Proof that all 747s are not created equal

 

Air New Zealand Boeing 747 launch leaflet

With the introduction of Air New Zealand's first Boeing 747-200 in 1981, it promoted the launch with this colour leaflet called "Proof.. that all 747s are not created equal" to highlight how it thought it had a LOPA (Layout of Passenger Accommodation) to beat its rivals (most of which already flew Boeing 747s.

The leaflet depicted an aircraft that by 2023 standards would be seen as "premium light", as four out of the five main deck cabins were all in economy class. 388 seats in economy class in a 3-4-3 configuration is fairly "normal", and it claims the seat pitch for all economy seats is identical (although it does not reveal what that was, it is believed to be 34 inches (which was fairly generous, and increasingly so as airlines in the 80s and 90s would seek to pack more seats into a 747).  Although seat technology has moved on, it is noticeable that today that level of seat pitch is seen only in Economy Stretch on long-haul aircraft today. The seat is called the Fairchild Burns 2000 Mark II.

The 747 was the launch aircraft for the first generation of Air New Zealand's business class, then called "Pacific Class".  It was located in the small upper deck, with five rows of seats, four on one side had a middle table.  Air New Zealand did however call it a "new concept" in economy class air travel.  Sheepskin clad seats, with a higher seat height, the customary side storage bins seen in 747s upper decks, added to the exclusivity of the upper deck location. Air New Zealand also highlighted the use of the rectangular staircase rather than the traditional spiral staircase on other 747s at the time.  It seems likely that the Pacific Class seats were in fact the economy class seats with sheepskin seat covers and greater pitch!

First Class was highlighted, being in the nose cabin, named as the Recaro Dream Chair 2020 (this was an age when naming seats for 21st century years was clearly the trend).  This is a classic first class recliner, with tilting seat bottom and legrest.  Noting the seat pitch of 60 inches, and there being 16 seats in the cabin, this is relatively crowded by today's standards for first class.  Indeed around 20 years later Air New Zealand would take out one row of its next generation first class seats on 747-400s so it was easy to walk between rows even if the front row was fully reclined.  Indeed, look today at the LOPA for Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8s (below) with first class taking up only eight single seats, it is clear that long-haul first class has progressed significantly in terms of cabin and seat comfort (let alone business class).

Finally it is worth noting that this was the age of very basic inflight entertainment. All cabins had movie screens and projectors, and so passengers would face a single choice of inflight movies on long flights, or simply choose to wear eye masks.  Headsets for sound were all fairly basic, in economy being essentially plastic tubes and in the premium classes soft foam covered headphones being the order of the day.

Air New Zealand's Boeing 747-200s replaced the McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, themselves tainted by the Erebus disaster. These aircraft would be the flagships until 1990 when the Boeing 747-400s would appear, and the last Boeing 747-200 was phased out in 2000.  In the 1980s they would fly the flagship Auckland-Honolulu-Los Angeles-London route (initially to Gatwick before landing rights were obtained for Heathrow), and also the Auckland-Papeete-Los Angeles route, along with services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita (and umpteen Trans-Tasman services).  Boeing 747-200s did NOT have the range to fly non-stop with a commercial load between New Zealand and the USA, which is why the Boeing 747-400s when they emerged in 1990 would become the new flagship for the airline.

They would be refurbished in the 1990s with the "Pacific Wave" livery and "proper" business class seating (and first class removed, as they were relegated to secondary routes), before being phased out. I flew once on one, from Los Angeles to Auckland via Honolulu (in 1998), and was fortunate to have been upgraded to business class.