With all the interest in flying "the Queen of the Skies" you'd think it would be in their interest to continue using the plane, not scrapping it, even if it costs a bit more to run. The divergent attitudes of "We're really proud of this plane. Send us your memories and "We're scrapping it" are hard to reconcile.
Lots of money to run these and very few people really care. You're looking at a very odd set of the market here - most people wouldn't realise... In fact, due to the fact they aren't getting refitted, most people I know who are aware of UA 747s actively avoid them if in Y.