American Airlines
American Airlines flew 747-123s on transcontinental services from March 1970, converted six to freighters after the oil crisis, and later used two ex-TWA 747SPs on the Dallas/Fort Worth–Tokyo route until 1992.
American Airlines ordered the 747 in November 1966, among the first airlines to commit, and launched its jumbo service in March 1970 — initially using aircraft leased from Pan Am while awaiting its own.
The transcontinental era
The 747-123s flew the routes where American’s traffic was densest: New York and Boston to Los Angeles and San Francisco, plus Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Hawaii. The aircraft were the airline’s flagship, marketed with the “Astroliner” name.
Then came the 1973 oil crisis, which made a four-engined aircraft that was often half full expensive to operate. American pulled eight from passenger service and had six converted to 747-123SF freighters, entering cargo service in late 1974. The passenger -100s were retired by 1984–85, replaced by DC-10s more suited to the routes.
Two frames worth remembering
One American 747-100, N9668, was sold to NASA in 1974 and became the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA, which ferried Space Shuttle orbiters across the United States. Today it is preserved at Space Center Houston. Another, N9675, was leased to Universal Pictures and appeared in the 1974 film Airport 1975.
The 747SP interlude
American returned to the 747 in a small way in 1986, buying two 747SPs from TWA for the long, thin Dallas/Fort Worth–Tokyo Narita route. The SP’s combination of extreme range and small capacity was exactly right for a route with premium traffic but not enough of it. The MD-11 took over in 1992, ending American’s 747 story.
Related
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the primary and institutional references below.
- Boeing 747 operational history — Wikipedia
- American Airlines' jumbo years — Airways Magazine
- All about American Airlines' 747s — Airport Spotting
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