Anybody Want a 747?

FOR SALE--1970 ten-door Boeing 747, radio, heater, factory air cond., 365 bucket seats, only 1,000,000 actual miles. Asking $22 million. Call 877-7880.

They are not yet taking out ads, but some airline executives are earnestly trying to get rid of a number of their jumbo jets. In an industry that is just beginning to turn the corner to profitability, the big bird has become something of an albatross.

National Airlines has been looking for someone to buy its two 747s "since the day they were delivered," says one executive of the company. Braniff ordered two jumbos but, with help from Boeing, arranged to sell one of them to Universal Airlines, a charter carrier, before the plane ever left the factory. TWA officers are willing to part with one or two of their 19 jumbos if they can find a buyer. Pan Am chiefs would welcome an offer to buy or lease one of their 747s.

Several airlines are simply trying to avoid using their jumbos in order to save money. United has postponed delivery of four 747s from mid-1971 to early 1973. Pan Am is keeping two jumbos in mothballs in Wichita, Kan., and is leasing three more to Eastern Air Lines. World Airways canceled its order for three 747s many months ago.

The 747 is a fine plane, liked by most passengers and pilots. But with business still less than exuberant, the lines find it hard to fill enough seats on the big plane to make money on some routes. To lure passengers, several lines are removing some of the vacant seats and replacing them with bars, pianos and lounges. TWA, for example, has cut its capacity on a jumbo from 342 to 318 seats. Many lines seem to prefer the new tri-jet Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011. Both have a shorter range than the 747, but they are cheaper to buy and have about 100 fewer seats. Ten of the nation's dozen major scheduled carriers have ordered 169 of the tri-jets; by contrast, they have 107 Boeing jumbos in their fleets--and only eight more on order.

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