Last 747 Flights
Delta retired its 747 fleet for the second and final time in 2017, replacing the 747-400 with more compact and efficient, twin-engine aircraft, such as the Airbus 350. The drawdown began on September 30, 2014, when three of the 16 Boeing 747-400s inherited from Northwest Airlines retired.
The first Boeing 747-400 ever built—Ship 6301—retired from service on September 9, 2015, after logging more than 61 million miles. You can now tour it as the 747 Experience at the Delta Flight Museum.
Delta's last scheduled domestic 747 flight was intended to be an overnight flight with Ship 6309 (N669US) leaving Los Angeles for Detroit on September 5, 2017. However, with Hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida, Delta added new flights ahead of the storm to assist evacuating passengers, including several roundtrip 747 flights between Detroit and Orlando on September 8 and 9, 2017.
In December 2017, Delta became the last U.S. airline to retire the Boeing 747, ending 47 years of service by Northwest Airlines and Delta combined.
- Last U.S. departure, DL159A, left Detroit on December 18, arriving at Seoul-Incheon on December 19. It was a recovery flight for the original Dec. 17 flight (DL159), cancelled due to lack of pilot staffing. The unique DL159A flight number was assigned to the delayed 747 flight departing on Dec. 18 as there was already an Airbus A350 scheduled to fly as DL159 later that day.
- Final scheduled revenue flight, DL158, left Seoul-Incheon on December 19, 2017, arriving in Detroit on December 19.
- Ship 6306 (N666US) flew both final revenue flights. It was the ninth 747-400 built, and the oldest one flying in the world. Ship 6306 first flew on July 31, 1989, and was delivered to Northwest on August 18, 1989.
Delta also took a 747-400 (N674US, Ship 6314) on an employee farewell tour: Detroit to Seattle on December 18, with a special stop at Everett's Paine Field, home of Boeing's final assembly production line that produced the 747 fleet; Seattle to Atlanta on December 19; and Atlanta to Minneapolis-St. Paul on December 20.
In its final days with Delta, the 747 flew charter flights, carrying NFL and college football teams to championship games. Between December 22, 2017 and January 2, 2018, the 747 visited the following airports: ATL, BUF, DFW, DTW, EWR, FLL, GSP, LAX, MSY, SAN and SEA. Ship 6306 and Ship 6310 (N670US) were withdrawn from service on December 26, leaving Ship 6314 as the final 747 in Delta's fleet.