Goodbye 747?

[Wing Nut]

I'm sure it'll at least be around in cargo mode forever.  I wonder what this means for the A380?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... ngsclipped

[Mr. Bones]

if they think it's gonna be hard to fill an entire 747...what are they expecting for the A380 then?

i think the Jumbo will be still be around for a while. it's hard to imagine they are rare at the big airports, but someday they will.  i think (and hope) that will take some time to happen!  ;)

[Craig.]

The 747 is doing well in the asia routes domestically and internationally as well as the australia routes. Just because the US carriers arnt using it as much doesnt mean its by any means loosing popularity. There are actually plans for a 747 Advanced using the 7E7's technology which if it comes into production will easily match and perhaps beat the A380. Remember America isnt the sort of market for these planes like the Eastern routes are, which is where the A380 is selling well, they like their big planes flying the short haul routes, instead of frequency they go for fewer but higher passenger number flights, which is what is needed to start reducing traffic in the sky

[ozzy72]

The 747 is beginning to show its age a little. Personally I think what will happen is that super-jumbos like the A380 will do the long hauls like the Atlantic and Pacific runs, but there will be less flights per day by the big carriers. This means they can still fill a plane, and make the same profit but spend less on fuel, and bring down maintenance costs as there will be less airframe/engine hours throughout the fleet.
Alas its the law of economics...

Ozzy

[Nexus]

The 747's days are soon numbered.
Craig is talking about a re-make of the 747, similiar to what Mcdonnell-Douglas did for the MD-11, and what Boeing arranged for the 737NG wings andf its avionics (777 downgraded software)

But the truth is, Boeing has optimized every little inch of that aircraft to the max. As an airframe it can't compete head-to-head with the A380 when it comes to efficiency - no matter what Boeing does to it.

That's why I think

[GWSimulations]

Boeing should change the cockpit layouts in all their current production aircraft, so as they are as simmilar as possible to the 7E7. That will help them to regain the advantage that airbus have held. (eg: 737 pilots qualified to fly 717, 747, 757, 767, 777, 7E7, in the same way that A320 pilots can fly A319, A318, A330, A340, A380.)

[Nexus]

Boeing should change the cockpit layouts in all their current production aircraft, so as they are as simmilar as possible to the 7E7. That will help them to regain the advantage that airbus have held. (eg: 737 pilots qualified to fly 717, 747, 757, 767, 777, 7E7, in the same way that A320 pilots can fly A319, A318, A330, A340, A380.)

And that will be impossible I think.
Airbus has the advantage that all of their aircrafts have the same philosophy. They were designed with that in mind from the get go.
Boeing's older designes did not share many commonalities so making all of their cockpits identical would cost HUGE amounts of money.  :(

[Sobby]

GET RID OF THE 747

BRING BACK CONCORDE

NO MORE BIG SLOW JETS

[Chris_F]

As an airline passenger I want to fly direct to where I want to go, and I want to fly at a time that's convenient for me.  Given that I'm a typical customer and not everyone wants to go the same place at the same time, I think the future of the industry is smaller aircraft.  The 747 will stick around so long as there are a LOT of people that want to go the same place, but as airlines move away from hubs and towards direct flights its application will continue to decline.

I think the A380 is a bad move for Airbus.  They may succeed in beating the 747 for market share, but the market is evaporating.  The 7E7 is a wise move for Boeing: make an airplane that allows airlines to do what their customers want them to do:  fly direct, fly lots of flights, charge as little as possible.  The equation means we will see more application for smaller aircraft.

[chomp_rock]

And I as a frequent airline passenger abhor the Idea of being on the same plane as 549 other passengers! I know alot of people who share the same sentiments. I'd rather be able to catch one of 10 flights every day with a smaller plane (like the 7E7 or even the 747) that has a higher ticket price than only be able to catch one of 2 flights with a lower ticket price (as per the A380). Those are just rough estimates of the number of flights per day but I think they are pretty darn close to what the real thing will be. I'd hate to miss a flight that only runs twice or three times a day .

[Ivan]

New one is coming... still a few meters left on the front and back if you take a look at the 'maximum size' chart

[Nexus]

New one is coming... still a few meters left on the front and back if you take a look at the 'maximum size' chart

Could you please be more specific, new what?
Concorde, Boeing, Airbus?

[Felix/FFDS]

Could you please be more specific, new what?
Concorde, Boeing, Airbus?

I just can't wait for Antonov to step in and tell these upstarts how to build a really big passenger plane.  Airport turnaround will be fast since all passengers will be pre-loaded into a passenger container.  When it arrives it you slide the one passenger container out and slide the other one in .

[Ben_M_K]

Is that true?

[chomp_rock]

lol, no