Why are so few ordering the 747-8 pax ?

[JSACKS 0]

OK, chaps, you can laugh, but the airlines WILL come around sooner or later. The 748 will be superior.I shoulda been a salesman for Boeing, hah !JS

[RFields5421 1]

Yes they will - but Boeing has a problem - they built the B747-400 and the B777-300 so well that there is no financial advantage to replacing them before the other birds get very old.

[JSACKS 0]

VERY true! They are the DC-3s of our lifetime, eh ?JS

[mgh 89]

Airlines regard their aircraft as money-making machines. Manufacturers' sales teams will be trying to convince the airlines that their aircraft will be a few cents cheaper to operate per passenger mile.Words like "magnificent aircraft", "beautiful new interior, lights, seats", "the best jumbo jet the world has ever seen" and "enormously popular with so many" will have no real effect on the decision to purchas.

[JSACKS 0]

Yeah, (sigh!), I guess I really am living in the past. I remember that Boeing built the 747 some 40 years ago because they wanted to see just how big an aircraft they could build and they were pushing the envelope for style, speed, adventure, risk, and so on. In the old days, people would buy into that stuff for a lot of reasons.I am sorry aviation has become the pig of a business it now is globally. It's miserable compared to what it was. A friend of mine bought me a huge heavy book for my birthday recently called "Gourmet and Glamour In The Sky", by George Banks. It weighs about 5 lbs. and is a gloriously illustrated book about cabin service since it first began 90 years ago. It proves to me that I was not dreaming, that once upon a time--until about 1990 or so--it was a fun and exciting experience to fly internationally and see the world.Not any more. I'd almost rather pay not to fly.Simming is a lot more fun than real life these days. I can imagine it's still 1964 as I taxi my VC-10 to EGLL 32L for takeoff to Cyprus or New Delhi. Now THAT was when flying was great.Anyway, "Long Live The Queen!"JS

[mgh 89]

Yes it was - for the few who were rich enough to afford the fares.

[Guest Eek]

>Yes it was - for the few who were rich enough to afford the>fares.Perhaps the government should have stepped in with a Poverty Passenger program. :-hah EwingKATLAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a store, not a government agency.MSI K8N Neo2 PlatinumAMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0 GHz2GB Corsair PC-3200 512x4 Dual Channel CL2.5 DDR DIMM eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3Sound Blaster Audigy LSOCZ Powerstream 420WWinXPPro (SP1)

[RFields5421 1]

They did. Ever see a stretch DC-8 military charter....Sardines have more room in their can.