How the Boeing 747 in Hawaii upended travel and brought costs down by 50%. The rest is fascinating history.
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46 thoughts on “Boeing 747 In Hawaii | Amazing Half-Century”
How the Boeing 747 in Hawaii upended travel and brought costs down by 50%. The rest is fascinating history.
My first 747 flight was from San Francisco to Honolulu in 1982. I couldn’t believe how big it was both outside and inside. Since then I have flown over 1.5 million miles around the globe in lots of different planes but my favorite is still the 747. I haven’t yet experienced the A380…who knows…will my favorite change? I suspect not because the 747 is part of so many memories. Including four round-the-world trips and one trip from Taipei to Hong Kong in the cockpit of a Cathay Pacific 747…obviously before 911.
What a great plane!!
One of my earliest memories of flying is having a meltdown because I lost a stuffed animal in the bin on the upper deck of a TWA 747 STL to either HNL or KOA. I was also apparently very good at falling asleep just at the right time to be carried down the spiral staircase from the upper deck.
I was a flight attendant in the early 70s and was lucky enough to be able to work some flights on a 747. They were indeed luxury flights. Oh to have the good ole days back!!!
Forgot to mention, our flight was on a Pan AM 747. Also enjoyed the first class lounge upstairs. Thank-you Pan Am!
Remember flying TWA 747 from STL to HNL in the 90’s. The check in at the gate was always a shambles with so many people. I also remember the foot stools in First used to collapse. TWA had sunk to rock bottom by then. The 747 though was always my favorite and so sad to see them relegated to a few 8i’s with Lufthansa, Korean Air and a Chinese carrier. It was a beautiful plane and a joy to fly. The larger size led to less bumping around in light chop and it felt so spacious. The 777, 787 and A350’s are OK but they definitely traded passenger experience value for cost cutting.
Your statement saying if you ever see another 747 in Hawaii it will be cargo, is untrue. Korean Airlines flies a 747-800 from Seoul on a daily basis right now.
My very first 747 flight was Honolulu-LAX on Continental in 1973.I’ve also flown Qantas, United, TWA and Pan Am 747’s to/from HNL. I flew Hawaii Express numerous times between LAX and HNL but it was always on DC-10’s. I didn’t know they had 747’s
Air Force 1 still flies to Hawaii.
It was both London and Europe but never Hawaii.
My husband & I had the absolute pleasure of flying United’s 747, flight Heavy 1, Chicago to Honolulu,Heavy2,Hon to Chicago about 35 times.We belonged to mileage plus so we were able to upgrade to 1st class. We dressed up and felt our vacation began we boarded our flight.champagne and orchids everywhere,including on dinner plates, in bathrooms.Flight attendants treated you like royalty and were so friendly. And the food…oh, the food!So comfortable, the sometime 11 hr flight was a total joy!
We consider ourselves so blessed to have been a part of the 747’s history! Mahalo United, for the wonderful memories!
I was 10 years old when I experienced my first 747 flight, which was with SAS between JFK and Copenhagen in December 1971. The plane was a 747-283B “Huge Viking” (pronounced “Hoo-geh Vee-king”) (reg. SE-DDL). It was a very fascinating experience on that first flight, especially during the takeoff, feeling the power of all four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A turbofan engines with the smooth hum as the airliner climbed into the night sky and reaching cruising altitude where the engines would have a soft gentle roar. We returned home on the very same plane in January 1972. Since then, I have flown many of them. More than any other widebody I’ve flown.
The Pioneer and historic
Pan American Airways, we miss it
with those luxury services .
Thanks for bringing it up.
Looking forward to see more.
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My first 747 flight began in April 1983 with a NW 727-200 flight from PDX-SEA the night before. There were 6 people on that flight, including my 3 other family members, stayed at the Red Lion hotel SEATAC, and stayed up all night watching SEA flight activity. Morning flight was SEA-HNL on a 747-200. Beautiful flight, window seat, insane takeoff. Miss the 727, 747, and also the DC-10. Will be sad when there are no more 757’s. Those are my fave planes of all time.