Yesterday's aircraft of tomorrow, today
On fuel efficiency, 60s fashion, and why the 747 may have a post-airline future
Boeing has announced a special program under its Boeing Business Jets division: A “turnkey” service to convert 747s into VIP long-haul private jets. Most of the airlines that used to fly the 747 don’t anymore, having modernized to newer aircraft that promise better fuel efficiency per passenger-mile flown. The raw laws of market forces decide much of what flies and what doesn’t, no matter how sentimental some slices of the public might be over the waning of the 747.
■ The reason people on the ground care about the plane is the same reason it might just survive an unlikely revival as an oversized business jet: The 747 is big and distinctive. The bulbous upper deck and four engines make it simple enough for even a kindergartener to recognize, so the types of people who have huge budgets and a demand for private travel might well be able to satisfy the act of very conspicuous consumption by getting a 747.
■ The number of individual playboys looking to light their money on fire may be rather small, but there’s a fair chance that the offer might entice a few professional sports teams. Others with smaller travel demands are probably more likely to stick with smaller, faster planes closer-suited to their wants.
■ It is, however, a tribute to the value created by good design that Boeing would even bother to market a plane that is nearly 60 years old as a modern business jet. Almost any other 60-year-old design you might encounter for sale anywhere is probably being advertised strictly for its retro characteristics. Having a 747, though, puts the prospective buyer in the same customer class as the President of the United States. Unlikely as it may seem on the merits alone, there may yet be a few private buyers hoping to join that club.
