End of the BA jumbo jets: British Airways scraps ENTIRE FLEET of iconic 747 planes after plummeting passenger numbers forces bosses to bring forward plan to retire them in 2024
- The nation's flag carrier is world's last major operator of the iconic Boeing 747
- BA used 31 jumbo jets before coronavirus crisis forced bosses to park the fleet
- It will lead to fears for jobs of more than 600 BA pilots trained to fly the 747-400
British Airways is to scrap its entire fleet of jumbo jets with immediate effect, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The nation's flag carrier is the world's last major operator of the iconic Boeing 747 'Queen of the Skies', which has been in service with the airline since 1971.
It had 31 jumbo jets in use before the coronavirus crisis forced bosses to park the entire fleet at airports across the country.
BA had originally planned to retire them by 2024 and gradually replace them with newer, more fuel-efficient jets such as the 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350.
Few aeroplanes are as familiar as the 747, and in half a century it has transported 3.5billion passengers and billions of tons of cargo around the planet
May 11, 1983: Charles and Diana step from a jumbo jet at Heathrow Airport following a flight from Miami. They had returned from a 10-day holiday in the Bahamas as guests of Lord and Lady Romsey
No British Airways 747-200s were involved in hull loss while with the airline
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Giant has carried half the world
Graveyard: BA 747-400s among aircraft stored in the California desert
The first Boeing 747 flew in 1969 and a year later the British Overseas Airways Corporation took delivery of the first UK 747.
The first commercial BA flight using a 747 was from London to New York on April 14, 1971.
Over the years, 747s have flown 3.5billion passengers, equivalent to half of the world's population.
The distance covered by the Wright brothers on their first historic flight –120ft – would fit within the 150ft economy section of a jumbo.
Boeing has modified around 15 of their 1,500 747s for special purposes – including Air Force One and the US space shuttle carriers,
BA was the last operator of Boeing 747 passenger flights at Heathrow.
The plane cruises at 565mph. However it's top speed of 650mph means it remains the fastest of all commercial aircraft.
747s are meant to carry 345 passengers, but in 1991 an El Al 747-400 carried 1,088 on a single flight, breaking the world record. It was part of an operation to evacuate Jews from Ethiopia.
But plummeting passenger numbers have forced the airline to bring forward its plans.
A leaked BA letter highlights the flagship plane as one which has 'a very special place in the hearts of aviation enthusiasts and of many of us' and insists the plan to retire the fleet early 'has only been taken in response to the crisis we find ourselves in'.
The letter, written in response to growing speculation on social media and aviation websites, admits: 'The whole airline community is reconciling itself to a bleak outlook for passenger demand.
It adds: 'Long haul travel will take years to recover, with the major industry bodies agreeing that we will not see a return to 2019 levels until 2023 at the soonest.'
The colossal, four-engine jets will be broken up and scrapped for parts over the next few months in what will be an ignominious end for the commercial jetliner, which once helped earn BA the title of the 'world's favourite airline'.
The move will lead to fears for the jobs of more than 600 BA pilots who are specifically trained to fly the 747-400.
'It is entirely Covid-related,' a source said tonight.
'We don't see passenger levels returning to normal until 2024 at the earliest and we just cannot foresee a time when we will use that size of aircraft again.
'It is a heart-breaking day for everyone at BA and for the customers it will be awful as well.
'This is one of the most recognisable aircraft after Concorde.
'But this is one of the unfortunate consequences of this unprecedented pandemic.'
The last BA 747 flew on June 2 and was a repatriation flight from Cape Town to Heathrow.
The news comes days after Virgin Atlantic said it would stop using its small fleet of jumbo jets and means no British carrier now operates them.
Few aeroplanes are as familiar as the 747, and in half a century it has transported 3.5billion passengers and billions of tons of cargo around the planet.
Aerial view of a British Airways Boeing 747 landing on Runway 27R at London Heathrow Airport
British Airways Beoing 747 aircraft grounded at Bournemouth International Airport in April
The wreckage of a British Airways Boeing 747-136 at Kuwait City airport, after BA Flight 149 was detained in Kuwait during the Gulf War, 1991
But now it has become a symbolic victim of the crisis facing the aviation industry as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic.
A top speed of just over 650mph makes the jumbo the fastest commercial plane on the planet but it is notoriously inefficient compared with newer aircraft.
Landing a 747 at Heathrow Airport costs more than £13,000, of which nearly £4,000 is in environmental tariffs.
