Classic B747 from London to Boston 1990

Travel back in time to 1990, and join us for a flight by Classic British Airways B747-136 from London's Heathrow Airport to Boston's Logan Airport. Enjoy the comfort of the old BA first class (thanks to Dad's staff travel perks!), as we depart London, enjoy traditional on board comforts including the overhead movie screen, explore part of the cabin on this classic airliner, and finally land at Boston in the evening.

[@jvl4832]

Yes, 1990, no smoking sign , still have them but then you could still smoke on board, pull down screens to watch films. The everyday technological advances of the day , makes this a nostalgic trip for all of us who traveled then. Thanks for sharing!

[@jamieburroughs427]

In September 1990, according to this flight, smoking was allowed if it was an international flight (which it was - London to Boston) and if the flight was more than 6 hours (which I believe it is) 5:29 No Smoking sign dings off and flight attendant says it’s ok to smoke (if you are sitting in a designated smoking section).

[@Ben-xe8ps]

@@jamieburroughs427 In 1990 there were no regulations requiring an International flight to be in excess of 6 hours duration in order for smoking to be permitted. Have never heard of any such regulation and I was flying very often at that time. Smoking was normal on all international flights irrespective of duration and also on domestic flights in most countries at that time.

[@markstafford6290]

Barely airborne and those desperate smokers could light up lol

[@insitetoursirelandltd.5795]

What a Joy. I took a BA flight in 1990 from BFS Belfast to Manchester and then onto JFK. Reminds me of the excitement of my first time travelling on an airliner, never mind across the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks for sharing as I'm back there in my youth!

[@inflightexpert]

Awesome - such rare footage...thank you so much for uploading. I sure hope you have more of these! Wow how flying has changed. Cheers mate

[@peterfinn6098]

When flying was great and amazing with gorgeous food and comfortable seats in economy class. Crew used to hand out playing cards and magazines etc too. What a pity it’s not like that anymore

[@johanvandyk]

What a treat! An era when flying was still a grand occasion. Thank you for sharing.

[@RoadCone411]

Whoa...I am aging myself but I remember the early 1990s quite well! Flying across the Atlantic in 1990 was pretty similar to how it is today, if I can be honest, only with more comfy seats, better food and less IFE. In fact, you could even fly to London supersonic in 1990...can't do that today at any price! The B707 and later B747 really changed flying in the 1960s and 1970s, making it more affordable to the masses. By the 1990s, a trip across 'the pond' was pretty much as easy as it is now, although the lagging economy in general meant it may have been relatively more expensive back then. Fact is, flying from LHR to New York or Boston on British Airways in 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008 or 2018, would have likely meant you were on a B747 of some sort or another. It's kind of mind-blowing! (Other types to have flown those routes for BA during this same period include the VC-10, B767-300, L-1011, DC-10, B777-200, B757-200 and, of course, the Concorde. BA has also operated the A380 on the LHR-BOS route but not to JFK.) Love videos like this one. The old videotape quality makes it seem really, really old!

[@blooop9693]

Flying was not a grand occasion in the 90s. Maybe pre-1980.

[@Perich29]

flying was a grand occasion in the pre-2000 but after 9/11 it was very hard to fly because of higher security, and after pandemic, a require technology that you have to do it all youself.

[@spades911]

@@Perich29 I can confirm that crossing the Atlantic on a DC-8 was not a grand occasion and flying to Asia with no IFE was boring. Especially when the batteries in your Walkman died. Unless you were in business, which I wasn’t, it was meh. But this video is nostalgic nonetheless and I still somehow still long for those times.

[@kinkisharyocoasters]

@@blooop9693 yeah i don't think people dressed up

[@qjb75]

Smoking on planes! hehe what a thing of the past nowadays :-) Great video footage... very nostalgic :-)

[@georgepetrillo7316]

My family and I used to take trips from Miami to Los Angeles on a National Airlines Boeing 747 , flying first class. Loved going upstairs to the lounge. Also, did the Miami to Rome Pan Am 747 flights in Clipper Class. Those were the days.

