Columba From Germany, joined Dec 2004, 5597 posts, RR: 5 Posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 13529 times:
What is LH's flagship aircraft right now the 747-400 or the A340-600 ?
By the size the 747 would surly win but the A340-600s has the better onboard product.
Which of the two is send to the more prestigious routes ?
Your thoughts ?
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
Bakersdozen From Canada, joined Nov 2006, 271 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 13395 times:
Depends what flagship means... Does it mean the "best" plane that would be sent on the premium routes to impress the most number of people/represent the quality of the company?
If yes although I've never been on it I would assume it would be the A340-600
Columba From Germany, joined Dec 2004, 5597 posts, RR: 5 Reply 6, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 13287 times:
Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 1): Just because of missing PTV in Y class it shouldn't be the flagship anymore?
I thought the A346s also have a better and newer business and first class as the 747 ?
Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 2): Seeing as "flagship" is mostly a creation of a.net, it is whatever aircraft you want it to be
It is not just an a.net creation, many airlines have referred to some aircraft as their flagship it has become a little out of date but the big major airlines apparently do so.
LH has referred to the A380 and the 747-8I as their new flagships.
Quoting Bakersdozen (Reply 4): Does it mean the "best" plane that would be sent on the premium routes to impress the most number of people/represent the quality of the company?
It sure is part of the definition....by that definition I would also claim the A346 as LH's current flagship and that is coming from a 747 lover.......
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
Burnsie28 From United States, joined Aug 2004, 6234 posts, RR: 16 Reply 7, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 13277 times:
Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 2): Seeing as "flagship" is mostly a creation of a.net, it is whatever aircraft you want it to be
Really? Then why do most airlines refer to certain planes as their Flagship? Just like UA and NW both call their 747's their Flagships and they did so long before A.net was around.
"Some People Just Know How To Fly"- Best slogan ever, RIP NW 1926-2009
Airbazar From United States, joined Sep 2003, 3885 posts, RR: 9 Reply 8, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 13196 times:
Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 1): Just because of missing PTV in Y class it shouldn't be the flagship anymore?
That too but to me the presence of F class first, and the number of premium seats second, is what dictates the flagship label. Some airlines today (AF), are configuring their 747s in a 2-class config only and operating them on predominatly leisure routes. If that's what LH is doing I would not call their 744s flagships.
WILCO737 From Germany, joined Jun 2004, 6141 posts, RR: 89 Reply 9, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 13163 times:
Quoting Columba (Reply 6): I thought the A346s also have a better and newer business and first class as the 747 ?
Nope, all 744s have the same business class.
Quoting Airbazar (Reply 8): That too but to me the presence of F class first, and the number of premium seats second, is what dictates the flagship label.
All LH 744s have F class. On the upper deck, 16 seats. Only some 333s, 346s and 343s have 2 class config.
Clydenairways From Ireland, joined Jan 2007, 170 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 13160 times:
When Concorde was in service it was the Flagship of both BA and AF even though it was a lot smaller than the 747.
I suppose a flagship is usually the biggest but it can be anything the Airline wants it to be.
If we look back at the ocean liner days the same was probably true about the biggest but you could also define a flagship as either the Fastest, Most Luxurious, Latest Technology etc.
MaverickM11 From United States, joined Apr 2000, 11861 posts, RR: 51 Reply 14, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 13026 times:
Quoting Columba (Reply 6): many airlines have referred to some aircraft as their flagship it has become a little out of date but the big major airlines apparently do so.
Quoting Burnsie28 (Reply 7): Then why do most airlines refer to certain planes as their Flagship?
It's a PR creation that a.net predictably fell for...
Stylo777 From Turkey, joined Feb 2006, 2225 posts, RR: 8 Reply 16, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 12770 times:
if we take flagship and premium aircraft than we only talk about the F class (and maybe C class) product. As both classes on LH are the same there is no difference at all, but as WILCO already mentioned not every 333/343/346 have a F class so they don't qualify for flagship
and also the 3-class 'busses have even less premium seats onboard than the 744.
.... and if you take the idea of clever DL767Captain into account the 744 is for sure always in any advertisement or video about LH (and even Fraport or the airport FRA)
Pnwtraveler From Canada, joined Jun 2007, 1199 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 12640 times:
The most luxurious plane I have ever flown on is an Air Canada Jetz plane. The seating chart was bizzare when I went online to change my seat. I though it must be a new version of the CRJ . It was subbed for a flight from YYZ to YUL on a Saturday morning so you know the route was lightly traveled. AC Jetz is the premium charter plane used by businesses, exclusive tour groups and mostly sports team charters. All J Class seating with the old sofa style first class style seats, 60 inch plus pitch in a A320. (also was on the 737 version before it was retired) Now would you call that AC's flagship?
