MSGID: 2:292/854 1a0a2948   
   REPLY: 2:250/1@fidonet 5f5e4473   
   VC> Retiring the 47-4 is hardly surprising as they are 20 or more years old   
   VC> and costs for maintenance as spares etc are getting harder to find and VC>   
   are a lot more expensive making the a/c just too expensive per seat mile.   
       
   Bollocks.   
       
   The 747-400 is still fully supported by Boeing and all the spares remain   
   available ... new spares ... not recovered ones from scrapped aircraft.   
       
   It's 2 other elements that determine the demise of the 747-400 ...   
   fuel-consumption and the nearing of the D-check.   
       
   The 747-400 burns more than the 777-300ER with a comparable load-factor ...   
   fuel is killing it. The seat-price per hour is too high in these unreliable   
   times.   
       
   With the lastone delivered in 2009 there are still some relatively young   
   enough airframes around, but it just isn't competitive anymore ...   
       
   The kicker though to ground them is that the close to 20-year airframes are   
   nearing their next expensive D-check and it isn't worth it anymore. Mojave and   
   Pima and Teruel's taxiways are already full of parked 747-400's. They're   
   scrapped everywhere even at small airports such as Twente in the Netherlands.   
       
   Technically they could be kept flying easy for another 10 years.   
       
   VC> The 380's could be improved subject to engines by upgrading .../   
       
   Airbus launched plans for an A380-neo and Emirates commited to it, but the   
   plan went nowhere...   
       
    \%/@rd   
      
   --- DB4 - August 7 2020   
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