Free Republic

Boeing 747-400 Jumbo jets, which defined a carrier's status and a whole era in aviation, are rapidly declining in popularity. Korean Air plans to sell 15 of its fleet of B747-400s by 2017, and Singapore Airlines already halted international flights using the B747-400 last year. Other carriers around the world are following suit. The jumbo, which began commercial flights in 1988, is 70 m long and 19.33 m tall and can carry 400 passengers for more than 16 hours. Attesting to its level of comfort, Cheong Wa Dae even leased a B747-400 aircraft as the official presidential plane in 2010....

MANILA, Philippines — A Qantas flight en route to Australia from London made an emergency stop in Manila on Friday after a loud bang punched a hole in the Boeing 747-400's fuselage, officials and passengers said.

After a production run of more than 450 planes, The Boeing Co. has built its final 747-400 passenger jet. The last four planes still on the company's order books have been removed in a hush-hush deal that saw Philippine Airlines switch its order to the 777. Those two 777-300ERs for Philippine Airlines were among 46 new jetliners that Boeing added to its 2007 order tally Thursday, including 26 787 Dreamliners. At list prices, those 47 planes are worth about $9 billion. But customers typically get discounts of 25 percent or more off the sticker price. Although Boeing will not build...

Boeing [NYSE: BA] has rolled the first 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) out of the hangar at Taipei's Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. The enormous airplane is the first of three specially modified jets that will be used to transport major assemblies for the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. "This is one of the most unusual modifications Boeing has ever done," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Development and Production. "We've relied on the world's best talent to design and build the LCF and we can all be proud today to see it standing on the tarmac." Ground testing is...

When the father of the 747, Joe Sutter, was asked by ATW about the longevity of the model on the 30th anniversary of its entry into service, he said without so much as a second's hesitation that the "Queen of the Skies" would be around for another 30 years. A bold statement indeed when made against a backdrop of the launch of the A380 and the many failed attempts by Boeing to commit to significant upgrades since the dash 400 version rolled out in January 1988. Perhaps when Sutter made the prediction he had in mind a dramatic engine breakthrough...

WASHINGTON Federal Aviation Administration officials said on Monday that they were preparing to take strong action against British Airways, including a charge of "careless and reckless operation of an aircraft," because of the airline's decision to allow a Boeing 747 to fly from California to England with one engine inoperable. Under normal circumstances, the United States would not take action against British Airways because such issues would be handled by Britain. But senior U.S. aviation officials have become so concerned about the actions of the flight crew and its supervisors in London that they were preparing direct action. "We will...

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways passenger jet was forced to shut down one of its engines in mid-flight twice in one week after a replacement engine failed, the airline said Friday. In what BA described as a bizarre coincidence, the number two engine on a Boeing 747-400 plane flying from Singapore to London was shut down last month after the pilot received an oil pressure warning. The aircraft, carrying 356 passengers, arrived safely in London after flying for more than 10 hours on three of its four engines. The 747-400 is designed to fly safely on three engines. The...

The same British Airways 747 that flew from Los Angeles to England on only three of its four engines had a repeat occurrence on its next round trip: It lost an engine en route from Singapore to London, but the crew continued, flying 11 hours with a dead engine. British Airways said Flight 18 left Singapore with 356 passengers shortly after 11:35 p.m. local time on Friday and suffered an engine failure three-and-half hours into the flight. As in the Los Angeles incident, the crew communicated with the airline's operations center in London and decided to continue. About 11 hours...