Given that they were owned assets that cost very little to dispose of and were on the way out anyway, the answer is probably yes. Especially given how long it's taken for a meaningful restart.
On the contrary to the above, routes like JFK are easily replaced by the 777, especially the high-J 77W. The 747 found itself in this configuration and on these routes because it was more efficient to use older aircraft on shorter routes, which is why they haven't been regularly seen East of Delhi for a good 7-8 years now. The routes that'll 'miss' the 747 are the high density leisure orientated routes that also have a sizable premium demand and aren't reliant on high frequencies - such as Cape Town, Las Vegas and Miami - although the densification of the 772 fleet has closed the gap somewhat.