The Boeing 747-400 is a long-range airliner which first flew on 29 April 1988. Northwest Airlines was the launch customer, inaugurating service on 9 February the following year. It was powered by four engines and airlines could choose from three different suppliers. Pratt & Whitney offered their PW4000, Rolls-Royce the RB211 and General Electric the CF6.
Airlines typically elected to provide seating for around 350-400 passengers for comfort. When it came to range, the aircraft could fly up to 13,490km (8,385 miles). This proved to be perfect for many international carriers and sales flowed in as a result.
Boeing 747-400 Video
Following on from the last article about the Boeing 747 “Super Airbus”, we stay with the type to look at the -400 variant. This video runs for a shade under 15 minutes and gives a brief history of the aircraft. The section about the 747-400 begins about 10 minutes and 40 seconds in.
Just how big a deal with new aircraft was is shown in the next video. This is a six minute internal British Airways presentation when the aircraft was delivered in 1989.
While there is a short piece on their Super Shuttle and financials, it is mainly about the new plane. It’s great seeing just how excited everyone seems to be about it – in their restrained British way, of course!
The Australian Angle
Australia is very far from most places in the world, so the Boeing 747-400 was a step change for airlines serving that country. Non-stop services to the United States were possible all year round. More importantly, Europe became a one stop service rather than two. United Airlines, British Airways, and of course Qantas took advantage of this – among others.
The video above is a television commercial from Qantas, introducing the new aircraft to the country. As it turned out, the Aussie airline liked the plane so much they would only be the only passenger operator of the even longer ranged Boeing 747-400ER.
Overall Thoughts
With 694 examples built between 1989 and 2009, the Boeing 747-400 was very popular indeed. It remained in front line passenger service through to early 2000. At that time, major operators including British Airways decided to retire their entire fleets.
Today you can still find the Boeing 747-400 in service with Lufthansa, though they are due to be retired in 2027. A few other aircraft are in service scattered among a few other airlines, but Lufthansa would be easiest for most to get a flight on one.
I’ve flown on the aircraft many times, enjoying flights down the back, up the front in first class, and even upstairs on the upper deck. It was always a superb flying experience, but it has been well over 10 years since I last had the pleasure.
What do you think of the -400? Did you fly on it much? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Simon Wong on Airliners.net.