The arrival on the world stage of the giant Boeing 747 in 1969 ushered in a new era of air travel
Landing a 747 at Heathrow Airport costs more than £13,000, of which nearly £4,000 is in environmental tariffs. Pictured is a Boeing 747 in 1978
A top speed of just over 650mph makes the jumbo the fastest commercial plane on the planet but it is notoriously inefficient compared with newer aircraft. Pictured is a Boeing 747 in 1976
BA's first 747-400 – the variant most commonly in use today – was delivered in June 1989. It flew until 2018, when it sent to a scrapyard in California.
The airline has operated 57 Boeing 747-400s, meaning that in total it has flown 100 passenger jumbos and one cargo version.
The youngest 747 in the current fleet is 21 years old.
Aerial view of a British Airways Boeing 747 landing at London Heathrow Airport in 2012
BA's first 747-400 – the variant most commonly in use today – was delivered in June 1989. It flew until 2018, when it sent to a scrapyard in California
The arrival at Heathrow Airport of the British Airways Boeing 747 in the retro livery of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation)
'THE QUEEN OF THE SKIES': THE HISTORY OF BA's BOEING 747
The wide body, four-engine Boeing 747-400 is an iconic part of British Airways' fleet.
BA, the world's largest operator of the Boeing 747, describes the 747-400 as 'a proven performer with high reliability' which boasts high reliability and has incorporated major aerodynamic improvements over earlier 747 models, which have a history stretching back 50 years.
The aircraft's life begins in April 1970 when BOAC - which would later merge with BEA to form today's airline - took delivery of its first Boeing 747-100, which was the 23rd to be constructed by Boeing, according to its line number.
BOAC then took delivery of another 14 aircraft over the next three years, with the 15th aircraft delivered in December 1973.
A Boeing 747 long-range wide-body four engined commercial jet airliner for the BOAC - British Overseas Airways Corporation flying above the United Kingdom on 7 April 1971
None of those early models remain flying today. Most were scrapped, a handful were stored, and BA's first 747 left the fleet in October 1998, aviation publisher Simple Flying reports.
After BOAC and BEA merged, the 15 Boeing 747s was transferred to British Airways on April 1, 1974.
BA took delivery of four 747-100s, bringing the total fleet size to 19.
On February 18, 1991, British Airways' Boeing 747-100 was destroyed in Kuwait during the Gulf War, becoming the only BA 747-100 to be involved in a hull loss during its time with the airline.
BA received its first Boeing 747-200 on June 22, 1977, and the airline went on to operate a total of 24 passenger 747-200s that were delivered between 1977 and 1988.
No British Airways 747-200s were involved in hull loss while with the airline.
The Boeing 747-400 is the BA model most familiar to us today, and is the only type still in service with British Airways today.
BA's first 747-400 was delivered in June 1989, and it flew with the flag carrier for nearly 30 years.
The airline operated a total of 57 Boeing 747-400s, meaning that BA has operated 100 passenger 747s and one cargo 747.
747-400s were delivered for ten years until April 1999, making BA's youngest aircraft 21 years old.
British Airways announced that its fleet of Boeing 747 aircraft, fondly known as 'The Queen of the Skies', are likely to have flown their last scheduled commercial service
But the 'queen of the skies' will no longer don the red, white and blue of the Union Jack after British Airways retired its fleet of Boeing 747s as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline, which was the world's biggest operator of the 747-400 model, had already planned to ground its fleet of 31 of the iconic wide-bodied jets in 2024.
But the pandemic, which has seen most of the world's planes grounded for the best part of three months, has hastened its journey into retirement, especially as forecasters predict that passenger numbers will remain lower than normal, potentially for years to come.
BA's predecessor BOAC had first used the 747 in 1971 and, as with many airlines, the plane - affectionately referred to as either the 'jumbo jet' or the 'queen of the skies' - became a symbol of the new age of mass travel to all corners of the planet.
Fairford, July 20, 2019: A British Airways special liveried Boeing 747 takes to the skies alongside the Red Arrows during the 2019 Royal International Air Tattoo. The Boeing 747 has been painted in the airline's predecessor British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery to mark British Airways' centenary
Its days have been numbered, though, in light of new, modern, fuel-efficient aircraft such as Airbus' A350 and Boeing's 787.
More than 1,500 jumbos were produced by Boeing, and it has historically been a commercial success for the manufacturer and the airlines. But its heyday is long in the past and any sight of the jet, with its distinctive hump at the top, is now a rarity.
Just 30 of the planes were in service as of Tuesday, with a further 132 in storage, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
British Airways' 747-400s have a capacity of 345 passengers and can reach a top speed of 614 mph.
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