DBWI: Pan Am Receives First Passenger Boeing 2747

Delta Force

Banned
Pan Am has just received its first Boeing 2747. Although the passenger cabins, full bathrooms, restaurant, and cinema seem interesting, purchasing subsonic long-haul aircraft just screams of desperation. I mean who wants to spend a day flying across the Pacific in a glorified freighter when you can take the same trip in only two and half hours in a Convair 3900? It looks like Pan Am is just trying to find a loophole in CAB's price structure and maximize profits on the few routes they still dominate since they started this hub and spoke model fiasco.
 
Maybe if the deregulation bill passes the house, then Pan Am could stuff that plane full of seats for coach at really low prices. But who really wants to sit in a coach seat for 14 hours non stop?
 
I've now flown both and am partial to the 2747. Sure, it's slow, but what a nice trip. Good food and booze, and a nice smoking room into which you can retreat for a cognac and cigar before retiring for the evening.

Sure, the Convair is fast -- and there's a place for that for certain business travelers -- but the narrow seats, narrrow cabin and rushed food service make it feel like riding on a bus or one of those dreadful "low cost carriers" that operate domestically. Plus, the speed of the trip means you pay an awful cost in terms of jet lag once you arrive.

I say half the fun of a trip is in getting there and, in that respect, Pan Am still delivers.
 

NothingNow

Banned
Sure, the Convair is fast -- and there's a place for that for certain business travelers -- but the narrow seats, narrrow cabin and rushed food service make it feel like riding on a bus or one of those dreadful "low cost carriers" that operate domestically. Plus, the speed of the trip means you pay an awful cost in terms of jet lag once you arrive.

Not to mention how damn expensive flights on an SST are (the average is about six times the cost of a 1st class ticket on any given route.) Even on the 3900s, there's still only 160 very cramped seats, versus the minimum about ~300 seats on a 747SP that'd be used to cover the same route.

Pan Am's always been a lot better than that, with the really comfy convertible bunks and the actual lounge on their 747s. The same with KLM.

Still, renaming the 747-8 to the 2747 was a stupid decision on Boeing's part. It's not that visibly distinct from the rest of the line. Even if it is that much cheaper to run, and longer-ranged.
Especially since the 787 didn't become the 2767 and the 737 MAX family aren't getting renamed either.
 
Top