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Official: Final United Boeing 747 Flight Was SFO-HNL on 7 Nov 2017 {SOLD OUT}

Old Sep 18, 2017, 1:29 pm
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Last edit by: expert7700
News Release Issued: September 18, 2017 (3:17pm EDT)
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"Friend Ship" Will Recreate the Journey of the First United 747 Flight from 1970

United's final international 747 flight from Seoul to San Francisco departs October 29

CHICAGO, Sept. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of United Airlines retiring the Boeing 747 from its fleet, United flight 747, on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from San Francisco to Honolulu will be the airline's farewell flight to the 747 fleet.

This journey will serve as the ultimate throwback for customers, employees and invited guests as it recreates the first 747 flight operated by United in 1970. From a 1970s-inspired menu to retro uniforms for flight attendants to inflight entertainment befitting of that first flight, passengers will help send the Queen of the Skies off in true style. The original United 747 aircraft that first made this journey from San Francisco to Honolulu was named the "Friend Ship," the same name bestowed on this farewell flight.

Seats on this special, one-way trip, United flight 747, are available for purchase now at united.com or through the United app. The seats in the upper deck will not be sold, giving all guests the opportunity to spend time in this iconic space.

Customers seated in United Polaris first class and United Polaris business class will be entered into a drawing that will take place at the gate prior to boarding for an opportunity to occupy one of a select number of seats in the upper deck during the flight.

The journey will begin with a gate celebration at 9 a.m. local time at San Francisco International Airport, featuring a Boeing 747 gallery, remarks from United employees and executives, as well as refreshments. The flight will depart San Francisco International Airport at 11 a.m. local time, landing at Honolulu International Airport at 2:45 p.m. local time. Upon landing in Honolulu, local employees will welcome the aircraft with final festivities to close out the historic day. Customers and fans of the Queen of the Skies are encouraged to use the #UA747Farewell hashtag in social media posts.
United and the Boeing 747 through the Years

April 13, 1966: Boeing announces it will build a 490-passenger 747 transport. Construction is set to begin in June on a new plant in Everett, Washington.

January 3, 1967: The first production workers for the 747 program arrive in Everett. The 50,000 who would produce the world's largest civilian airplane were known as The Incredibles, and they earned the label by bringing the Jumbo Jet dream to reality in only 16 months.

September 30, 1968: The first Boeing 747-100, City of Everett, is rolled out at their Washington plant, painted with the insignias of the 27 airlines that had already ordered the aircraft including United.

February 9, 1969: The Boeing 747-100 makes its first flight.

January 21, 1970: The Boeing 747 makes its first commercial flight from New York to London for Pan American World Airways.

June 26, 1970: Continental Airlines becomes one of the first carriers to put the Boeing 747 into U.S. domestic service, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles and onward to Honolulu.

June 26, 1970: United Airlines receives its first Boeing 747-100 complete with a christening ceremony fit for a luxury liner.

July 23, 1970: United makes its first Boeing 747 commercial flight, with a trip from San Francisco to Honolulu.

January 1977: A modified Boeing 747-100 is delivered to NASA to serve as a carrier vehicle for the Space Shuttle.

April 22, 1985: United announces its plan to acquire Pan Am's Pacific routes, as well as 11 Boeing 747SP planes. The 747SPs feature a 48-foot-shorter body and fly higher, faster, and farther than standard 747 models.

January 29-30, 1988: Friendship One, a Boeing 747SP owned by United Airlines, sets the around-the-world air speed record of 36 hours, 54 minutes, and 15 seconds. This special flight raises $500,000 for children's charities through the Friendship Foundation. Tickets cost a minimum of $5,000, and special guest passengers included astronaut Neil Armstrong, famed test pilots Bob Hoover and Lieutenant General Laurence C. Craigie, and Moya Lear, the widow of Lear Jet founder Bill Lear.

June, 1989: United Airlines receives their first Boeing 747-400 which provides increased range.

August 23, 1990: The first of two modified Boeing 747-200Bs is delivered to the Air Force for presidential transport. Better known as Air Force One, these planes still serve the president today, having replaced the Boeing 707-320Bs that had served as the presidential aircraft for almost 30 years.

September 1996: A 747SP previously flown by United is transformed into NASA's SOFIA, or Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, which carries a 17-ton, 8-foot-wide infrared telescope mounted behind an enormous sliding door.

June 28, 2014: Boeing delivers the 1,500th 747 to come off the production line. The 747 aircraft is the world's first wide-body airplane in history to reach the 1,500 production units milestone.

January 11, 2017: United announces that it will retire the Boeing 747-400 fleet in the last quarter of 2017.

July 28, 2017: United schedules a special domestic flight from Chicago O'Hare to San Francisco to allow more people to say farewell to the Queen of the Skies.

October 29, 2017: United flies its last international 747 flight from Seoul to San Francisco.

November 7, 2017: United celebrates the retirement of the Boeing 747 with a fitting full-circle moment. A special retro event sees the aircraft flying from San Francisco to Honolulua nod to its first-ever flight back in 1970.
Flight Status Link
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ARE YOU ON THIS FINAL 747 FLIGHT?

