Airlines are using these 5 planes to replace the Boeing 747 jumbo jet
- The Boeing 747 jumbo jet's days as a passenger plane are numbered. In fact, Boeing admits that the future of the 747 is as a cargo plane.
- Over the past few years, many 747 operators have either retired or made plans to retire their jumbo jet fleets.
- Airlines have elected to go with smaller aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
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The jumbo jet's days as a passenger plane are numbered. The Boeing 747, once the go-to passenger jet for airlines around the world, is destined to live out its days as a cargo jet.
"The future of the 747 is in the cargo business," Boeing vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth told Business Insider at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow.
According to Boeing, of 42,730 passenger jets customers are expected to order over the next 20 years, only 60 will be aircraft similar in size to the jumbo jet. That works out to three Boeing 747-8s or Airbus A380s a year.
Unfortunately, there are way more airlines retiring their 747 fleets than there are adding to them. Last year, both Delta and United Airlines sent their aging 747 fleets to the scrap yard — marking the first time in nearly five decades that no US network carrier will fly passengers in a jumbo jet.
Smaller and more affordable twin-jets like the Boeing 777 have taken over as the industry's passenger-carrying workhorses. Their ability to deliver great range and performance at a fraction of the 747's operating cost make them virtually unbeatable.
The Boeing 747-8I lists for $402.9 million while the 747-8F is a few hundred grand more at $403.6 million.
Sadly, this means the writing is on the wall. The Queen of the Skies will likely go out with a whimper rather than a bang. Here's a closer look at the planes airlines are using to replace the Boeing 747 jumbo jet:
This article was originally published by Benjamin Zhang in August 2018. It was updated by David Slotnick in December 2019.