[@wesbervig1272]

Imagine crossing the Atlantic on a sailing ship back in 1790. Over 20% of the ships never made it across the Atlantic; they were sunk in storms and gales. Think how lucky we are today.

[@RoadCone411]

Thank you, random fact guy.

[@alvexok5523]

Think of all the diseases people got back then too, polio, small pox, dypheria, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis. And people had to eat spoiled meat or starve, since there was no way to keep food fresh. That all improved somewhat in the second half of the 1800s when ice wagons and ice boxes became abundant, but they still weren't as helpful as refrigerators, which didn't become a common thing in households til around the 1930s

[@erwina4738]

@@alvexok5523 Now we have the coronavirus, imagine in 200 years when people from the future make fun of us for viruses, cancers, bacteria, etc. Wild.

[@alvexok5523]

@@erwina4738, it's funny, how just 11 months ago when writing that comment, I didn't even know that the corona virus existed yet. And I was thinking how things have come such a long way in the progress of medicine, and us not having the devastating outbreaks anymore we once had. We have been reminded now that medical science has not come as far along as we thought it had. Who knows if in another 200 years we won't still have these same type of outbreaks, if one super big one hasn't wiped us all out by then.

[@tombickers]

For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston, and so nevermore shall we see you again!

[@brownbarbie9572]

The technology on the plane brings back nostalgia. I miss riding in these classic 747.

[@jayd1426]

Beautiful. British Airways Landor livery 747s. This was from the time when BA was the hallmark of air travel, and an icon not only of aviation, but of unconditional love and world peace. That BA will never be found again unfortunately, along with their “Worlds Favorite Airline” title

[@nateb.theaviator3782]

That takeoff power set was Perfecto. 🤌

[@melissarennie8301]

I love the 747 classics. Aircraft today just don't have the same character in my opinion, I know they're fantastic and economical and clean, but the older ones sounded awesome! It's the same with the Coastguard helicopters. When I joined at 17 the old Sikorsky was in use but times changed and the contracts were privatised and now the newer Sikorsky just doesn't have the bone rattling rumble to it! Great video, I was 12 when it was taken and I love seeing Heathrow back then :)

[@jakeianmartinez9902]

Melissa Rennie well the old planes have an on board lounge and etc.. Today its the a380 but u cant access it anymore unlike the 747-100 which has a spiral staircase

[@djpeekay25]

So sad they are slowly disappearing. Also my favourite aircraft.

[@carrisasteveinnes1596]

We came to Australia in 1972 with our parents in a Boeing 707. London-via-Tehran-via-Bombay-via-Singapore to Perth. Everyone else and all of our stuff - even the dogs, came on the Canberra.

[@HeathrowAircraft]

Brought back lots of good memories seeing this. That rattling and banging as it lumbered down the runway - and that long takeoff run. Awesome. I flew a lot for BA in that time - just how I remember it.

[@jamieburroughs427]

I saw a KZbin video of a US Air 727-200 (Charlotte to SF flight from Sept 1989) taking off and it took 55 seconds to get off the ground from the take off roll. I like watching older louder planes (727-200, 737-200, DC-9, DC-10, L-1011, MD-80 series, 747-100 & 747-200). They are more exciting than the newer modern quiet planes.

[@HeathrowAircraft]

@@jamieburroughs427yes definitely more interesting - I agree!

[@jamieburroughs427]

This 747-100 took 50 seconds to get off the ground. Todays planes can take only 20 seconds to get airborne.

[@nickwoodward3034]

Gotta love the "recommended" on KZbin. Comes up with a classic video like this. Superb. Thanks for posting back then. (April 2021)

[@spidyman8853]

I love old BA livery

[@mizzyroro]

Landor was absolutely the best livery. They are painting a few 747's back in retro Landor livery.

[@theairbornemuffin7111]

I am an aviation enthusiast, and this brings tears to my eyes.

