I know that in the 1990s, when UA still had the MIA focus city, they flew 747s on long-haul routes until the 777s came online.
What routes did they fly? Were they brought in from ORD and/or IAD? When were they replaced by the 777?
I can still remember being in the car on the westbound Dolphin Expressway nearly twelve or thirteen years ago, and seeing a UA 747 Classic streak overhead through the night sky on final for Runway 30.
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6079 posts, RR: 56 Reply 2, posted (3 years 8 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 2820 times:
The 747-100 was used on the MIA-EZE route. Think it stayed in MIA during the day.
The777Man
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73G From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 127 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (3 years 8 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 2810 times:
I don't have specific dates, but for a period in 1994, Flight 915 operated CDG-IAD-MIA-EZE with a 747SP and returned as 914 the next morning. It was ultimately replaced by a 763 before the MIA hub was closed.
Cschleic From United States of America, joined Feb 2002, 1029 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (3 years 8 months 4 days ago) and read 2617 times:
They still flew them in the 90's. I recall flying tje 747 classic in 1995 both ways ORD - MIA to connect to a flight to Chile. The 747 went on to somewhere in South America I think. But there were enough of them in MIA that, when returning and getting ready to fly MIA - ORD, when there was a mechanical problem, we all got off the plane and headed to the empty one sitting at the next gate. The entire crew walked over to the other 747, started it up, and off we went with only a short delay. Those were the days, and it wasn't that long ago!
LAXintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22023 posts, RR: 51 Reply 8, posted (3 years 8 months 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 2404 times:
The 747 (and later 777) often did MIA-HAV-MIA charters during their daytime layovers.
I can also recall flying SFO-MIA with a 747SP early 90s.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
Aces727 From Colombia, joined Oct 2005, 173 posts, RR: 2 Reply 9, posted (3 years 8 months 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 2137 times:
I recall in the mid 90's United had the 747 serving EZE. South America flights departed at around 11PM from concurse F. In the late 90's United offered a daily (I believe 6AM) flight out of Miami to O'Hare on the 777.
OB1504 From United States of America, joined Jul 2004, 2966 posts, RR: 8 Reply 10, posted (3 years 8 months 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 1993 times:
So the 747 definitely operated UA 985 SFO-MIA-EZE, and UA 984 EZE-MIA-SFO.
Quoting Cschleic (Reply 5): I recall flying tje 747 classic in 1995 both ways ORD - MIA to connect to a flight to Chile. The 747 went on to somewhere in South America I think. But there were enough of them in MIA that, when returning and getting ready to fly MIA - ORD, when there was a mechanical problem, we all got off the plane and headed to the empty one sitting at the next gate.
If there was a second UA 747 on the ground, what deep South American destination did she fly to?
I'm guessing it would be GRU, but why would UA keep it on the ground all day rather than cycling it back through one of its hubs?
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 8): The 747 (and later 777) often did MIA-HAV-MIA charters during their daytime layovers.
I can also recall flying SFO-MIA with a 747SP early 90s.
The MIA-HAV-MIA flight, at least in 1999, was UA 9023/9024, departing MIA at 08:00 and returning at 11:15. By then, it was operated by a mix of 763s and 772s, and I believe it operated more or less daily.
For some reason, the preferred gate for that flight was Gate F9 (back when it could accommodate a 777), to the extent that the gate controllers at MIA still remember it more than ten years later.
Now, where did the 747SP fly? Was it used interchangeably with the 741/742?
Cschleic From United States of America, joined Feb 2002, 1029 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (3 years 8 months 11 hours ago) and read 1439 times:
Quoting OB1504 (Reply 10): If there was a second UA 747 on the ground, what deep South American destination did she fly to?
I'm guessing it would be GRU, but why would UA keep it on the ground all day rather than cycling it back through one of its hubs?
Don't know. We were going to/coming from Santiago, but that was on a 763. I don't recall if they said anything about where the other plane would have gone. The one we were supposed to be on had an warning light issue, I think, so maybe it was repaired in time to take the other plane's flight. This was about 8:00 in the morning, after the overnight flights arrived. Maybe the other one wasn't scheduled to leave until mid-day. I think they had more than one 747 going MIA - ORD at that time.
OB1504 From United States of America, joined Jul 2004, 2966 posts, RR: 8 Reply 14, posted (3 years 8 months 10 hours ago) and read 1421 times:
I've seen photos of UA 747s remotely parked at MIA during the day, so I'm guessing there was a time when they just idled rather than fly back to the hubs.
Surely one of the people who worked there at the time can fill us in?
AA B777-200 From Netherlands, joined Mar 2001, 503 posts, RR: 5 Reply 15, posted (3 years 8 months 9 hours ago) and read 1360 times:
I did the AMS-IAD-MIA flights a lot and it was funny to see the a/c change so often on the IAD-MIA stretch. I did it on a 752, 763, 772 and 747.
Unfortunately I never made it to their 747 SP, although I did see it scheduled on that stretch!
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