PRODUCTS & S ER V ICES
HIGH-DENSITY B747 CABINS
‘They’re squeezing in more seats – again!’ Jennifer Coutts Clay from Jetliner Cabins, the comprehensive
e-book app of aircraft cabin design, recalls big changes to B747 cabins in the 1970s
News reports describe high-density
cabins as a particularly agonising form
of millennial-age torture. However, while
cabin densification is directly linked to
holding down the price of current,
budget-level air fares, it is not a new
phenomenon.
In 1970, when Pan American (Pan Am)
launched the B747-100 aircraft (about
three times the size of its predecessor,
the B707), there were 304 economy-class
seats on the main deck, configured nineabreast.
This new market segment,
named ‘thrift class’, was the great
ambition of Juan Trippe, the airline’s
visionary chief executive, to develop
affordable mass air travel worldwide.
In June 1973, on its New York to San
Juan route, Pan Am flew densified B747-
100s, with a 10-abreast configuration
to accommodate 439 economy-class
passengers. Divider partitions were
structures were strengthened to
withstand the stresses of pressurisationcycle
changes and the impacts of
frequent scheduled landings. The aim
was to provide a 20-year economic
lifetime of 52,000 domestic flights,
with a 35-minute turnaround (instead
of the standard long-range B747-100
expectancy of 24,600 flights).
As operated by JAL and ANA, the highdensity
SRs were credited as an essential
element in Japan’s economic growth.
Starting in 1993, the SRs were replaced by
the B747-400D (domestic) variant, flying
568 seats – and certified for 660 seats
in all-economy configuration.Marketing
machinations will never cease
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removed and lightweight drapes were
used to separate the cabin zones.
In 1973, Japan Airlines (JAL) launched
the B747-100SR (short range) with 550
seats. This variant was developed for the
Japanese domestic market, which had
increased during the late 1960s by 20%
per year, averaging 85% load factors.
Designed as a ‘walk on, walk off’ shuttlestyle
aircraft, the airframe support
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Villinger Research & Development....161
WL Gore & Associates..........................222
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Wollsdorf International.......................... 60
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