[@pervysage4934]

When I moved to England I was on a BA 747 in 1989. 8 years old by myself to Gatwick. Got to sit on the cockpit as well, it was awesome

[@ajs41]

I preferred it when everyone watched the big screen. It was more of a communal experience. Also there was more freedom then: I remember we were allowed to go into the cockpit to see what was going on on a flight to Florida in about 1990.

[@hmasurg]

Absolutely wonderful. A blas from the past! How great it is to see the Landor livery on a classic 747 at T4. This was taken at a time when camcorders were not so easy, large and bulky. How great that you filmed a flight. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheKingTubby1]

crikes - just noticed the old JTD9 P&Ws - that's a 100! now that really is going back in time - thought it was a 200 - superb

[@thihal123]

Loved it. Oh those old movie screens bring back memories. How things have changed!

[@MINTARKA101]

Used to do the BA Miami to Heathrow route back then, so this video brought back great memories of being on board a BA 747 in my favorite livery! The only thing I'm glad has changed is the entertainment, where we are not all forced to watch the same movies and shows nowadays! That could be torturous sometimes if you didn't like the offerings since the only alternatives were to read or sleep!

[@tradingsgmail]

Love that loud engine sound!

[@jackiebayliss]

And just like that 30 years have gone......

[@turk223]

Awesome how the safety video included BSL interpretation!

[@rescuedone]

What a treat! Thank you, and please thank your father!

[@TheKingTubby1]

brilliant video - thanks for the great reminder of what the old classics used tobe like - nearly 55 seconds on the 27L tarmac

[@AlexanderBerrisford]

What a moment in time! Amazing - thanks for sharing.

[@missy4335]

1994 was last time I travelled on a 747 with this old classic BA paint work. London Gatwick to Kingston Jamaica! I miss the classic 747s

Beautiful

[@brownbarbie9572]

Meet too. This plane brings back so much good memories. Sucks that Boeing doesn't make these 747 anymore.

[@ImranHussain-hk7gt]

This is amazing I remember it very well Terminal 4, the aircraft and the flight thank you for sharing it’s great to see it again

[@jayd1426]

Ahh good old days with several BA Landor livery painted aircraft outside Terminal 4 at Heathrow. This is how my love for flying started. I really miss those days, as well as when British Airways were the Worlds Favorite Airline

[@davidhunt3808]

great video brings back lots of memories !

[@graemebaker8985]

Got to love those old 747 100 and 121 plane's!! Love the sound so much

[@dubkat463]

i would also travelled to Vancouver on behalf of BA staff travel in the same front row seat in first in 1993. However by then we had personal screens and choice of movies etc. Classic days.

[@JackKing12.]

Gr8 classic vintage video. Love the BA livery...

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

Mark, I do have a small number of other aviation/airliner related videos on my KZbin channel, including a BA 747 (onboard) landing in Seychelles. May be a small number more in due course as I get time to convert old videos to digital format! Glad you liked it - brings back happy memories for me!

[@P_S_T]

absolutely fantastic video! many memories flooding back. I used to fly the HKG - LHR route a lot as a child between 1986- 1994 of which many were operated by BA (but mainly CX). I wasn't fortunate enough to fly first but still lucky enough to fly business each time as for the perks of my dads job. Great to see the old product in your walk around, I remember it like it was yesterday. So much character on such aircrafts back then, or so much character within the product which you just don't get these days. Amazing to see the b747-400 situated along side you on the LHR tarmac, very early days then for that aircraft and could still just about be amongst the BA fleet today given the 25 year operational expectancy, with BA also one of the last carriers to retire this aircraft. great video! thank you for up loading

[@dennisn.9583]

What kind of perks are this?

[@xianggang852]

Omg me too and still based in HKG 👍

[@RoadCone411]

The second B747 down the line at 0:06 would be a then-new B747-400, probably less than a year old at the time. For those wondering, I flew Virgin Atlantic in 1996 on a B742 and it had personal IFE at every seat. Even though the screens were small, you got to watch your choice of one of four movies/shows. No pausing, no repeat, just four channels and volume. IFE came to BA a little later than that, in fact I don't believe they ever put personal IFE on their classic 747s. What a great aircraft though...I had several flights across the Atlantic on older BA 747s. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Runnicles. It's always nice to reminisce!

