A look at planes used by PAL to cross the Pacific Ocean

Seventy five years ago today, Philippine Airlines made history by being the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific Ocean. Utilizing a Douglas DC-4, the PAL plane flew from Neilson Airport in Manila towards Oakland California at the United States mainland carrying 40 US servicemen home. The flight made four stops before landing at Oakland. To this day, PAL continues to mount transpacific flights from Manila to the US mainland. We now list down all the planes used by PAL to cross the Pacific Ocean towards the US mainland and back.

Douglas DC-4 “Skymaster”

The DC-4 was PAL’s very first aircraft that crossed the Pacific ocean to the US West Coast bringing home 40 US servicemen after the war. It also cemented PAL as the very first airline in Asia to do a transpacific flight. The total flight time was 41 hours and had 4 stopovers.

The DC-4 were the C-54 in military service during the war. After the war, they were sold to commercial airlines and PAL used them for scheduled services to the United States, initially to San Francisco. On May 3, 1947, PAL launched flights to Rome and Madrid, also making it the first Southeast Asian airline to fly to Europe.

Douglas DC-6 “Pacemaker”

In 1948, PAL began modernizing its international fleet. They then acquired the DC-6 to be used for the transpacific routes. This aircraft had a pressurized cabin, longer fuselage, more powerful engine, and a longer range than the DC-4. PAL then started utilizing DC-6s on transpacific routes in May 29, 1948. Due to its more powerful and newer engine, crossing time went from 41 hours to 31 with only 3 stops. The DC-6 also held the speed records in most of its route.

Douglas DC-6B

The Douglas DC-6B joined the PAL fleet on July 4, 1952. It was the most modern transporter during that time as it was five-feet longer than the regular DC-6.

Douglas DC-8-50

PAL entered the jet age in 1962 with the Douglas DC-8-50. Christened as the “Sampaguita”, PAL acquired 8 of these aircraft which were used for transpacific and other international flights. They were retired from service beginning 1979.

Douglas DC-8-63

In order to compete with airlines using widebody aircraft on transpacific routes, PAL acquired the DC-8-63 which was longer than the Series 50 by 11.7 meters. This aircraft was also called the “flying pencil” due to its length yet narrow body. Two frames were leased in May 1972 for transpacific flights. They were retired in 1974.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

PAL entered the widebody aircraft era with the DC-10 tri-jet aircraft in order to be able to increase capacity. In 1974, the first of three DC-10 tri-jets joined the PAL fleet. Aside from utilizing the DC-10 on transpacific flights, PAL also used the aircraft for flights to Europe, Middle East, and Australia.

Boeing 747-200B

PAL finally acquired the ‘Queen of the Skies’ and the world’s largest passenger aircraft during its time, the Boeing 747, in December 1979. These jumbos replaced the DC-10s on the transpacific routes in March 1980. What even made the PAL 747 more special were the 16 full-flat beds on the upper deck of the aircraft known as the “Skybed” which was also another first in Asia. These were exclusively for first class passengers. The Skybeds revolutionized luxurious long-haul travel. The 747-200s flew North American and Europe flights.

Boeing 747-400

The Boeing 747-400 was an upgraded version of the 747-200 and it became the mainstay of PAL for transpacific flights from 1993 all the way to 2016. The very first frame flew non-stop from the Boeing manufacturing plant in Seattle, Washington, USA to Subic Bay International Airport. It was carrying then President Fidel V. Ramos who attended the APEC meeting in Seattle.

McDonnell Douglas MD-11ER

It was in 1996 that the Philippine aviation was downgraded by the FAA to Category 2. Hence in order to continue to fly to the United States and Canada, PAL had to sign a wet-lease agreement with World Airways for two MD-11s. The MD-11 is an improved version of the classic DC-10 with newer engines and a wider wing with winglets.

Airbus A340-300

The Airbus A340-300 is an ultra-long range version of the A330-300 with four engines. In 1997, PAL acquired four A340-300s which was part of the $3.2 billion fleet modernization. The A340-300 very well complimented the 747-400s especially during peak seasons. They remained in PAL’s fleet until 2018 as they were replaced with the more modern twin-engine Airbus A350-900.

Boeing 777-300ER

PAL got a major fleet upgrade in 2012 with the arrival of its very first Boeing 777-300ER, the world’s largest twin-engine aircraft during that time. This is also PAL’s very first aircraft that can make complete non-stop flights from Manila to the US West Coast and back. The Boeing 747-400 had to make stopovers in Honolulu or Guam whenever it would fly from US West Coast to Manila. This also allowed PAL to mount ultra-long haul non-stop flights from Manila to Toronto. PAL’s longest recorded non-stop flight (unscheduled) was from Manila to Miami utilized a Boeing 777-300ER. PAL currently has 10 of these aircraft in the fleet.

Airbus A350-900

PAL’s A350-900 ultra long range aircraft is not just a frequent transpacific flyer, but it is also the aircraft PAL uses for its Manila to New York JFK non-stop flights. In terms of distance, PAL’s JFK – MNL scheduled flight is currently the world’s 9th longest flight.

Currently, PAL continues to fly transpacific routes which is actually the airline’s bread and butter. Both Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-900 are deployed for flights between Manila and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, and New York JFK.

Attribution: 74 Years of Celebrating the Heart of the Filipino