I think Flagship is pretty meaningless unless you are talking a navy ship or something of the sort. It used to be a battleship, but now is either a special built ship or an aircraft carrier in the case of the US Fleet. The Admiral (Comodore for the Brits) is resident on that ship and his "flag" is displayed there. He commands a naval battle group from there.
As has been stated Flagship can be any aircraft you deem it to be and is so subjective it almost has no meaning unless you want to use it in a A vs. B flame war. Common use of the word leads one to believe it is the largest and most luxurious, so in the latter case would be the A320 of AC . Largest would be the 777. While I am usually a fan of size with aircraft I would change flights to get on the AC Jets aircraft. All in all doesn't make a hill of beans difference though.
FrmrCAPCADET From United States, joined May 2008, 616 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 12544 times:
Quoting Pnwtraveler (Reply 17): I think Flagship is pretty meaningless unless you are talking a navy ship or something of the sort. It used to be a battleship, but now is either a special built ship or an aircraft carrier in the case of the US Fleet. The Admiral (Comodore for the Brits) is resident on that ship and his "flag" is displayed there. He commands a naval battle group from there.
agreed
And it made a little bit of sense when ships were how you transversed oceans, to designate the finest ship in the fleet. And maybe in the 1930s when an airliner had a couple of long range routes. But in current airlines?
Buffet: the airline business...has eaten up capital...like..no other (business)
Thorben From Germany, joined Sep 2005, 3233 posts, RR: 4 Reply 21, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 12485 times:
The 747-400, for several reasons:
-They are bigger
-They create more revenue (or at least they should)
-They carry more pax
-They are known to more people
-There are more of them in the fleet.
The A380 will be the new flagship once LH gets it.
Pnwtraveler From Canada, joined Jun 2007, 1199 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 12424 times:
Good point. The flagship of the Pan Am Clipper flying boats were the ones that flew the longest route to South America or across the Pacific. It really wasn't a whole class of aircraft but rather the route and aircraft on that route.
LH498 From Germany, joined May 2007, 166 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 12398 times:
Quoting DL767captain (Reply 12): To me the flagship is the plane they use in their advertisements or all over their website...
I too agree fully with you. OTOH, the A346 isn't far behind, it appears a lot in LH's inflight videos.
However, if we take it a little bit further, then LH's true flagship is the B744 with the registration D-ABVA and the name "Berlin"; their first 744.
To me it appears as if she is the only 744 they take videos & pictures of, with the small exception of the Star Alliance 744.
330lover From Belgium, joined Jul 2008, 79 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 12366 times:
IMO the flagship of an airline is indeed determined by the ad's and promotion material they publish. A flag is what you can recognise the best of a country (or should be), the flagship is the one most people link to an airline.
This will mostly be determined by what the airline's management finds the nicest or the largest or the most impressive, ... An airline management now can choose the 744 as flagship. Recplace the management and they might choose 346, 380,...
DFWEagle From United States, joined Dec 2006, 334 posts, RR: 0 Reply 25, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 3 days ago) and read 12359 times:
Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 2): Seeing as "flagship" is mostly a creation of a.net, it is whatever aircraft you want it to be
I assure you, the term has been used in the airline industry long before A.net.
AA first used the term ‘Flagship’ when they introduced the DC-3 in June 1936 – over 72 years ago! They were the first to fly that type of plane commercially and it was the biggest and most comfortable plane in the fleet.
The DC-3’s were even given names like ‘Flagship Illinois’, which was the first one to enter service (on AA’s prestigious New York-Chicago route). They actually even did fly an AA flag out of the co-pilot’s window when the plane had landed.
The term ‘Flagship’ was chosen by C.R. Smith, who loved sailing and ships. It played a prominent role in advertising and branding for AA for decades.
I don't know if AA was the first airline to use the term or not.