[@kinkisharyocoasters]

i remember taking VS in 2002 from EWR-LHR on an A340, then a 747 going back. first time i saw seatback screens, as a 7-year-old it was a treat and I played the "F-Zero" game from the SNES much of the flight. I also liked the animated safety video. I think the system was called "arcadia"

[@viscount757]

The second 747 down the line was Pan Am's N747PA. The first 747-136 built for BA (then BOAC) was line number 23, F-AWNA, delivered April 22, 1970. Retired by BA April 1998 and later scrapped.

[@RoadCone411]

@@viscount757I meant in the video not off the production line. And it would be G-AWNA not F-AWNA as you wrote - which sounds like an Airbus test registration! I managed to fly on both N747PA and G-AWNA, once each. I guess it means I’m old!

[@ravo20]

Thank you for sharing this video. Things have definitely changed a bit since then

[@seventiesmemories5116]

This was from the days when people sat in normal seats on planes, not like the cryogenically preserved pod people from 2001 A Space Odyssey.

[@terryjohnson464]

Perhaps the first generation vlog！Thank you!

[@WeMuckAround]

My parents flew aboard a British Airways 747 in from London to Boston in business class when they got married back in 1996. So cool to see how they flew!

[@alfazeta8]

Thank you for this beautiful video

[@speedbird1598]

Thanks a lot! BA have been using safety videos for a long time!

[@lrg3834]

Nothing like the Classic 747.

[@AnnoyingKiwiDude]

Brilliant video

[@CaptainStevenMarkovich]

Awesome video thanks for sharing 👍👍 subscribed

[@lewishughes5615]

did anyone else notice Concorde parked at gate at 4:01

[@ILoveQazaqstan]

I did

[@kona702]

Yes I did. 😁

[@macktravels68]

Awesome!!

[@sunnyscott4876]

And not a single Flight Attendant was sucker punched! Oh the glory days of flying! ✈✈✈✈✈✈

[@alginart]

Great footage Mike!

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

Thank you Al! The scary thing is, this was all shot just a week or two before I started work at Rediffusion Simulation in October '90. Seems a very long time ago now...

[@brkitdwn]

Those engines. Listen to them humm

[@notreyf]

5:43 "may now smoke if you wish". Those were the days.

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

@paestum70 Glad you like it.... but no, the description does not need to be changed. It's one flight. We start at Terminal 4 at LHR, takeoff from there, then land in BOS at the end (in the dark). It's all one journey and was sequentially put together from the original footage.

[@gkeaoyrge]

Back when British Airways really was ‘The world’s favourite airline.’

[@friendlysky7674]

I wish I could live in this era.

[@DAVIDnBOSTON]

I preferred THAT club World, vs today's!

[@kolayotadventures6789]

Wow the passenger was seating on first class, I remember working on catering and loading the flowers there hhehehe

[@Juaner98]

Landor livery is the best. BA should really attempt to modernize it and put in on their aircrafts as a “new” livery

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

It’s been bugging me what the movie playing on the projector was…. I’ve figured it out finally. It’s the opening titles for the Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn vehicle “Bird on a Wire”!

[@elgeneralxx]

3:48 there it goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Perich29]

back in these days, it was a flying Movie theaters, but today its a flying jail house.

[@kona702]

It was always neat wondering what movie would be playing. Usually it was a "newer" release. Also I remember on the same flight routes they'd show 2 different sets of movies, one over and one back.

[@mr2bmw]

Wow!!!!!!

[@speedbird1598]

I just realized. The voice who does the safety video is very similar to the modern voice!

[@Sam-M7]

That was British Airways best livery!

[@OCAviation]

Nice video!! Did not exist till 4 months later. You got more classic flight videos?

