Word: 747s
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...into the air. His wing cleared the fuselage of the crossing plane by a mere 50 ft. There were 501 people on the two jets. They had barely avoided what would have been the world's second worst air disaster, akin to the 1977 collision of two Boeing 747s that killed 582 people on a fog-shrouded runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands...
...strapped himself into a spruce-and-wire rig down in St. Louis in 1910 and chugged over a field at 50 ft., waving his fedora. You could pick up a couple of those planes from Orville and Wilbur Wright in Dayton for about $10,000. The price of the 747s, which ultimately will come close to $300 < million including crew training, support units and spare parts, is gargantuan even when compared with the famous Boeing 707s introduced by Ike and raised to sad splendor by Kennedy and Nixon. A pair cost about $15 million...
...third worst airline disaster in history, exceeded only by the 1977 collision of KLM and Pan American 747s in the Spanish Canary Islands that killed 582, and the 1974 crash of a Turkish DC-10 near Paris that left 345 dead. More alarmingly, however, the sudden and inexplicable plunge of the Air India craft had the earmarks of terrorism. "It is most likely a bomb," said Mike Ramsden, editor in chief of the aviation magazine Flight International. "A bomb is the most likely reason for a catastrophe, so sudden and complete, to an aircraft with a very fine safety record...
These planes have established an exceptional safety record during the past two decades. Since two engines have never failed independently on a modern airliner, industry experts now consider the twins safe for the long Atlantic crossing. The 767s, which are both smaller and lighter than the 747s and other aircraft they will replace on these routes, consume less fuel and require only two pilots instead of three. Thus they are about half as expensive to operate. TWA says, however, that tickets on two-engine flights across the Atlantic will cost the same as those on The 767 will fly further...
...money-losing air freighters and put fuel-efficient Boeing 737s on flights in Europe. Pan Am's remaining 28,000 employees (vs. 36,000 in 1980) were persuaded to take a 10% pay cut. Meanwhile, the airline poured $25 million into upgrading its fleet of 747s and adding other goodies to lure paying passengers: fancy wines and champagne (including Dom Perignon on some flights), caviar in first class on long hauls and better food in general. Also planned: a $20 million refurbishing of Pan Am's Worldport terminal at New York City's Kennedy Airport...