Airplane use?

Question

Lets say a new boeing 747-400 comes out to be in use for British airways. How many years can this certain plane fly before it is of no more use. What is the duration, like how many times in a week can this plane fly. Can it fly everyday just like we drive cars every day

Answer 1

Modern airliners are built to last 20-30 years, and must be kept flying because the capital cost is so very high.  A Boeing 747-400 costs $230,000,000, so it's a serious business keeping them flying.

They are maintained very carefully according to a maintenance schedule set by the manufacturer, the regulating agencies, and the airline, all intended to keep them safe and give them long lives.

The DC-3 is an exceptional case, but there are many cases of airplanes lasting a long time.  The C-118 I used to fly was 20 years old then, and it is still flying, 22 years later.

Answer 2

A plane flies say the airframe is due after 20,000 hrs before it is sort of overhaul (not sure if 20,000 = 'D' Chk.) but before it reaches that stage there are many stages of chk the 747 undergoes. The end of the days flight it goes to a minor chk we call Service 2. Before the first flight of the day it goes thru a Service 1. after a week it goes to a weekly chk. then upon 100hrs it goes to a first 'A' chk. then after another 100hrs comes 'A2' etc till  A10  depends on maintenance program

of the carrier with approval from aircraft manufacturer

(Boeing), now  comes the 'B' chk again "B1-Etc" till it reach

1000 where it goes to a 'C' chk and then A1 chk again till let

us say 20,000hrs to become 2nd  "C" chk or first "D" check.

Our 747-400 is around 93 until now it flies.

This are done by the Technical records people with the approval of the Quality people as programmed by the Planning and all approved under the Maintenance Engineering Manual program of the carrier/operator airline. the hours per chk are not true but it is near the truth, like I told you A&P people just monitor this and if a check is to be done it is written in the aircraft logbook that a/c due for say B1 chk.

Answer 3

It better fly every day and hopefully 20 hours a day in order to make money. Longevity depends on a lot of things, cycles on the airframe, where it's flying, etc.

DC-3's are still flying and they were made in the late 30's and early 40's. The highest time DC-3 had something like 93,000 flying hours