英国航空公司决定让所有波音747客机退役
有人告诉她有个像天堂一样的地方
乘坐747客机飞过水面
是的，我们生活在一个现代化的世界
——电光乐队，“呼唤美国”（1986年）
波音747大型客机历经半个世纪的飞行生涯面临终结。
上周五，英国航空公司旗下的31架波音747-400客机全部提前退役，约占英航客机总数的10%。
英航在一份声明中说：“怀着沉痛的心情，我们提议波音747机群全体退役。”
英国航空公司是目前全球最大的波音747-400型客机的航空运营商。汉莎航空也拥有13架波音747-400型客机，另外还有19架747-8型客机。中国航空公司和印度航空公司仍然运营着少量的波音747-400型客机。达美航空和美国联合航空于几年前陆续将旗下的波音747客机退役，法航在2016年也做了同样的事情。
一般来说，飞机退役的主要原因是燃油效率。这种四引擎双层的波音747客机，对那些急于减排的航空公司来就不那么合适了。
空客曾经的竞争机型A340面临着类似的情况，其更新换代的A380也是如此。事实证明，很少有航线真的需要一架巨型飞机。
英航在上周五表示，“虽然飞机在我们心中永远都有个特殊的位置，但未来，我们准备在所需燃料更少的空客A350和波音787上运营更多的航班，以帮助我们在2050年前实现净零碳排放目标。”
但今年的新冠疫情严重冲击了国际航空业，加速了原有的趋势。如今，英航正准备裁员12000人。
业内预计，乘客数量至少需要几年时间才能恢复。对航空公司来说，继续维护那些很快就要退役的大型飞机意义不大，更明智的选择是使用小型飞机，减少运营成本。
英航原定于2024年让最后一架波音747-400退役，该公司称，“受新冠疫情影响，我们的‘空中女王’将不太可能再为英国航空公司提供商业服务。”
1970年，泛美航空成为世界上第一家将波音747客机投入商业运行的航空公司。一年后，英航也开始运营波音747客机。在1989年至1999年的十年间，英航共运营了57架波音747-400型客机。（财富中文网）
编译：于佳鑫
有人告诉她有个像天堂一样的地方
乘坐747客机飞过水面
是的，我们生活在一个现代化的世界
——电光乐队，“呼唤美国”（1986年）
波音747大型客机历经半个世纪的飞行生涯面临终结。
上周五，英国航空公司旗下的31架波音747-400客机全部提前退役，约占英航客机总数的10%。
英航在一份声明中说：“怀着沉痛的心情，我们提议波音747机群全体退役。”
英国航空公司是目前全球最大的波音747-400型客机的航空运营商。汉莎航空也拥有13架波音747-400型客机，另外还有19架747-8型客机。中国航空公司和印度航空公司仍然运营着少量的波音747-400型客机。达美航空和美国联合航空于几年前陆续将旗下的波音747客机退役，法航在2016年也做了同样的事情。
一般来说，飞机退役的主要原因是燃油效率。这种四引擎双层的波音747客机，对那些急于减排的航空公司来就不那么合适了。
空客曾经的竞争机型A340面临着类似的情况，其更新换代的A380也是如此。事实证明，很少有航线真的需要一架巨型飞机。
英航在上周五表示，“虽然飞机在我们心中永远都有个特殊的位置，但未来，我们准备在所需燃料更少的空客A350和波音787上运营更多的航班，以帮助我们在2050年前实现净零碳排放目标。”
但今年的新冠疫情严重冲击了国际航空业，加速了原有的趋势。如今，英航正准备裁员12000人。
业内预计，乘客数量至少需要几年时间才能恢复。对航空公司来说，继续维护那些很快就要退役的大型飞机意义不大，更明智的选择是使用小型飞机，减少运营成本。
英航原定于2024年让最后一架波音747-400退役，该公司称，“受新冠疫情影响，我们的‘空中女王’将不太可能再为英国航空公司提供商业服务。”
1970年，泛美航空成为世界上第一家将波音747客机投入商业运行的航空公司。一年后，英航也开始运营波音747客机。在1989年至1999年的十年间，英航共运营了57架波音747-400型客机。（财富中文网）
编译：于佳鑫
Somebody told her that there was a place like heaven
Across the water on a 747
Yeah, we’re living in a modern world
—Electric Light Orchestra, “Calling America” (1986)
The original jumbo jet, Boeing’s 747, is nearing the end of its runway after half a century of service.
On last Friday, British Airways management signaled the early retirement of all 31 of the carrier’s 747-400s. That’s about a tenth of BA’s total fleet.
“It is with great sadness that we can confirm we are proposing to retire our entire 747 fleet with immediate effect,” BA said in a statement.
Until now, BA was the world’s biggest remaining operator of 747-400 passenger flights. Lufthansa also owns 13 of the craft, along with 19 of the newer 747-8 model, while Air China and Air India also still operate a handful of 747-400s. U.S. carriers such as Delta and United retired theirs a few years ago. Air France did the same in 2016.
Generally speaking, the big reason for the retirements is fuel efficiency; the twin-deck, four-engine 747—whose 64-foot-high tail is as tall as a six-story building—is of little use to airlines that are desperate to cut emissions.
Airbus’s once-competing A340 is in a similar situation, as is its far newer A380. Contrary to expectations, it turned out that very few routes really require a giant plane.
“While the aircraft will always have a special place in our heart, as we head into the future, we will be operating more flights on modern, fuel-efficient aircraft such as our new [Airbus] A350s and [Boeing] 787s, to help us achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” BA said at last Friday.
But the pre-existing trend has been accelerated by this year’s coronavirus pandemic, which abruptly killed off most international travel and has forced airlines—many of which were already contemplating slimming down—to scramble for survival. BA itself is bracing for as many as 12,000 job cuts.
The industry expects it will take at least a few years for passenger numbers to recover. In the meantime, it makes little sense to keep maintaining giant planes that were soon going to be retired anyway; the smarter option is to use smaller craft that allow carriers to retain their valuable slots at major hubs without spending so much in operational costs.
“It is unlikely our magnificent ‘queen of the skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic,” BA, which was originally planning to phase out the 747-400 by 2024, said.
BA has been operating 747s of one variety or another since 1971, a year after Pan Am became the world’s first airline to put them into service. It took deliveries of the 747-400 model in the decade between 1989 and 1999, at one point operating 57 of them. (Only Japan Air Lines had more, with a fleet of 100—the last of which was retired in 2011.)
