As uncertainty reigns over the 5G rollout in the USA, Lufthansa has pulled its flagship Boeing 747-8 from U.S. routes today, substituting three routes for 747-400s without a first class cabin.
Lufthansa Pulls 747-8 From USA Routes, Adds 747-400
First Class passengers on Lufthansa are in for a rude awakening today when they show up at the airport and discover their first class suites have been swapped for what many consider one of the least competitive business class products in the sky.
Currently, Lufthansa offers 747-8 service on the following routes from Frankfurt:
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Newark
- San Francisco
But “as a precaution” (a Lufthansa spokesperson declined to provide any further detail), today’s Miami flight has been cancelled and service to Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco has been swapped to a 747-400. The Newark flight does not operate on Wednesdays.
While 747-8s are in the schedule for tomorrow, be prepared for the same last-minute swap as occurred today.
It’s such a strange world in which Boeing has refused to address the matter with the press, leaving all of us guessing as to what is actually going on.
First it was the 777, then the 787 too, and now the 748-8 as well, but not the 747-400. What makes the 747-8 unsafe on the altimeter?
And it merits mentioning that all of this is based upon speculation: from every document I have reviewed, there has not been a single conclusive case of 5G actually causing interference with aircraft altimeters.
> Read More: Boeing, FAA Leave Airlines Hanging On 777, 787 (and now apparently the 747-8)
CONCLUSION
How ironic that the 747-8 is not okay, but the older 747-400 is fine. Maybe it’s time for airlines to return to the desert and start dusting off L-1011s and DC-10s…
For first class passengers on Lufthansa today, I’m truly sorry for your loss…hopefully you can reschedule your trip.
Lufthansa has only removed the 747-8 from its schedule today, but unless the 5G issue is suddenly resolved in the coming hours, I would expect such swaps to continue.
image: A Lufthansa 747-8 lands at LAX
I know there’s no way to answer this with any certainty, but what do you think the odds are that the 747-800 is flying again by, say, next Thursday, the 27th? Just ballpark…
I really have no idea at this point. I hope this issue will be resolved by then, but I have my doubts.
Mr klint…thank you for being so clear with the bureaucratic back and forth the airlines, government ,and corporate America put us revenue generating population through.
Continue keeping us citizens up to date
I just flew 747-8 first class from FRA to ORD on Friday (1/21), so I presume the issue is resolved. Glad I didn’t see this article before the flight or I would have been upset.
Just my luck when I decide to book one of my aspirational redemptions (LH F) it gets pulled. I am hoping it is just for a week,
I’m in the exact same boat. Booked on the FRA-ORD flight in F next week, total bucket list redemption. Fingers crossed…
The Business & First product look identical to me.
What?!
It is possible that the older -400 series did not utilize the technology being used on the 777/787/747-800.
While the 777 has been in service for a long period of time, perhaps the newer 777 models and others leverage the similar 5G frequencies that is of concern at this point.
Pure speculation on my part, but that would make the most sense, given my understanding of what’s been happening.
My understanding is that other countries using 5G is using a different set of frequencies to carry that technology standard on. So it’s really a misnomer to say 5G is the issue; it’s more the frequency that has been allocated to use 5G by the wireless carriers is the problem.
Plenty of blame/responsibility to go around; between the FCC, FAA, Boeing, etc. for not dealing with this in a much earlier time frame. The selling of that spectrum for use took years, so there was plenty of opportunities for all parties to address/remediate this.
You should look at the latest article on Air Current. Jon Ostrower reported that a CRJ-200 radio altimeter went to O on approach to Palm Beach Airport and this happened multiple times. So this is not speculation but this issue has happened already.
I cited that story in my earlier post. It is not at all clear if that is due to 5G.
I’ve been looking at travel to IST in the fall. Up until this past weekend, all of Lufthansa’s ORD-FRA and SFO-FRA flights were listed on 747-8 aircraft. Now they’re all showing A340. Very disappointing.
FAA comes under Pete buttigieg. Who does FCC come under?
They both need to be fired.
If only there was a website where you could go and google for more information on the FCC.
The decision and actions for something concerning FCC regulated frequency/spectrum takes far longer than a year or so. The wheels have been in motion for years, and likely culminated now. But the opportunities to address this goes much further back than the current leadership.
Without some investigative research, it’s speculation who and what organization(s) should take the blame. For example, FCC started releasing bandwidth back in 2016, so there’s definitely a lot of time and people/organizations to have gotten involved before it got to this point.
Have you asked the internet? They know everything about everything, including sudden urges to expose one’s biases.
Is it related to fly-by-wire technology? 747-8 is the first 747 model to have that.
LH 402 FRA-EWR is operating with the 747-8 today
It seems the issues have been resolved by the telecom companies turning off he signal around U.S. airports.
Not resolved. Postponed, as the phone companies made it clear, out of the goodness of.their heart alone.
Funny you should mention DC-10s, as they’re on FAA’s list of aircraft running approved altimeters.
My guess is that the higher level of automation in the -8 makes it more susceptible to, for example, having the thrust reversers locked out.
Boeing used to be a great company…..when the engineers were in charge.
Now the sculpted beard having, skinny jeans wearing, latte guzzling MBA types from New York run this company for their hedge fund overlords.
What a shame.
And before you berate me for jumping on Boeing, consider–
Airbus doesn’t have this problem.
Boeing (and FAA+FCC+airlines) had two years to figure this out. TWO years.
Boeing is hiding in a cave throughout this debacle, perhaps afraid more skeletons would trundle out if they opened their mouths.
What is the product on the old 747-400? Does it still have both first and business but just old seats?
I know some of their planes only have business and don’t even have first class.
Also kudos Matthew thanks for all the wonderful coverage today as always, loved all the articles!
Any updates on Lufthansas 747-8i now that FAA put out an AD on 1/27/2022?
(Hope by May it’s cleared up…I like the seats I picked)
It’s back.
Thanks.
Hoping the next 3 months bring smooth skies and best health to everyone…It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a Queen (35 years?)