Delta Air Lines 747s Flying Into Retirement
By Edward Cardenas
ROMULUS (CBS Detroit) - Delta Air Lines is planning to retire the Boeing 747, which is one of the most iconic planes in long-haul air travel.
The jumbo jet, which flies routes on Delta from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to destinations including Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo, will be phased out by the end of 2017.
The announcement came in Delta's September Quarterly Report, where the retirement of the 747-400s was "part of its Pacific network restructuring."
Ed Bastian, Delta president, said in a conference call that the planes would be replaced with new Airbus 330s. The retirement should improve the Pacific profitability by $100 million next year.
There are 16, 747-400s in Delta's fleet of 743 airplanes, Forbes reported.
According to Delta's website, the double-deck Boeing 747-400 can accommodate 376 passengers and has a range of 7,365 miles.
Delta first took delivery of the Boeing 747 in 1970, according to the Delta Museum website.
Currently, there are no other carriers flying the 747 to Detroit Metro Airport.
This report was updated at 11:04 a.m. Tuesday.