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46 thoughts on “Boeing 747 In Hawaii | Amazing Half-Century”

  1. My first trip to Hawaii was on a 747 in 1975 on Pan Am. I was 15 and flying to meet my parents who were already there. The time flew by (sorry, old pun) as I was taken by crew to visit various parts of the plane- including the cockpit! In the upstairs bar a friendly older couple even bought me a virgin Mai Tai! I had so much fun, I wasn’t sure if Hawaii was going to be able to top my experience! Yes, of course, it did.

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  2. Aloha BOH,
    As a previous America West Airlines employee, America West Airlines did (in the late 80’s, early 90’s) fly a B747 from PHX to HNL for a little while.
    Mahalo!

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  3. Royal Air Morac JFK to Casablanca. Such an experience for a small town girl traveling to Africa for a semester. The sheer size of the aircraft! Wow! I just traveled to Maui from LAX and was looking for some 747’s waiting for takeoff but didn’t see any. I miss those big old aircrafts.

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  4. My wife and I honeymooned in Hawaii in 1983 on a Northwest Airlines 747 (picked up at their hub in MSP). While there I interviewed for a fantastic job and we moved to Oahu the following month. Being from Chicago, the best Hawaii 747 was UAL 1 going to and UAL 2 coming back. We learned a lot of tricks such as when we used miles to upgrade (only 2 classes then) we received a 20% bonus for 1st Class and ORD is 8400 miles roundtrip, we earned another upgrade with each trip! Also there were 16 seats upstairs that we quickly booked each time. We had our own flight attendant! They closed that loophole eventually. So many cozy trips sleeping up there. We talked about maybe some day they will have beds in 1st Class? Lo and behold, voila!

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  5. Look at the size of those seats!! Men actually have room for their shoulders – how many are 34″ chest to fit in a 17″ wide seat? And how about ‘man-spread’ – how many of those knees stay in the 17″ in many airline seats today without encroaching on the neighbors?

    Oh, for the good old days… 747 was great

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  6. My one and only 747 flight was from Chicago to Los Angeles. I just finished my jet engine technical training in January 1972 and was heading home for leave. I was wearing my Class A uniform and about to board when a passenger asked me what seat I was assigned to. Once the pilot removed the seatbelt sign this man came back and asked if I wanted to have a drink in 1st class. It was a marvel to see how beautiful this cabin was. I’ll never forget that trip.

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  7. My 2nd flight to Hawaii was back when I was around 18 years old, before deregulation. It was on a PCS government fare, so the upgrade to 1st class was only around $200. This was all the money in the world to me back then but I did it, and no regrets. I remember the Piano bar upstairs, the movie downstairs on the big screen with candy and popcorn served. A great memory and I’m glad I did it.

    In current times, the sleeper seats on the American Airlines 777-300, 777-200, 787-9 and 787-8 are the real deal with the International hard product. Glad I have EP status, it helps with upgrades. Service is hit and miss. The Delta One product out of Atlanta is excellent on their A350. United flies a domestic 1st class on their 777, not great.

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  8. My first 747 flight was World Airways in the 1970’s. The last was KLM in the mid 2010’s.

    Enjoy your updates, always read them. We were on the last flight from the mainland OAK-LIH before Kauai was shut down due to covid. We went to Hawaii 3 times during covid, paid more for the tests that the tickets!

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    1. Hi Leonard.

      Thank you. Appreciate your input. Jeff hit a World Airways 747 as well. Look forward to hearing from you again.

      Aloha.

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  9. I flew the 747 in the early 70’s with British airways at 280.00 Canadian return!! Seemed like a lot back then. My friends and I sat in the upper level and since it was our first flight ever, thought it was all quite normal! Those were the days!
    Charlie

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    1. My first 747 flight was on Pan AM in 1980, flying from SFO to Auckland, NZ with a midnight connection in Honilulu. Other notable 747 trips include Tokyo, Hong Kong, and the Pan AM milk run from JFK to Nairobi and everywhere in between. Really enjoyed NW Orient across the Pacific many times, a class act.

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  10. My first of 37 vacations in Hawaii was in first class on a TWA 747 and I continued to do so until American took them over. Now, whether it is on American or Hawaian, it will never be the same as that unbelievable experience.

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