UA accelerates 747-400 retirement

jetmatt777 · Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:49 am

AA737-823 wrote:
2Holer4Longhaul wrote:
I'm not sure what's up with the 744 fleet.
Yesterday's UA 59 (FRA-SFO) was cancelled, and today's flight got diverted to ORD. I don't know if it's weather or the 747s.

A pretty significant A/C system failure while taxying for departure from FRA cause passengers to faint:
http://avherald.com/h?article=4abd937a&opt=0

Wow, I was on ship 121 for the flight just prior to this incident (UA58 SFO-FRA).

BOEING777EK · Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:13 am

Is there any webpage that shows the retirement schedule of UA 744s by registration?

intotheair · Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:29 am

UA promised that they would do a special sendoff ceremony for the 747. They haven't announced anything yet, but presumably it'll hit all the hubs. SFO-PVG or whatever won't really be the last.

BOEING777EK wrote:
Is there any webpage that shows the retirement schedule of UA 744s by registration?

https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfle ... e-aircraft

Super80Fan · Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:09 pm

DocLightning wrote:
blacksoviet wrote:
Does the DC-3 have enough range to fly from LAS to SFO?

I'd be shocked if it didn't. Can you imagine a really lavish all-F DC-3 service from SFO or SJC to LAS? I'd prefer OAK because it's 15 minutes from home.

Can you imagine?
[url]:cloudnine:[/url]

The OP of the post to me was joking but you could probably make some serious money running nostalgic flights, I would definitely pay for them.

friendlyskies22 · Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:44 pm

No UA 744 to a Museum?

iahcsr · Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:25 pm

BOEING777EK wrote:
Is there any webpage that shows the retirement schedule of UA 744s by registration?

If this works.. https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfle ... t-tracking

767333ER · Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:05 pm

UALFAson wrote:
Slow your roll, Captain Outrage. Have you considered that maybe UA hasn't done the math yet and figured out the exact final date and final flight? Pre-merger, they did a huge to-do for the final 737 flights (I would know, I was on the very last flight SFO-LAX and have the certificate to prove it.) I am sure they will do something similar for a plane as grand as the 747. Untwist your panties and be patient.

I was responding to a somewhat stupid and emotional response with much the same, with that said I am disappointed in UA. They don't have a place to put a retired 747 on display, they haven't made the noise and fan fare DL has so far about retiring them, they are retiring them in a similar timeframe, yet they still don't have a retirement flight publicity planned. It seems like they don't care, that's probably not the case, at least I hope not.

Polot · Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:14 pm

DfwRevolution wrote:
DocLightning wrote:
mcdu wrote:
Should the airlines still be flying DC-3 for nostalgia purposes?

I wonder if someone couldn't make money selling DC-3 tourist flights. Then again, they couldn't make money flying Zepplins around the SF Bay Area, (probably because they were charging US$1-2k/pp) so perhaps not.

There's a Silicon Valley plot line somewhere in there.

Should probably check to make sure the operators are not involved in any mining in the area too.

RyanairGuru · Fri Jul 21, 2017 1:16 pm

767333ER wrote:
UALFAson wrote:
Slow your roll, Captain Outrage. Have you considered that maybe UA hasn't done the math yet and figured out the exact final date and final flight? Pre-merger, they did a huge to-do for the final 737 flights (I would know, I was on the very last flight SFO-LAX and have the certificate to prove it.) I am sure they will do something similar for a plane as grand as the 747. Untwist your panties and be patient.

I was responding to a somewhat stupid and emotional response with much the same, with that said I am disappointed in UA. They don't have a place to put a retired 747 on display, they haven't made the noise and fan fare DL has so far about retiring them, they are retiring them in a similar timeframe, yet they still don't have a retirement flight publicity planned. It seems like they don't care, that's probably not the case, at least I hope not.

Delta doesn't care either. The difference between DL and UA is that United doesn't lie.

The "farewell" flight that you allude to is nothing more than a positioning flight where Delta figured that they could con enough gullible people into paying for the "privelege". When United does a farewell it will be done properly, not on the cheap like Delta.

767333ER · Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:37 pm

RyanairGuru wrote:
767333ER wrote:
UALFAson wrote:
Slow your roll, Captain Outrage. Have you considered that maybe UA hasn't done the math yet and figured out the exact final date and final flight? Pre-merger, they did a huge to-do for the final 737 flights (I would know, I was on the very last flight SFO-LAX and have the certificate to prove it.) I am sure they will do something similar for a plane as grand as the 747. Untwist your panties and be patient.

