Korean Air Sells Five Boeing 747-8s, To Become "Doomsday Planes"

Same situation with Air Force One which is a B747-200 series and getting very old. Boeing is converting two (?) B747-8 as replacements at extraordinary cost.

Same will happen when these Korean B747-8s are converted to military standard. In America, we like to spend BIG money on new technology.

Yet, the last batch of B52s were built in 1963, some 60+ years ago ...go figure!!

Air Force One and Korean Air have a very similar colour scheme too. Easy swap job.

B52's have the largest payload capacity, massive range, but more importantly are way cheaper to maintain per flight hour than a B1 or B2.

Believe they are also one of the only planes in the USAF fleet that can carry certain types of weaponry, including nukes.

B-2s can carry nukes, B-1s can't. Nuke capability was removed from the B-1s as a result of US-Russia arms control treaties.

Obviously, I think it’s quite sad. They are the most beautiful, graceful planes flying. I could see dumping the bulky, clumsy looking A380’s, but not the 747-8 planes.

Boeing’s days are numbered. That said, if the truth were known, we’d ground so many jets that the world would enter recession.

That's too bad. So few passenger 747-8s remain in service.

@Brian L.

It has everything and nothing to do with arms control.

There was no more mission for B-1 with nukes. They were design as high speed low altitude penetrators. Stealth and better SAMs meant B-2 has more survivability. More powerful and accurate ICBM SLBMs also filled in the gap.
So the B-1 was sacrificed for a mission it didn't really have anymore. But the Soviets didn't know about the B-2 then.

We are going to see Chinese built airliners here in the US within 20 years.

If people won't fly Boeing, they're sure as hell not going to trust COMAC

Ahh yes. Have to love your tax dollars going towards a $13 billion contract so the government elites can survive while we all die

Glad I got to try one of these in upper deck business, even if it was a 2 hour flight. Seats are much better than their A380s.

The one thing I never had a chance to do was fly economy on the 747 upper deck.

Because there is not a fixed amount of wealth in our economy, means that the wealth of some doesn’t cause poverty for others

IMO they're both f'ugly as all hell.

The difference is that the Hunchback still has secondary resale value... while the Whale Forehead has none.

So Korean's taking advantage of that, while it can.

If people won't fly Boeing, they're sure as hell not going to trust COMAC

Except that no one other than AvGeeks and maybe a few ex-employees "won't fly Boeing."

The other 99.9% of passengers either have no idea what kind of aircraft they're on, or don't care so long as the price/timing is right.

And yes, if a COMAC ever gets certified by the FAA/CAA/EASA, then plenty of Westerners will hop right aboard.

there is not a fixed amount of wealth in our economy, means that the wealth of some doesn’t cause poverty for others

First: LOL

Second, "wealth" and currency are not the same thing, and there are indeed fixed amounts of the former (within given temporal periods) that require selective allocation for "effective" distribution.... hence the existence of multiple Congressional committees designated for that express purpose.

Lastly, not only does your statement make zero sense in that regard, but any graph of productivity vis-a-vis compensation (from 1973 onward), laughs in your face at the very idea.

latter*

Well I’m glad I flew First a few years ago. One of my least enjoyable. Left after midnight from JFK. A weak lounge experience but starting too early with champagne then coffee to stay awake until the flight, and I’m just not a fan of Bibimbap.
OTOH I slept really well :-). Enjoyed Seoul
Maybe from Atlanta some day,
I’ll keep enjoying Lufthansa's Queens of Sky !

i still prefer flying Boeing over any airbus. And this is from a person who flies close to 90 segments a year - with the majority on Boeing and the remainder on Embraer E175's. I've flown airbus planes 3 times in the past 2 years and that was more than enough.

No. MAYBE Boeing Commercial Airplanes MAY be done but Boeing is also #5 in defense contractors by Defense spend.

Boeing isn't going anywhere. And even as a stragetic asset BCA might not even go anywhere.

A340 best looking plane ever.

The question then becomes with the Gov giving 13 Billion to the firm, who gets the privilege to fly in case of doomsday? Surely those in charge caused the doomsday so why should they be saved from their stupidity?

nothing unique about how the a340 looks though. people complain about the twin engine planes always look alike but i doubt most people who are not already airplane nerds could of told the a340 apart from the 707 dc8 or il96.

Wow, your post has some indecipherable stream of consciousness style going on there...

Only in your world.

Obviously 747_8s are Not obsolete ,if altered they will fly during Nuclear War : Altered of course ,but in dangerous skies nonetheless; ,As 4 engine Wonders still outlive they're competition .

The current Nightwatch planes typically serve as the main air transport method of the U.S. Secretary of Defence. You can find videos of it transporting Secretaries of Defence around the world, e.g. for NATO summit. Let’s hope that’s all this next generation fleet will have to do in their service life