Good News - British Airways has retired their aging fleet of 747s early

British Airways was the last major airline flying 747s. Their fleet was getting pretty threadbare and was due to be retired in 2024. Most annoying, if you got a business class seat with a window, you had to straddle the feet of the person on the aisle to get to the bathroom at night. So thanks to the pandemic, these flying antiques are now history.

Now if they can just do something about Heathrow. :)

Comments

  • Bad News. British Airways is retiring their fleet of 747's early. The upper deck seats on the 747 were one of the best ways to cross the atlantic. Sorry to see it go.

  • The window seats on the upper deck, with their extra storage were nice on a day flight, but I'm still glad to see them go. From the Youtube videos I've seen, the newer planes have better business class seats (including easy access to the aisle).

  • Bad News. British Airways is retiring their fleet of 747's early. The upper deck seats on the 747 were one of the best ways to cross the atlantic.

    I've flown BA upper deck 2 round trips. Yes, the small upper cabin is nice, but if you do anything besides sleep, it left a lot to be desired. The entertainment system needed updating 20 years ago. Then there's BA's $200 fee to reserve a seat. I've never flown any other airline that charged extra for biz class seat reservations.

  • Ken - You forgot to mention in addition to having to straddle the feet of the person on the aisle to get to the bathroom, half of the seats face backwards. That's how I rode from Heathrow to New Delhi for our Portrait of India tour. That said, I tease my wife that since I rode all that way facing backwards (she faced forwards) that I'm now a year younger. Kind of like rewinding the odometer on a car. I will be glad to see this seat configuration go bye-bye.

  • Those planes were falling apart!

  • There was one seat -- probably 2, one on each side of the plane -- where you didn't have to climb over someone. The last seat on the upper deck. Think it was 64A. I managed to get it a couple of times. Still, I'm glad to see those planes go.

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