United Airlines
United took 68 Boeing 747s and flew the type for 47 years, ending with a San Francisco to Honolulu service on 7 November 2017.
United Airlines took 68 Boeing 747s and flew the type for 47 years.
The last flight
On 7 November 2017, United operated its final 747 service from San Francisco to Honolulu — deliberately re-flying the route its first 747 had operated in July 1970.
Cabin crew wore period uniforms, the catering was 1970s-themed, and tickets sold out in 90 minutes.
Six weeks later Delta flew the last scheduled 747 revenue service by any US passenger airline. No American airline has carried passengers on a 747 since.
The irony of the American fleet
US carriers gave up the 747 comparatively early — United in 2017, Delta days later — while American freight operators went the other way entirely.
Atlas Air now has the largest 747 fleet in the world, UPS the second largest, and Kalitta, Polar and National all fly them. There are more American 747s working today than there were when United retired its passenger fleet; they simply do not carry people.
The cabin
United’s 747-400 international layout, complete with its lie-flat first class bed, is among the seat maps on this site.
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Airlines that flew the 747
Every major Boeing 747 operator — the launch customer, the biggest fleets ever flown, who still flies the 747 in 2026, and when the rest said goodbye.
Pan American World Airways
The airline that ordered the 747 into existence, flew the first service in 1970, took 65 aircraft, and was gone by 1991.
Japan Airlines
The largest 747 operator in history at 108 aircraft, and the airline Boeing built three special high-density variants for.
British Airways
94 Boeing 747s, the largest 747-400 fleet in the world, and a retirement brought forward four years by COVID-19.
Singapore Airlines
93 Boeing 747s, the Megatop 747-400s, and a retirement in 2012 in favour of the 777 and A380.
Lufthansa
81 Boeing 747s, the launch customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental, and the last major airline still flying the type.