Originally Posted by
tdracer
DR, the story at the time was that ANA was going to use them as 'SR' aircraft - flying short haul around Japan - until they got to a certain number of cycles. When they got to the right number of cycles, they'd convert them to long haul (and install the winglets). I thought it was a clever way to maximize the utility of the airframe - maxing out on hours and cycles.
No idea if that actually came to pass or not.
Yes, some (not sure how many) of the ANA aircraft had their winglets added in later life:
https://www.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/photo/All-...481D/1308615/L
https://www.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/photo/All-...481D/2645379/L
Conversely, a couple of ANA's 747s started life with winglets which were subsequently removed.