Another Covidiocy Victm?

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/boeing-747-british-airways-retires-its-final-jumbo-jets-following-impact-of-covid-19-12098683
Magnificent aircraft, love flying on them, hopefully they wont all get retired.

[youngmafbog]

Sat right at the front, well second seat in the cone once with Virgin.

It's a nice plane but a bit dated and very thirsty. Time to retire them perhaps.

I know you are local to Bournemouth from your posts, did you see them (BA planes) lined up at Hurn? Quite a sight.

[ToraToraTora]

yes it was a magnificent sight used to drive by regularly. Yes it is an old plane and no doubt thirsty, I suppose it's nostalgic for me but what an achievement from 1969, basically would not exist if the septics could build a Concord.

[youngmafbog]

No denying it is a magnificent old bird. My mates dad was a captain of these things in the 70's, he loved them.

Be sad not to see them in the skies but we do have to move on and there are some excellent planes up there these days.

[EdmundD]

I remember one of the best flights I ever took was Tokyo to London in 2000. I had the upper deck all to myself.

[teacake44]

Its got very little to do with covid, they were going to drop them anyhow, all to do with fuel efficiency. They may have bought it forward a little due to the present situation.

[Bobbisox1]

Such a shame that these giants of the sky are being mothballed

[woofgang]

but technology moves on...yes Jumbos may be being retired early but they would have gone eventually....everything does.

[Bazile]

They still will be in other operators fleets for a long time to come , won't they ?

[teacake44]

^ Yes that's why they break them for spares, not mothball them.

[theshedman]

Flew on these a number of times in the 80s with BA and EL AL and it was a lovely aircraft. Even went Super Club Class once right at the front of the plane. As has been said though it was a thirsty beast. My favourite aircraft though was the L10-11 Tristar a great aircraft to see in flight and to be on also now retired from most airlines as it too was a thirsty plane.

[Hopkirk]

They'll still be flying cargo for some time, but I don't think anyone is flying passenger variants now.

[Bazile]

^^^^
Really ?

[Hopkirk]

Yes.

[fender62]

lovely aircraft many flights on the up the spiral staircase bar, whiskey and a cigarette..back in the day.

[237SJ]

I worked on them for 26 years. Nearly half of of my life. I know every nut and bolt and every creak and groan

[jno]

Hopkirk, I believe they were planned as cargo aircraft all along, hence the pilots being above what was going to be opening nose doors. Boeing thought the future was Concorde - same old expensive service but much quicker - and they'd missed out. I think they were actually in business for some years before they suddenly twigged they could cram lots more passengers on and cut the fares. (The first one I flew on didn't have seats upstairs, just a cocktail bar.)