747-8’s Continued Weight Loss Boosts Performance
Continuous improvements to the 747-8 include a 9,000 pound weight reduction.
Lufthansa took delivery of its 75th Boeing 747 and its 13th 747-8I on May 2.
Lufthansa took delivery of its 75th Boeing 747 and its 13th 747-8I on May 2.

Boeing’s slow-selling 747-8 hasn’t struggled to gain market penetration for a lack of effort on the part of the company’s sales team, or, as program head Eric Lindblad would attest, a lack of ongoing performance improvements or technological innovation. In fact, today’s 747-8 weighs some 9,000 pounds less than the first example Boeing placed into service in 2011 and 2,000 pounds less than airplanes it delivered around a year ago. With further work, the company expects the weight to eventually drop by more than 10,000 pounds.