United Airlines Announces Final 747 Flight, Recreating Its First 747 Route from San Francisco to Hawaii

By Paul Riegler on 18 September 2017
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DSC_0423 (1)United Airlines, which previously announced plans to retire the Boeing 747 from its fleet, offered details about the iconic aircraft’s final flight.

The last 747 flight, which will take place on November 7, will be a recreation of the first 747 flight operated by the airline in 1970 from San Francisco to Honolulu. United is going all out with a 1970s-inspired menu, retro United uniforms for flight attendants, to inflight entertainment it says will befit the occasion.

United’s first 747 carried the name Friend Ship, and the 747 making the last flight will operate under the same name. The airline won’t be selling seats on the upper deck in order to give all passengers an opportunity to visit the space during the flight, although the airline didn’t say if it planned to retrofit a piano bar.

The final journey of the Queen of the Skies will be preceded by a celebration at the departure gate at 9 a.m. local time the day of the flight. The flight will depart San Francisco International Airport at 11 a.m. and land at Honolulu International Airport at 2:45 p.m. There will be additional festivities celebrating the final flight upon landing.

In January of this year, United, which originally had announced it would retire its Boeing 747 jumbo jet fleet by the end of 2018, said it planned to operate its last 747 flight at the end of 2017. Until then, United will continue to use the aircraft on flights to Europe and Asia. The airline has flown its last domestic flight with the exception of the flight scheduled for November 7.

The carrier said at the time that, while the Queen of the Skies had represented “state-of-the-art” air travel when it was introduced, there were now more efficient and cost-effective wide-body jets that it uses for long-haul flights.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

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