Qantas and the B747

[Radi K]

Ben S never is backwards in coming forward but he has written a particularly aggressive blog on crikey about QF and keeping the 747 till 2020.

Regardless if you agree with him or not, its an interesting read! Bad news for QF it turns out to be half true.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2012/02/18/a-sad-contrast-singapore-airlines-farewells-last-747-as-qantas-rolls-out-refurbished-veterans/

[Jim M]

Interesting read. Whilst i understand where Ben is coming from and i do agree with some of what he is saying,unfortunately i can't agree with all of it. This is written for a perfect world and sadly this one is not. Also,there are too many "what ifs" that are associated with this topic,which for me at least,draws me to my own conclusions and therefore opinions.

Cheers
Jim

[Mark Grima]

From the boeing website

747-400 = 13,450kms
747-400ER =14,205kms
747-8I = 14,815kms

I would be very interested to see where Ben got that piece of info form.

Cheers

M

[danielc]

I believe the small fleet that QF may continue to operate until 2020 would be the 747-400ERs which were all acquired in 2002-03. Thus they would be 17-18 years old by then which is certainly reasonable by airliner standards. My last trip 14 months ago from LAX-MEL was on VH-OEH and there was nothing wrong with the (visible) condition of the aircraft.

Does anyone know what vintage the final SQ 747-400s were ?

It might also be more balanced if the author of the article at least gave QF some credit for taking steps to modernise their fleet with the A380/787. The dramas of the A380 along with the delays of the 787 can hardly be considered the fault of QF. Obviously SQ went down the 777 path which has proven to be a very outstanding plane.

[Andrew P]

its a Sandilands' rant, enough said

Originally Posted by Ben Sandilands
Qantas had a very pleasant Captain Cook lounge upstairs, where people mostly slept on the long stages

I took this out of focus photo back in December 1975, when travelling MEL-SYD on QF1 F class

[Jim M]

I see many of you have the same thoughts as me :eek:

You have all raised very valid points and I agree about OEH, i too have been on it fairly recently and there is nothing wrong with it

Cheers,
Jim

[Mike W]

Joyce said during the recent hoopla around the latest results, job loss announcements, flight route cancellations and product changes (747 LA to NY for example) that feedback on the new 747 interior upgrades was more positive than the 380s. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a source for this. Maybe someone else can recall this...

[Dave Dale]

Does anyone know what vintage the final SQ 747-400s were ?


9V-SPQ the last SIA 747-400 delivered in 2001.

[Michael Cleary]

Remember, its not the age of the hull that really matters. The Number of Cycles is the main measure for an Aircraft's real age.