United to make San Francisco its Boeing 747 hub
Want to spot a United Airlines 747? Then you might to make plans to visit United's hub at San Francisco International Airport in 2013.
United says it plans to base most of its fleet of Boeing 747s there, a move that the carrier hopes will streamline maintenance and improve the reliability of its fleet.
That's according to FlightGlobal.com, where correspondent Edward Russel writes: United "says that the concentration of spare parts and tooling at the airport will allow it to reduce maintenance issues ahead of the summer 2013 travel season, in an employee newsletter on 19 December."
The move will be noticed by passengers, with United shifting 747s to some new routes as a result of the change.
FlightGlobal.com reports United will switch from Boeing 777 service to 747 service next year on the following routes:
- Chicago O'Hare-Tokyo
- Honolulu-Tokyo Narita
- San Francisco-Frankfurt
- San Francisco-London Heathrow
- San Francisco-Osaka
- San Francisco-Kansai
- San Francisco-Taipei
United's existing 747 service between Los Angeles and Sydney will remain, according to FlightGlobal.com.
"These moves, along with other fleeting changes, give us the ability to focus resources where they can do more to support reliability across all of our fleets," Barry Beacher, United's line maintenance planning managing director, is quoted as saying by FlightGlobal.com in United newsletter that announced the change.
With the change, Beacher says O'Hare resources now will focus on Boeing 767 and 777 checks, FlightGlobal.com reports.