Data Tool: The Future Of The Boeing 747 Fleet

Credit: Boeing

On Dec. 6, manufacturing giant Boeing rolled out the last 747 aircraft from its Everett assembly site in Washington, ending an unprecedented 55 years of continuous production of double-deck, twin aisle aircraft. The last 747 will later be flown by a Boeing test pilot, painted and delivered to cargo and charter carrier Atlas Air in early 2023. 

However, the widebody aircraft will continue to operate over the next decade, particularly 747-8 freighter aircraft. The data below illustrates that a total of 27 aircraft will return to service in 2023 and 2024. 

Beyond then, it shows the expected retirement rate increase for the 747 aircraft. Aviation Week’s 2023 Fleet & MRO Forecast shows that a total of 179 aircraft will retire over the next decade, with 747-400 aircraft having the highest retirement rate. 

 

Source: Aviation Week Intelligence Network Commercial Aviation 2022 Fleet & MRO Forecast

Prachi Patel

Prachi Patel is a London-based Associate Editor for Aviation Week's MRO editorial team. She writes news articles and designs data infographics for Aviation Week's commercial aftermarket output.

Comments

1 Comment
I love the data and the story you're trying to tell, but have to say this is a very poor usage of pie graphs. 2 747SP retirements get more area of the pie than 12 200/300 retirements? Then to re-use the same pie below for in-service with different numbers.

What are the doughnut charts telling me? It's duplicative data from the larger pie and the areas again don't make sense. Is this as a percentage of total fleet?

Gives me more questions then answers I'm afraid.