New York Times) - The jetliner that helped shrink the globe, the Boeing
747, was 35 years old on February 9th. The plane was first flown in 1969
and carried its first commercial passengers in 1970. Since then, the Boeing
Co. said it had delivered 1,341 of the super-jumbo planes, which in various
versions have carried 3.6 billion passengers. A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500 passengers
and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.


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In article k.net,
"None" wrote:

(The New York Times) - The jetliner that helped shrink the globe, the Boeing
747, was 35 years old on February 9th. The plane was first flown in 1969
and carried its first commercial passengers in 1970. Since then, the Boeing
Co. said it had delivered 1,341 of the super-jumbo planes, which in various
versions have carried 3.6 billion passengers. A Boeing spokeswoman said


One of the truy great engineering accomplishments of all time.

[In contrast to the Concorde, which wasn't . . . ]

None wrote:
(The New York Times) - The jetliner that helped shrink the globe, the Boeing
747, was 35 years old on February 9th. The plane was first flown in 1969
and carried its first commercial passengers in 1970. Since then, the Boeing
Co. said it had delivered 1,341 of the super-jumbo planes, which in various
versions have carried 3.6 billion passengers. A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500 passengers
and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.


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http://wonderofitall.com/

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And in a great testament to capitalism, the 747 - a historic moneymaker
- has survived and the Concorde has been retired. We can fly 400 plus
to a plane now, in 2003, but we can no longer fly commercially at
supersonic speeds.

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 20:44:57 -0800, AES/newspost wrote:

In article k.net,
"None" wrote:

(The New York Times) - The jetliner that helped shrink the globe, the Boeing
747, was 35 years old on February 9th. The plane was first flown in 1969
and carried its first commercial passengers in 1970. Since then, the Boeing
Co. said it had delivered 1,341 of the super-jumbo planes, which in various
versions have carried 3.6 billion passengers. A Boeing spokeswoman said


One of the truy great engineering accomplishments of all time.

Actually the discussion has much more to do with commercial
accomplishments than anything else. And the one thing that the 747
shared with the Concorde is that they both were a bit of a white elephant
at the time.

The 747 almost bankrupted Boeing. But in the end, breoke even and made
them money. Still, a bit of a scary proposition.

Still, just like the Concorde, the 747 more more of a status symbol than
an econimic or engineering achievement. Way too big for the market,
actually. The airlines, which felt they had to buy into the status
symbol, paid the price, in the end.


[In contrast to the Concorde, which wasn't . . . ]

Just a bit worse as a white elephant/status symbol. The oil crisis didn't
help either.

Now we may have a new white elephant on the map. I know, at least, it's
not supersonic...

"None" wrote in message
hlink.net...
A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500
passengers
and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.

Yeah, we've heard that one before.

james_anatidae wrote:

"None" wrote in message
hlink.net...

A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500

passengers

and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.


Yeah, we've heard that one before.

And planes have become quiter and more fuel efficient.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 05:49:38 GMT, mrtravelkay
wrote:

A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500
passengers and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control.
The airplane would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.

Yeah, we've heard that one before.

And planes have become quiter and more fuel efficient.

I'm sure he meant the kind of hot-air-balloon mind-wank on the part of
Boeing to make it look like they're actually seriously working on
keeping up with Airbus.

devil wrote:
Still, just like the Concorde, the 747 more more of a status symbol than
an econimic or engineering achievement. Way too big for the market,
actually.

I disagree. Plenty of airlnes have made extremely profitable/efficient use of
the 747, and still do.

And even Wardair, a low cost airline of its time had 747s because they helped
lower seat costs to carry lots of pax across the pond.

The Concorde had no pretense of lowering seat mile costs. The 747 delivered on
lower costs per seat.

And yes, the Concorde was far more an engineering achievement than the 747.
Both structurally (plane expanded significantly due to friction heating) and
the powerplant.

Now we may have a new white elephant on the map. I know, at least, it's
not supersonic...

There are routes for which the 747 and 380 are a better solution than other
planes. And if yor network has enough such routes, that it it worth buying
those planes. AC may have gotten rid of its former CP 747s, but it was due to
contract stuff. They are refurbishing their remaining 747 combis, and there is
expectation that AC may obtain up to 5 747s once it emerges from bankrupcy.

When you look at the airlines which refused to buy 747s (AA, DL, CO, US), they
are not exactly very healthy. AA sacrificed its efficiency and lower costs in
order to keep it prized heathrow slots, so it needs to run small planes to LHR
every 10 minutes to keep those slots. And you'll find that all 3 airlines are
shut out of Asia /South Pacific because they lack the 747. In fact, CO had to
pull out of the south pacific because it lacked the 747s.

747s may not make sense between canada and cuban resort towns, but they make
sense elsewhere.

"None" wrote in message thlink.net...
A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500 passengers
and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.

And that would be the Airbus A380 :-P

IMHO, the 7E7 is going to give Airbus some cause for concern. In the very
least, it is going to test their weedles as far as their ability to adapt
and compete goes. While Boeing has been releasing data on the 7E7, you can
bet they aren't talking about it's deepest darkest secrets/benefits. Time
will tell, and I expect airlines will start placing preliminary orders for
the E by the end of this year if not sooner.


"Mel3k" wrote in message
om...
"None" wrote in message
thlink.net...
A Boeing spokeswoman said
yesterday that Boeing was studying development of a new model, the 747
Advanced. The plane, if built, would seat as many as 400 to 500
passengers
and would offer improved fuel efficiency and noise control. The
airplane
would enter service toward the end of the decade, Boeing said.

And that would be the Airbus A380 :-P