FT Handle -- seat (optional)

ORD4R - 2A
tcdtcd and son - 450pm return to ORD - 2K/3K
kevanyalowitz - 3H (will trade for 1A/K!)
jdivenere - 4A
UA1flyer - 4C
CO FF - 6K (return to LAX on HA2 @ 3:45pm or UA 534 @ 9:45pm)
ctownflyer - 7A
JSpira - 9K
EWR764 - 19G - return @ 420pm to EWR UA62
ChiTownMuggle - 20D
Ruhr - 20H
pushmyredbutton - 20K
greg99 - 21D
BThumme - 22A - return @ 945pm to LAX
goldelite8 - 22G
Trijet1011 - 24A
MRY Flyer +1 - 24 H&J
Cybertronic - 25H
Sykes - 33C
ZRS70 - 33H
eklapper - 34A
plc44 - 34K
Pat89339 - 35C
CaptKornDog - 36C
eap+1 - 40HK
ual763 - 51k
expert7700 - 36K



Seatmap below shows FTers in red. Valid as of 11/6.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrwq0gdcdb...FTers.jpg?dl=0

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Official: Final United Boeing 747 Flight Was SFO-HNL on 7 Nov 2017 {SOLD OUT}

Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:34 pm
  #76  
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K MM, Accor Plat, Htz PC, Natl ExEm, other random status
Posts: 2,876
I was told that the res supervisor couldn't force an overbook, which under the circumstances in question, she could normally do. I suspect that UA has never had a flight fill so fast. They were having all sorts of seat assignment problems - disappear, reappear, etc.
greg99 is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:35 pm
  #77  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K, Citi Prestige, AMEX Platinum, SPG Gold
Posts: 720
Originally Posted by MRY Flyer
Looking forward to one final 747 flight....
I understand that this may be the final 747 flight people make on UA, but won't 747s be around on other airlines for a while? LH has a 19-strong fleet of 747-800s in service they aren't likely to retire anytime soon. I suspect many of us will find ourselves on some model of 747 (even if not a -400) many times after this final UA flight.
ftweb is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:38 pm
  #78  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seoul
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Posts: 983
It would be nice but just doesn't make sense for positioning for me... I'll just fly KE next year or something if I want my 747 fix.
warrenw is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:44 pm
  #79  
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I purchased a flexible flight earlier that day and waitlisted myself for the 11am.
zrs70 is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:47 pm
  #80  
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: SEATTLE, WA USA
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Absolutely AMAZED how fast this sold out! Within 15mins all F was gone. United if you're listening you need the return HNL-SFO now, surely that will also sell out.
JHIN is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 10:50 pm
  #81  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: COS/DEN
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My concern is if I waitlist....there's no way I'm gonna clear as a lowly silver.
CaptKornDog is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 11:16 pm
  #82  
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Announced and sold out while I'm at the airport dealing with IRROPS and heading home, figures.

Ah well, I'm very happy I avoided the rush and said my farewells on SFO-ICN earlier this month (from 1A/K). The buzz was building to the point that it was inevitably going to be difficult to get in on this anyway - surprised they even bothered selling anything lower than M (or even Y).
findark is online now  
Old Sep 18, 2017, 11:51 pm
  #83  
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
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Originally Posted by CaptKornDog
My concern is if I waitlist....there's no way I'm gonna clear as a lowly silver.
Wouldn't waitlisting for seat availability be different than upgrade waitlisting? I would think it would clear strictly by request time, irrespective of status. Don't know - just speculating.
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 12:03 am
  #84  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: COS/DEN
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Posts: 693
Originally Posted by IAH-OIL-TRASH
Wouldn't waitlisting for seat availability be different than upgrade waitlisting? I would think it would clear strictly by request time, irrespective of status. Don't know - just speculating.
I've been trumped on regular, non-standby flights several times because of status. Particular during IRROPS. Have started as high as 1 or 2 then fall to 8 or 10 or even lower on some occasions.


https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/flightstatus/standby_FAQ.aspx

Edit: just called Premier desk again, they said it's still completely booked and they aren't taking waitlist. (Or so they told me.)
CaptKornDog is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 12:07 am
  #85  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: BDL/NYC/BOS
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logistically speaking, could the return flight be a non-stop HNL-VCV? or would UA need to do some fleet exit work at SFO prior to sending her off to the desert?

i’m thinking a return trip HNL-SFO is necessary. perhaps that will be for NRSAs only?
riphamilton is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 5:58 am
  #86  
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Now I am seeing a ton of available aisle seats in E-, some middle seats in E+, and other scatter seating across the econ cabin.

Some folks have cancelled their reservation?
Repooc17 is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 6:27 am
  #87  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
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Originally Posted by Repooc17
Now I am seeing a ton of available aisle seats in E-, some middle seats in E+, and other scatter seating across the econ cabin.

Some folks have cancelled their reservation?
Not likely, still shows F0 J0 Y0, may be UA just playing around with reserved seats?
gokeeper is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 6:41 am
  #88  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Originally Posted by Repooc17
Now I am seeing a ton of available aisle seats in E-, some middle seats in E+, and other scatter seating across the econ cabin.

Some folks have cancelled their reservation?
Doesn't show availability on site nor phone again.
CaptKornDog is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 6:50 am
  #89  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
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DATA POINT: Y CAN be waitlisted, put one FTer on Y wait list last night and cleared this morning. Anyone who is willing to pay ~$1600 for this flight call your travel agent... or pm me, I am happy to help at no charge.




Last edited by gokeeper; Sep 19, 2017 at 10:31 am
gokeeper is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2017, 6:53 am
  #90  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: COS/DEN
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Posts: 693
Originally Posted by gokeeper
DATA POINT: Y CAN be waitlisted, put one of FTer on Y wait list yesterday and cleared this morning.


How does waitlisting work in this case? Can you cancel online or something if you don't clear...say in 2 weeks/when do you pay? What magic combination words do I have to say because I've been told several times "no" lol? And that they had "no idea" how long any list was.

Do you work in reservations, is there a way you can help me?
CaptKornDog is offline  

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