I was responding to a somewhat stupid and emotional response with much the same, with that said I am disappointed in UA. They don't have a place to put a retired 747 on display, they haven't made the noise and fan fare DL has so far about retiring them, they are retiring them in a similar timeframe, yet they still don't have a retirement flight publicity planned. It seems like they don't care, that's probably not the case, at least I hope not.

Delta doesn't care either. The difference between DL and UA is that United doesn't lie.

The "farewell" flight that you allude to is nothing more than a positioning flight where Delta figured that they could con enough gullible people into paying for the "privelege". When United does a farewell it will be done properly, not on the cheap like Delta.

Explain done properly as opposed to dome cheap when 1. The DL flight hasn't happened yet to know what they do in it 2. United has shown no indictation of doing such a thing yet with only a few months left. And if you cared to check the price on the DL flight, you would have noticed it was not the most expensive that day.

jjb415 · Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:50 am

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/new ... j=78601281

"United Airlines is doing this one for all you aviation enthusiasts who are in love with the "Queen of the Skies" (a.k.a. the Boeing 747)."

Flight 2704 on Friday, July 28, 2017, ORD-SFO

bennett123 · Wed Jul 26, 2017 5:48 am

Is this the first time this flight has been publicised?.

MSPNWA · Wed Jul 26, 2017 6:02 am

767333ER wrote:
Explain done properly as opposed to dome cheap when 1. The DL flight hasn't happened yet to know what they do in it 2. United has shown no indictation of doing such a thing yet with only a few months left. And if you cared to check the price on the DL flight, you would have noticed it was not the most expensive that day.

1) DL bungled the DC-9 retirement flights (and it has nothing to do with them not being the last flights). I wouldn't have faith that they will do a lot better with the 747.

2) Kirby stated back in January that UA will have "an unforgettable retirement celebration". Considering their past history with retirement flights and their love for the 747, I would expect something special. It's DL that has been very quiet with what they have planned, not UA.

3) The one-off LAX-DTW flight isn't a "retirement" flight. There is talk of it being the final revenue flight for N662US, but the primary reason it exists is for positioning back to its base after the 744 is pulled off the NRT-HNL route.

KTPAFlyer · Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:59 pm

The website above shows the last date as 11/20/17. Wasn't the last published date in October? Did UA push back retirement by a month, and if so, how did the source find out? Is there any chance they push it back into December? Also, what is the difference between the last flight of an airframe and retirement?

BOEING777EK · Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:16 pm

By the looks of things United Airlines B747-400 N127UA which was scheduled to be withdrawn from service by 15 Aug 2017 is still flying past its withdrawal date could it be an aircraft swap over? If this is the case United Airlines 747 N181UA has been inactive on FR24 for a while now it flew last in 13 Aug 2017.

KVH68 · Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:28 pm

N181UA is currently at SFO. It is scheduled to have an A-check done there.

BOEING777EK · Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:30 pm

KVH68 wrote:
N181UA is currently at SFO. It is scheduled to have an A-check done there.

All rights thanks for the info.

KTPAFlyer · Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:04 pm

BOEING777EK wrote:
By the looks of things United Airlines B747-400 N127UA which was scheduled to be withdrawn from service by 15 Aug 2017 is still flying past its withdrawal date could it be an aircraft swap over? If this is the case United Airlines 747 N181UA has been inactive on FR24 for a while now it flew last in 13 Aug 2017.

I was wondering the same exact thing. Anybody at UA know if retirement is being delayed?

hoo8myryce · Tue Aug 22, 2017 4:09 am

I'm going to go slightly off topic here, but how does an airline decide which aircraft to retire first? So in this case UA is going to retire all 747 it has. So how do they decided which one goes first and which one says. Does it goes in the order of somewhat 1. Lease aircraft 2. Aircraft that are paid off and which ever one is closest to the heavy maintenance check?

teriyaki · Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:48 am

I'm going to go with, one closest to the next heavy maintenance check.

hongkongflyer · Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:10 am

hoo8myryce wrote:
I'm going to go slightly off topic here, but how does an airline decide which aircraft to retire first? So in this case UA is going to retire all 747 it has. So how do they decided which one goes first and which one says. Does it goes in the order of somewhat 1. Lease aircraft 2. Aircraft that are paid off and which ever one is closest to the heavy maintenance check?

many factors, especially the time for heavy maintenance and the time of lease period end

KTPAFlyer · Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:56 am

KVH68 wrote:
N181UA is currently at SFO. It is scheduled to have an A-check done there.