[@MAU04NC]

back when BA was really a top notch airline

[@scotty6346]

BA got their moneys worth out of their 747-100's I remember seeing them at LHR in about 1996, They were due retirement and just looked dirty and clapped out!

[@ELPaso1990TX]

Still love the sound of those rb211 motors

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

ELPaso1990TX these aren’t RB211s - this was a 747-136 with Pratt & Whitney JT9Ds 🙂

[@akifiskandar4186]

0:23 a very rare old BA safety video which is very hard to find on YT. Wonder if anyone has a copy of it so that it can be published here.

[@jamieburroughs427]

When did 747-100s get retrofitted with slide rafts? The original design of the 747-100s had the emergency slides as just a slide and the rafts were located in a ceiling compartment (just like the 737 narrow body jets) On KZbin there is a training film from British airways from the mid 1970s dramatizing a water evacuation and the 747-100 featured in the film shows the rafts in a ceiling compartment.

[@tottui15]

Classic

[@bilalahmed2123]

Just love seeing all those Boring 747’s together. Would you know the registration of this airplane ? Wonderful video, thanks very much for posting !

[@BNStudios1]

Trying to work out the aircraft reg from the first shot using the shape of the name and letters above the nose gear, this looks like G-AWNB 'Llangorse Lake' - this had a black radome fitted and was called 'City of Newcastle' until at least early August 1990 so that would indicate why the radome looks so new here!

[@conradfung5537]

Landor livery still the best!

[@oldmanc2]

Smoke if you wish - I did. Can't believe it, but I did!

[@declan-kayodekeegan1598]

Awesome rare video indeed! I wonder what year individual in-flight entertainment screens started appearing on planes?

[@anguscovoflyer95]

Declan-Kayode Keegan maybe mid to late 90’s in first class and sometimes business class.

[@donaldknowles9640]

Listen to the purr of the RB211s

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

These are Pratt & Whitney JT9Ds, as seen at 8:01 in the clip. British Airways had both JT9Ds and RB211 engines on their classic Boeing 747s, with the JT9Ds on their -100s (as seen here) and RB211s on their -200s.

[@donaldknowles9640]

Looking at the engine cowlings , Sir you could be correct

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

@@donaldknowles9640 I'm fairly sure this aircraft was G-AWNB "Llangorse Lake", a 747-136 eventually retired by British Airways in 1998. As you say the cowlings appear to confirm JT9Ds. When I was younger (in the 70's and early 80's) I had a 'Junior Jet Club' log book and would have known for sure! To me both JT9Ds and RB211s sound beautiful, and quite different to today's engines. Glad you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!

[@donaldknowles9640]

​@@michaelrunnicles7196I had initially thought that this aircraft was a 200 because of the windows on the upper deck (around 10) as you know most of the 747 100 models had 3 windows on the upper deck , yeah the cowlings are a giveaway , much prefer the RB211S to the Pratts . Great video of times gone by , I do miss the BA Landor livery , from one aviation enthusiast to another I wish you well and many enjoyable flights ahead

[@LudeauvieK]

Sound engines on 747-SP iran air 👍🏻🎶🎶🎶😊

[@drsysop]

I remember them 747 very noisy lol I flew Pan AM back then. This off a VHS or 8 MIl?

[@christian-jakobgrasl]

A BA 747-100 woooow was flying these to JFK in the 90‘ ... the PW powered BA 747 where cool but the RR engines on the -200 has better sound 😍🤷‍♂️

[@blap200]

do you have any shots inside the terminal?

[@pdeichert]

Wow I was 1

[@yb6.]

747 on description no hesitation on clicking the vid 🤣

[@DEVASTATOR478]

my favorite air company

[@cdgh99]

very posh sounding announcements from the crew

[@tgscott00]

I remember flying Air Zambia in a DC-10 and it looking like a disco due to the inredible amounts of smoke. I'm sure the pilots were probably puffing away on cigars. :D

[@kona702]

Loved the DC-10 and MD-11. Such iconic planes.

