Mumbai: Mumbaiites living in the vicinity of the airport might have witnessed something highly unusual — and somewhat scary to the untrained eye — on Monday morning. At 10.47 am, a huge Boeing 747 with the Air India colours took off, tilted to its left and then to its right, before flying away into the skies.
No, this wasn’t anything to be worried about. The jumbo jet had done a “wing wave”, a highly-skilled manoeuvre used to mark a pilot’s final flight or the retirement of an aircraft. In this case, it was the latter.
Air India is bidding adieu to its four last remaining Boeing 747s, marking the end of an era for the iconic jumbo jet in the country. The airline has sold all four Boeing 747-400s to AerSale, a US-headquartered aftermarket aircraft broker, since it was becoming uneconomical to keep operating them as the industry shifts towards more fuel-efficient aircraft. Boeing stopped producing the wide-body airliner last year after a 53-year run.
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Monday saw the departure of Agra, the first of the four jets, from Mumbai airport, which was their base. One more is expected to fly off soon, while the other two aren’t in a flightworthy condition and will be disassembled for their parts, according to industry sources. Air India had appointed Skytech AIC, a UK-based remarketing firm, to dispose of the jets, which were deregistered in 2022. All four were acquired between 1993 and 1996, according to aviation portal AeroTime.
Air India posted a video of Agra’s wing wave on X, along with the message: “Today, we wave goodbye to the first of our last ‘Queen of the Skies’, the B747, departing Mumbai. Thank you for an era of majestic flights. We’ll miss your iconic presence.”
Long history
Air India’s history with the B747 dates back to April 1971, when the aptly named Emperor Ashoka landed at Santa Cruz airport. It had 16 first-class seats and 40 business-class seats. Air India eventually grew its B747 fleet to 31 that year across three variants: 747-200, 747-300 and 747-400.
The decision to sell off the B747s was a nostalgic and bittersweet moment for Indian aerophiles, pilots, and aviation enthusiasts.
“My father was an Air India Boeing 747 captain who flew the Boeing 747-200 and 747-300 variants in the ’70s and ’80s. As a child, I would stand at my window and see the Boeing 747s, including those flown by my father, take off. In those days, the sound of the 747’s four Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines was unmistakably unique. I could identify them by sound before I could by sight,” said Debasish Chakraverty, an aviation enthusiast who watched Agra take off from Mumbai for the last time from the terrace of his apartment building in Santa Cruz.
“I find it heartbreaking that after providing over half a century of yeoman service, there will soon be no Air India Boeing 747s left in India. It would have been wonderful if Air India or the Ministry of Civil Aviation had preserved one of them after their retirement for public display, as many of the world’s airlines such as British Airways and Qantas have done,” he added.
Apart from regular passenger flights, Air India’s 747s were also used to fly top dignitaries, including former prime ministers. “I have very fond memories as a child flying in these airplanes, which my late father Deepak Bhagvati used to certify as an aircraft engineer and also convert into flying mansions for the late Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other prime ministers who used to go for state visits in them,” said Captain Mihir Bhagvati, president of the Bombay Flying Club.
“This will be the end of a golden era of aviation. These jets won’t return since the aviation industry wants economical and eco-friendly aircraft with a lower carbon footprint. We will miss the queen of the skies forever.’’
Air India last year placed purchase orders for 470 jets — the largest aircraft order in the world at the time — from Boeing and Airbus.
