![]() Maybe with it retiring, it’s telling me something. I led the crews that inducted 6603, the first 747-400 delivered to an airline. Tim Steele, General Manager Delta TechOps also remarked that “This airplane drew a lot of talent. ![]() I remember the flight attendants taking naps in the overhead crew closet, just don’t tell anyone.” For many of these pilots, this plane is their finale. We have immense gratitude to her for destinations we could never have imagined in our wildest dreams. There will never be another plane like it.” #DL747Farewell /Om85KtDSi7- Chris Sloan December 19, 2017Ĭhristie L’Allier, a Delta Flight Attendant, held back tears as she said, “This plane is our story. As sweet as she was with 400 people, this was like home. It will be his last flight before retirement.”This plane was a flying building. Paul was not only the one-time hub for Northwest 747s and the departed airline’s home base but was the Jumbo maintenance base right up until the end.ĭelta 747 Captain Paul Gallagher who will fly last 747 into the desert. Paul International Airport (MSP) on December 20, closing over four decades of history between Delta, Northwest, and the 747. The last leg would wrap the tour up with a flight to Minneapolis-St. The following morning, on December 19, the third leg of this tour would take numerous lucky employees, 10 Delta Frequent Flyers, and the Airways team from SEA to the airline’s home base in Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL). Secondly, the aircraft was flown from PAE to the neighboring Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), where a large hangar party and the farewell ceremony were to be held with the airline’s TechOps division. The Atlanta-based airline planned a tour through its most significant hubs, starting at Detroit (DTW) with a superbly particular flight to where the aircraft was conceived, at the Paine Field (PAE), Everett assembly line. Both United and Delta worked diligently to honor the Queen’s retirement, and Airways was invited to be part of it. Photo: Chris Sloan/The Airchive The Queen’s Farewell Tourįortunately, the history behind the 747 and the airlines that operated it, is something that people don’t want to forget. And so United Airlines (UA) and Delta Air Lines (DL) have decided to put their Queens to sleep with a set of farewell flights that will hardly be forgotten. The more fuel-efficient, technology-driven, and slightly smaller twin-engine family of wide-bodies has practically abolished the viability of the world’s most famous jumbo jet. However, on the sidelines, they also created what ultimately ended up killing the 747: a profit beast, the Boeing 777. The American manufacturer tried hard to keep the four-engine behemoth flying for much longer, even by offering a re-engined, more efficient 747-8 Intercontinental. And that’s why putting an aircraft to sleep once it becomes slightly unprofitable is not an uncommon thing to see.Įnter the glorious, iconic Queen of the Skies-aka the Boeing 747. Today, airlines have become unforgiving when it comes to keeping their numbers in the black. ![]() Airlines try to survive in the harshest of financial and operational environments with margins that are as tight as few other clusters in the world, while manufacturers try to keep up by producing profit-making machines. ![]() The airline industry lives in constant motion. Paul on December 20.Īirways takes you back to the second leg of DL’s Boeing 747 employee farewell tour in this trip report by Enrique Perrella and Chris Sloan. The carrier took a Boeing 747-400 (N674US, Ship 6314) on its final tour: Detroit to Seattle on December 18, with a special stop at Everett’s Paine Field, home of Boeing’s final assembly production line that produced the Boeing 747 fleet Seattle to Atlanta on December 19 and Atlanta to Minneapolis-St. airline to retire the legendary aircraft, ending 47 years of service by Northwest Airlines (NW) and DL combined. Written in collaboration with Chris SloanĪTLANTA - Five years ago today, Delta Air Lines (DL) flew the final leg of its Boeing 747 employee farewell tour. ![]()
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