Should Boeing Have Retired the 747?
Excerpts from Seattle Times
On Tuesday, Boeing will wave a final goodbye to the 747 jumbo jet.
In the years after its launch, the 747 elevated the Puget Sound region to the world’s premier airplane manufacturing site and boosted Boeing to preeminence in aviation. It made international air travel routine.
A diverse cross-section of the Boeing workers who helped bring this transformative piece of engineering to life tell their stories below. They reflect upon their affection for the jumbo jet that changed their lives, and aviation.
Almost exactly 54 years after the first flight, thousands of current and former employees and guests will attend a bittersweet ceremony in Everett on Tuesday before cargo carrier Atlas Air flies away a 747 freighter model, the 1,574th and last “Queen of the Skies” ever built.
The final airplane will depart from outside the grand assembly plant purpose-built for the 747 in the late 1960s on what was then undeveloped land, the building not even complete as the first plane was assembled.
In time, that building would house more jet programs and grow to be the largest by volume in the world. Boeing Everett at a recent peak in 2012 provided more than 40,000 highly paid jobs.
Comment from FlyersRights
Wide body airliners like the 747 promised and delivered passenger comfort, speed, safety and affordability for long distance travel. But high fuel costs and airline preference for more frequent flights catering to business travelers doomed them. Fuel efficient jumbo jets could bring back $100-$200 long haul flights, but the Airbus-Boeing duopoly make that highly unlikely.
The old Boeing bet the company on groundbreaking new designs, and high quality manufacturing. The current Boeing milks old plane designs, reduces quality to generate rewards for insiders.
Result: Two 737 M crashes, record financial and market share losses.