[@agimackenzie2361]

I did not know british airways flew to Boston non stop at this time I thought they went to new york and continued onto Boston

[@MokshSharma37]

I was going to make fun of how this airline's interiors look better than BA's interiors today...then I read it is a video of a BA 747.

[@haridj8532]

It is a 747-100, retired long back

[@rtcp2020]

0:23 rare safety video!

[@debateocity3835]

Why do the engines sound different to modern planes? Is it just they way they were designed?

[@nyyyankee]

i think its because the modern engines are very high bypass engines, they have a large fan diameter, so its doesnt spin as fast as a smaller engine, creating the deeper sound. plus the are quieter

[@tvfromvcr8331]

I have a question - Was the inflight movie audio played out loud or did everyone get headphones?

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

No it wasn't played out loud - everyone was provided a set of headphones. You could watch the movie, or listen to a selection of audio channels, all selected from a handful of controls on the arm of the seat, as I recall.

[@ronhowe7356]

"You may now smoke" - herd to believe! Also, I don't think this is a 747-136, at this time, it would have been a 747-200 series, which were subsequently replaced by 400s.

[@james737]

Ron Howe I flew on a 747-136 as recently as 1996. To JFK on G-AWNM . Then back on new 747-436 G-BNLA. In the early and mid-90s BA actually had -100s, -200s and 400s at the same time.

[@RoadCone411]

james737 is correct! The -136s survived until around 1998 or so with British Airways. The -200s were operated for just a few years longer, I think they were gone from BA's fleet by 2002. The first round of -400s were received by BA in late 1989 through around 1993 or 94. They ordered a second round that delivered from approx. 1996-1999 or so. Some of BA's 'newer' -400s, still operating, are at or less than 20 years old (currently 2018).

[@viscount757]

​@RoadCone411 In their latter years of service until their retirement in the late 1990s, BA's early 747-100s were mainly used to east coast U.S./Canada points due to their shorter range. My last flight on a BA 747-136 was to Montréal (then Mirabel Airport, YMX) in August 1996. Connected on a BA 757 from Geneva.

[@mss4822]

First Class and your seat dosen't recline 😖 how much it costs back then? thx for sharing

[@Ben-xe8ps]

Of course the seat reclined. They would have been the seats 4 rows in the nose of a 747 100/200, seat pitch approx. 62 inches.

[@alanjackson526]

I bet this old bird is still flying in the fleet lol. Thanks for sharing.

[@RoadCone411]

Ummmm, no

[@Voex1966]

5:05 : Left traffic

[@docsvillestudios]

Hi there! I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out because I wanted to ask you if this video could be used as part of a documentary that I'm working on. The film is about Ukraine, and it also explores the way Western culture influenced the country after the dissolution of the USSR. I hope to hear from you soon!

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

Hello there. Thank you for your message - I am well thanks. Thanks also for the interesting request. I must admit, this record of my transatlantic flight on British Airways in 1990 wouldn't be the first subject that comes to mind when thinking of a documentary about Ukraine! I'd be happy to hear more about your plan however. You're very welcome to email me at [e-mail]. Kind Regards

[@speedbird1598]

Do you have a seat map for this aircraft?

[@michaelrunnicles7196]

+Speedbird No I don't - in those days I seem to remember they were always printed in the back section of the British Airways timetable books that you could pick up at the airport :)

[@speedbird1598]

Shame :(

[@djgirls8960]

Pika Pika Pikachu! Pika Pikachu Pika Pika Pikachu! (I can watch the safety video! I can watch movies after I watch safety video!)

[@aljack1979]

Nothing much changed at BA.... Same old tired aircraft lol

[@RoadCone411]

I flew a BA 747 JFK-London recently...most people wouldn't know the plane was 20+ years old! The cabin had been completely refitting with new seats and IFE, and large B777-style overhead bins; it looked and felt like a much newer aircraft. I love the old B747s but they can't keep flying forever...this will be the last major refurbishment these planes get as they are facing retirement in the next 5-6 years.