QF 744 retirement. Where is it at?

[Chris Z]

OEB is reported to be headed to Mississippi and she won’t be retiring as such.... to be chopped up into coke cans.

[Greg Hyde]

From Qantas source

QANTAS B747-400 VH-OEB Operates Final Passenger Flight.

Jun 2, 2019

QANTAS Boeing 747-48E VH-OEB operated it’s final passenger service this evening as QF73 Sydney – San Francisco.

[MarkR]

Originally Posted by Chris Z

OEB is reported to be headed to Mississippi and she won’t be retiring as such.... to be chopped up into coke cans.

Strangely enough she is at LAX at present

[James Smith]

After arriving in SFO, OEB flew QF6021 to LAX where, as Mark says, she is at present, possibly being prepared for a more sedentary life in the desert.

And then there was seven, U and the ERs.

[Rowan McKeever]

Originally Posted by MarkR

Strangely enough she is at LAX at present

QF has a maintenance facility at LAX where no doubt OEB is being stripped of usable parts before moving on to the next phase of her ‘life’.

[MarkR]

I’m well aware of the LAX facility, however it’s the first time I have see it used on a retiring aircraft. Perhaps due to the smaller fleet it has been thought prudent to locate spares at LAX off the aircraft or maybe this was previously done at Pinal and trucked across, if she is going straight to the scrappers that’s obviously not an option with her.

[James Smith]

OEJ did a 3 hour test flight yesterday after the completion of maintenance in HKT, so if all went as it should she will be on her way back to SYD shortly. The retirement of OEB and the return of OEJ after over a month and a half away is probably not coincidental to keep the number of operational 744s at seven.

[Greg Hyde]

OEB is more obvious since it did not terminate its service in LAX.

Most will spend some time (days) at LAX having useful (low time) parts removed and replaced with older parts.

They normally paint over the Roo on the tail.

Also, I expect they remove any QF specific IP (reset to factory settings)

[James Smith]

OEJ is scheduled to depart HKT shortly for its return to SYD after maintenance as QF6024 and is due to arrive at 6:20 tomorrow, Thursday morning.

[James Smith]

QANTAS is operating some one-off domestic 744 services late this year and early next year. These flights look to be scheduled services to position the aircraft for Antarctic flights from the respective cities and may be the last flights there before the retirement of the 744s in late 2020.

Qantas Airways in Northern winter 2019/20 season schedules limited-time Boeing 747-400 service on selected domestic routes, to/from Sydney. Planned operational schedule as follows. Note planned 747 operation remains subject to change.

Sydney – Adelaide
QF743 SYD1840 – 2015ADL 744 23NOV19
QF736 ADL1235 – 1500SYD 744 25NOV19

Sydney – Brisbane
QF524 SYD1200 – 1230BNE 744 09NOV19
QF529 BNE1205 – 1440SYD 744 11NOV19

Sydney – Melbourne
QF417 SYD0830 – 1005MEL 744 31DEC19
QF439 SYD1400 – 1535MEL 744 15FEB20

QF438 MEL1400 – 1525SYD 744 01JAN20
QF400 MEL0600 – 0725SYD 744 17FEB20

Source: https://www.routesonline.com/news/38...rvice-in-nw19/

Checking Antarctic flights website there are 744 flights scheduled from Adelaide on 24/11/19 and Brisbane on 10/11/19 which coordinate with the domestic positioning services. One Melbourne service is the New Year's Eve/Day Antarctic flight.