niavaran

Sorry but as a gold I find the fact that BA is retiring the 747s without any final flights, etc to be really disappointing. Most airlines do final flights, if only for the $$ if not out of respect for frequent flyers.

I genuinely don't get why they didn't keep this aircraft on one route. I would have paid 300K avios easy for a one way on the upper deck, or through the nose with cash. The CPT route definitely could support a 744 in the future in terms of demand. Now, because of their shortages in aircraft, they have to put CAI and MOW on 320neos. Do they think people will keep flying them when Aeroflot and even EgyptAir are offering flatbeds? BA management is both avaricious and incompetent, a unique achievement.

LondonElite

No airline can support the infrastructure (training, maintenance, technical, certification, etc) for a single aircraft. It makes no sense.

A P Yu

The capacity of the 744 is almost identical to that of the A350 - so if CPT has that Demand it can still be supported.

lost_in_translation

I'm not convinced being BA Gold is a qualification that means you have better insight than BA into how they should plan their fleet. If anything, it seems the fact you have strong opinions on aircraft types from previous flights is clouding your ability to think like the majority of BA passengers, who I would bet very much aren't willing to pay a premium of several times the normal price of Club World just to be able to fly on a 747 upper deck. Whilst a lot of airlines do final flights in normal times, right now I think you'll find airlines are retiring aircraft without fanfare left, right and centre. CAI and DME aren't being put on NEOs because of aircraft shortages, they are being put on NEOs because BA thinks it will make the most money (or lose the least money, probably, in the near term).

kaizenflying

I, too, am very sad and disappointed to see the 747 go and would also pay to experience them again but we have to accept that air travel and demand has completely changed. Gone are the days of spacious 747s to make way for the cramped and “efficient” 787s.

Scotflyer80

G-BYGF is planned to leave LHR for Cotswold Airport this afternoon.

BOH

The knock-on effect to other suppliers is also huge. With BA retiring some 30 or so 744's that is 120+ RR RB211s no longer need regular support and spares etc. With the rumoured 20+ 777s maybe going too, this could be another tranche of RR engines too (dependent of course on whether they are GE or RR frames being retired).

Fortunately RR have a military engines, industrial division and a nuclear propulsion arm too but the Civil Aerospace division is by far the largest.

niavaran

Not sure what I did to warrant such obnoxiousness in your response.
Being a BA gold gives me insight into why I choose to spend thousands of pounds a year on BA.

BA has treated its customers and staff really badly throughout this pandemic. Let me give a few examples:
1) Threatening to fire flight attendants and rehire them at 50% pay
2) waiting until April, May, June memberships were expired before they extended tier status
3) [insert item here]

I get that BA is a business that is designed to make money. But they rarely (read: never) take into account passenger comfort when making these decisions. As you said, they are putting CAI and DME on NEOs because they want to make money, with little regard for passenger comfort.

Before BA retired the 747 there were precious few reasons to fly them. Other airlines give upgrade vouchers at top tier, BA 0. Others don't charge $600+ for a business class redemption, BA does. The 747 at least had sentimental value and attracted me to the airline despite their abysmal value proposition.

As for the "majority of BA fliers" who differ from my "strong opinions on aircraft types", I beg to differ. There are many, many frequent flyers out there who would pay top dollar to fly the 747. This isn't a me problem.

opus99

It’s so funny when people complain that a commercial airline makes commercial decisions

tunis97x

There are rumours of 777 retirements as well??

opus99

20+ 777s ??? They dont even have a replacement for those

golfmad

This is an odd paragraph for me. On the one hand you're saying there were few reasons to fly with BA and complaining about redemption fees yet on the other hand you're hoping they will persevere with the 747 and charge you extra to fly? I grant you that the taxes/fees for redemptions are high but this is not new and frequent flyers have known about it for years. BA does hand out upgrade vouchers for its top tier flyers. I find your posts on this subject very emotional and not particularly grounded in reality.

Giblets

Don't think RR will suffer too much, they have a near monopoly on the A330, and a monopoly on the A350.

Rubecula

Sadly the BA747s are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

BA needs to take significant capacity out of its long haul fleet and the 747 is the obvious choice given its higher running costs, particularly due to 4 main engines. I regret it but understand it.

niavaran

I don't get what's so confusing. Let's break it down:
1. BA is a mediocre airline that imo does not treat its top tier gold fliers as well as its competitors do and has an abysmal FF program
2. Despite its mediocrity, I enjoyed BA's product on the 744 UD, and chose to fly with them because of it on my monthly BA217/216 or 293/292 in the summer months
3. Now that BA no longer has that product, I will be less inclined to give my business to BA in light of the fact that many other aspects of its operation continue to be mediocre.