BOEING 747s
G GOODBYE
development at Boeing. The
jumbo’s immense size and
long range offered the potential
to revolutionise the customer
experience as well as the
economies of ying. Additionally,
it could help the Australian airline
overcome several operational
issues, as David Crotty explains: “The 747
had greater yield than the 707, and during
the 1960s Qantas had a pilot shortage. The
747 appealed because of its greater capacity
without the need to increase pilot numbers,
which would have been necessary with a
larger eet of smaller aircraft such as the 707.”
But the 747 was not the only widebody
concept available to Qantas. In fact, both
Douglas and Lockheed were working on
widebodies which they pitched to Qantas.
The airline was ultimately drawn to the 747;
its longstanding relationship with Boeing was
a de nite plus. Additionally, the 747 could
enter service earlier than both the Douglas or
Lockheed products and it had superior range
and payload capabilities which suited the
majority of Qantas’ route pro les.
With the Boeing design meeting the
airline’s critical criteria, Qantas placed anorder for four 747-100s in 1967 and, as the
airline was government owned, the decision
was announced to the Federal Parliament on
November 2 that year. It passed unopposed
and included options on two additional aircraft.
Qantas changed its order from the -100 to
-200 model in early 1969. The newer variant
gave an improved range of more than 7,550
miles (12,150km), as well as a larger internal
space on the upper deck, which was utilised
as an exclusive rst class lounge.
The airline’s rst 747-238 was handed over
on July 30, 1971. It was powered by Pratt &
Whitney JT9D-7A engines and named City of
Canberra after Australia’s capital city. By theend of 1971 it had been joined by
VH-EBB City of Melbourne, VH-
EBC City of Sydney and VH-EBD
City of Perth. These new aircraft
allowed the airline to establish
regular 747 ights into Asia.
A further 12 passenger 747-
238s were delivered between
1972 and 1978, all powered by Pratt & Witney
engines. During this period Qantas 747s
became common sights across the airline’s
network, servicing cities such as London,
Bahrain, Singapore and San Francisco.
Additionally, the airline took delivery of
three Pratt & Whitney-powered passenger/
cargo ‘combi’ models between 1976 and- Registered VH-ECA through to ’-ECC,
these aircraft had a large freight door on the
port side of their aft fuselage so pallets could
be loaded while maintaining a passenger
layout in the forward cabin. It enabled Qantas
to carry freight on passenger routes where
the yield would not otherwise justify the
seating capacity of a 747.
EXCEEDING EXPECTATION
As new 747-238s came online, the airline
retired its remaining 707s, with the type’shttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 27Above: The airline’s rst 747-238, VH-EBA, was
handed over on July 30, 1971. Qantas
Main photo: Boeing 747-438ER VH-OEE, which
joined the Qantas eet from the factory in- Qantas