Ryan in DFW
26 DABZF: I think the term flagship in aviation comes more from the prestige than size or anything else. To LH the 747 has the highest prestige. If you look at
27 Typhaerion: I think that the flagship of Southwest Airlines is the 737. I could be wrong though.... I would also say the same for Ryanair. I bet you any money tha
28 Revelation: Were you there to witness this? Darn, we'll be having lots more threads like this one then! I know this will be controversial, but to me, the A380-80
29 MaverickM11: It was just as meaningless then...
30 Manfredj: Definately not the case...Flagship has a true meaning of which cannot be distorted. Flagship means what it means...again you cannot distort the meani
31 AA388: on etihads website it cycles through images and when it gets to the A380 it is also shot from behind. IMHO it looks better when shot from the back. -
32 Zwaving: It must be a slow day in the airlines world or the chat lines are down or the wives of all have headaches. how else do we explain grown, intelligent m
33 EA772LR: You could say the same for women I think for the carriers operating A380s now and in the future, the A380 will certainly be the flagship. For it's si
35 LHFADUS: LH always refers to the A380 as their future flagship and the B747 as their current flagship.
36 GBan: I haven't seen the reference you claim for the 747-8. See http://a380.lufthansa.com/en/html/ueberblick/index.php: We have one aim with the A380: We w
37 Columba: It was and add last year where they stated that their new flagships the A380 and 747-8I will be the most fuel efficient aircraft around using around
38 OHLHD: Surely the 747! Why? DL767captian answered it for me:
39 Columba: My intend of this thread was to find out whether the 747 or the A346 is used on the more prestigious routes, I always thought that the 747 had an old
40 PZ: If you go to AA website, aa.com, you will see the nose of a M80... and I don't think the M80 is AA's flagship
41 DUALRATED: No comparision! 747 is Queen of the sky. A royal gathering...
42 Caspritz78: Probably not but no other plane than the MD 80 stands more for AA. The only other plane that stand for AA was the DC10. As much the 777 is a nice pla
43 Danfearn77: Its got to be the 744. I imagine the 748i will take over when its delivered.
44 Bobnwa: Well Burnsie, I've been around NWA for a long time, and I never remember the term flagship being used in any official communication.
45 DUALRATED: I could certainly be wrong but I think you are thinking of UA DC-10's and 747's which used the title friendship, Never heard the term flagship at UA.
46 DFWEagle: The AA aircraft nose ‘monogram’ as displayed on the website is not an MD-80 – its is a 767-300ER. It was not chosen because that is the flagshi
47 PZ: I'm pretty sure it is not a 767-300ER... looks more like a 757...
48 AirNZ: Sorry, but what are you talking about there? A Commodore in the Royal Navy is a rank between Captain and Rear Admiral. It is certainly not equivalent
51 DFWEagle: Compare it to these two pictures of AA 767-300ER aircraft taken from a similar angle -:
52 Viscount724: Actually it wasn't "Friendship" but "Friend Ship" (2 words), and it wasn't only on UA's 747s and DC-10s but on all UA types when they used that "4 st
53 DL767captain: It doesn't have to be the largest aircraft in the fleet to be a flagship, it could be their workhorse. But in this case i don't really count that pic
54 DUALRATED: Yes I am aware of the fact it is two words, but thank you for the correction. I must have written in haste.
55 LH498: So it seems after rather unanimous opinions: We have a winner!!!
56 797: Does the A346 have PTVs on Y? I heard they'd be all done by this year, but nobody has confirmed yet
57 Viscount724: Something else aviation-related was named Friendship (one word), and saw many UA Friend Ships. Friendship International Airport was the original name
58 United Airline: The LH B 747-400s will get AVOD/PTVs very soon. So I am sure it is/will continue to be LH's flagship
59 LHFADUS: You got any source for that? My source is a magazine only for LH-staff (Cabin What's Up) and there it says "no decision has been made yet wether the
60 EPA001: The lack of AVOD/PTV in several LH aircraft is to me the only downside when flying LH. The rest of their product is very good in my opinion. I always
61 DL767captain: Yes the A380 will become their new flagship but the 748 will still be the Queen. No fat stubby A380 is gonna change that
62 United Airline: It was announced before. Need to find it.
63 Caspritz78: I only heard the rumor on flyertalk from someone who attended a private LH-preferred customer meeting. The reason why the 747 or A343 didn't get PTV
64 Columba: When will the first 747-430 being phased out ? Does it makes sense to install the new seats for that time or would it not be worth it ?
65 ACDC8: I'm not sure the current flagship, but I'd have to put my money on the B747 since it's been used the most in LH advertising. But the A380 will become
66 Antskip: Judging from LH's own website, http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/us, it regards both planes as their present "flagships", just as it says tha
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From Germany, joined Dec 2004, 5597 posts, 
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I too agree fully with you. OTOH, the A346 isn't far behind, it appears a lot in LH's inflight videos.
From Belgium, joined Jul 2008, 79 posts, 
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