N181UA is operating PVG-SFO, N127UA is operating PEK-SFO. I thought one or both were scheduled for retirement. Is United pushing back retirement?

BOEING777EK · Fri Aug 25, 2017 6:50 pm

KTPAFlyer wrote:
KVH68 wrote:
N181UA is currently at SFO. It is scheduled to have an A-check done there.

N181UA is operating PVG-SFO, N127UA is operating PEK-SFO. I thought one or both were scheduled for retirement. Is United pushing back retirement?

Interestingly enough United Airlines N174UA has stopped flying last flıght was on the 20th Aug unless N174UA is scheduled to have an A check done this airframe has a high chance of having its logos removed before heading to axeman which is at TUP

ams747757 · Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:48 pm

N181UA just flew UA 2560 from IAD-EWR according to FR24. Those are two airports that don't normally see UA 747's, is this some kind of retirement flight?

ytib · Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:52 pm

ams747757 wrote:
N181UA just flew UA 2560 from IAD-EWR according to FR24. Those are two airports that don't normally see UA 747's, is this some kind of retirement flight?

Charter flights amongst repositioning
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n181ua

KVH68 · Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:18 pm

N181UA is flying EWR-BRI, Flight# 2544, August 27, 18:30

EWRamp · Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:11 pm

KVH68 wrote:
N181UA is flying EWR-BRI, Flight# 2544, August 27, 18:30

Here is N181UA in EWR on 8/27. Its returning Friday morning, September 1 at 7am

strfyr51 · Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:52 pm

bgm wrote:
Good riddance!

I absolutely love the 747, it is truly iconic. However, UA's ones are in terrible shape and are often prone to mechanical delays.

I believe that they don't have any AVOD in Y, is that still the case?

BA/LH will be flying theirs for many years yet, so plenty of opportunities to catch one...

Our youngest at United is now 17 yrs old. (2000) Our Oldest?? is now 27 yrs old (1990) they'll be leaving with me later this year. "Grand Old Girls" ...

stealth777 · Tue Aug 29, 2017 7:01 pm

looks like N127UA just flew SFO-VCV {UAL2779} on 29AUG17 after arriving from ICN on the 28th. I guess she's done....

iahcsr · Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:14 pm

stealth777 wrote:
looks like N127UA just flew SFO-VCV {UAL2779} on 29AUG17 after arriving from ICN on the 28th. I guess she's done....

Down to 13 left.

LAXintl · Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:23 am

Come say good-bye to the 744 at SFO family day.

FoxtrotSierra · Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:20 am

Looks like the fleet log has been updated to reflect N127UA's exit, although I am almost certain that the original posted date was much earlier. I was originally under the impression that N127UA's late retirement would be swapped with the early retirement of something else, but that never materialized so it's entirely possible UA is delaying retirement by a month or two if nothing (intentionally) took up the slack. Does the day a 744 is retired have any direct correlation with 77W deliveries?

iahcsr · Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:45 am

FoxtrotSierra wrote:
Looks like the fleet log has been updated to reflect N127UA's exit, although I am almost certain that the original posted date was much earlier. I was originally under the impression that N127UA's late retirement would be swapped with the early retirement of something else, but that never materialized so it's entirely possible UA is delaying retirement by a month or two if nothing (intentionally) took up the slack. Does the day a 744 is retired have any direct correlation with 77W deliveries?

Does not seem to be. Both fleets have considerable operational slack at this time.

FoxtrotSierra · Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:49 am

iahcsr wrote:
FoxtrotSierra wrote:
Looks like the fleet log has been updated to reflect N127UA's exit, although I am almost certain that the original posted date was much earlier. I was originally under the impression that N127UA's late retirement would be swapped with the early retirement of something else, but that never materialized so it's entirely possible UA is delaying retirement by a month or two if nothing (intentionally) took up the slack. Does the day a 744 is retired have any direct correlation with 77W deliveries?

Does not seem to be. Both fleets have considerable operational slack at this time.

