Boeing's endangered 747 gets lifeline as UPS buys 14 jumbos

The long goodbye for Boeing’s iconic 747 jetliner is turning out to be a little premature. The planemaker won a $5.65b lifeline for the endangered jumbo as United Parcel Service exercised options for 14 more of the freighters. The deal came weeks after Delta parked the last of its 747 aircraft, marking the end of US passenger service for the iconic humpbacked plane nicknamed the Queen of the Skies. The UPS order rewards Boeing’s optimism that the venerable jet, which transformed air travel when it debuted in 1970, would live on as a cargo-hauler. The courier is also taking four Boeing 767 freighters as it rushes to keep up with growing demand and parlays gains from the recent US corporate tax cut into stepped-up investment. “The biggest reason we decided to expand is, one, we had an option on the 14, and with the tax reform that came in, it made us more optimistic that the economy was going to continue to be clicking,” said UPS CEO David Abney. The hulking jumbos, built to carry a 137.7-ton payload, are needed as UPS expands its network to profit from burgeoning air shipments in China and other Asian markets. The Atlanta-based company plans to use the 747-8 freighters on heavily trafficked “trunk routes” between the US and China and between China and its European hub, Abney said.<br/>