I don't mean slack within the 744 fleet, I mean the transfer of capacity from 744 to the 777/787 when referring to "taking up the slack" of a 744 after an airframe is retired.

i.e. The gap between a 744's retirement and the delivery of another 77W; existing slack has no effect on the ability to equalize capacity when a net loss directly results from the retirement of a plane of a similar captivity (744=77W) which is effectively temporarily "missing" from the fleet until its replacement is delivered. Hence the possibility that UA pushes back retirement in line with the rate of 77W deliveries.

iahcsr · Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:03 pm

There has not been a one for one delivery/ retirement pattern noticeable. In fact all 14 77Ws are now delivered.. Unaware of any additional retirement flights for another few weeks at least.

ual763 · Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:09 pm

Can someone please confirm this? I booked this flight earlier this year since it was the last 747 flight on the schedule. However, I cannot find anything online in the last few weeks where United has "officially announced" that this will, in fact, be the last revenue flight. I am on the upper deck, and am really looking forward to it!

Regards,
Rob

flyfresno · Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:17 pm

ual763 wrote:

Can someone please confirm this? I booked this flight earlier this year since it was the last 747 flight on the schedule. However, I cannot find anything online in the last few weeks where United has "officially announced" that this will, in fact, be the last revenue flight. I am on the upper deck, and am really looking forward to it!

Regards,
Rob

Two years ago, I don't think anyone thought that DAL would keep their 747s longer than UAL (albeit by only about 40 days).

F9Animal · Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:03 pm

Gosh, it's a somber thought to see these beautiful birds leave UA. I remember in the mid 1990's when I worked for UA, and taking my first ride on a 747-400. First class baby! It was just such a great memory. The food was incredible too. I swear First Class gained a few thousand pounds up front! LOL! It was also my first experience in a lie flat seat, or darn close to it. They served ice cream sundaes back then too.

I also got the pleasure of riding on a 747-200 on UA. Another memorable experience. This was back when everyone swore the 777 was the best. I just couldn't find the 777 as fun to ride on when compared to the 747. The queen sure did live up to her expectations for me, as it will always be one of the most beautiful, sleek, elegant, and just amazing airplanes I have laid eyes on. It makes my heart feel empty knowing these birds are leaving. I sure wish they would get the 800, just for us airplane geeks!

There was a rumor they might paint a 747 in tulip colors for its retirement? That sure would be a nice touch!

flyfresno · Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:30 pm

F9Animal wrote:
There was a rumor they might paint a 747 in tulip colors for its retirement? That sure would be a nice touch!

It would also be a very expensive touch!

United Airline · Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:35 am

Can anyone tell me which are the remaining UA/DL B747-400 flights? Any official retirement dates?

george77300 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:15 am

Last UA ICN-SFO (29-Oct-2017)
Last DL ICN-DTW (17-Dec-2017)

george77300 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:17 am

A handful of routes on each carrier left. DL only Asia and UA has a few Asia and FRA and LHR.

All DL flights from DTW and UA all front SFO.

DolphinAir747 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:43 pm

Any special retirement flight for UA, beyond the last ICN-SFO?

ual763 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:50 pm

DolphinAir747 wrote:
Any special retirement flight for UA, beyond the last ICN-SFO?

Nothing has been announced so far. I am booked on the upper deck of the ICN-SFO flight. Hopefully, they do something special.

ual763 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 1:15 pm

ual763 wrote:
DolphinAir747 wrote:
Any special retirement flight for UA, beyond the last ICN-SFO?

Nothing has been announced so far. I am booked on the upper deck of the ICN-SFO flight. Hopefully, they do something special.

In addition, I believe they are planning on doing something special for SFO fleet week. I know they've done a Golden Gate Low Pass before.

aa87 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:14 pm

Isn't DL still flying a 400 JFK-TLV ?

dmstorm22 · Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:40 pm

aa87 wrote:
Isn't DL still flying a 400 JFK-TLV ?

Believe its all 77E now?

Polot · Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:49 pm

DL hasn't flown the 744 on JFK-TLV for several years now (regularly scheduled at least).

MaxTrimm · Thu Sep 14, 2017 3:57 pm

Refer to this article for updated 744 passenger fleet/retirement information: http://layoverhub.net/remaining-boeing- ... tirements/

DL777200LR · Thu Sep 14, 2017 4:37 pm

[url][/url]

dmstorm22 wrote:
aa87 wrote:
Isn't DL still flying a 400 JFK-TLV ?

Believe its all 77E now?

Yes it's been a 77E for the past 3-4 years now and will change to a A333 in a few months.

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