Boeing will mark the end of an era for global aerospace today when it hands over the last commercial 747 jumbo jet.
The world’s first twin-aisle aircraft, once dubbed “the Queen of the Skies”, helped to revolutionise air travel and meet growing demand for flights. It has been in production since 1968. Almost six decades later, Atlas Air will take the delivery of the last in the line.
After making 1,574 jets for more than 100 customers, Boeing is ending its 747 programme, although the latest iteration, the 747-8, is expected to continue flying for years, predominantly as a freight carrier.
Boeing will mark the end of an era for global aerospace today when it hands over the last commercial 747 jumbo jet.
The world’s first twin-aisle aircraft, once dubbed “the Queen of the Skies”, helped to revolutionise air travel and meet growing demand for flights. It has been in production since 1968. Almost six decades later, Atlas Air will take the delivery of the last in the line.
After making 1,574 jets for more than 100 customers, Boeing is ending its 747 programme, although the latest iteration, the 747-8, is expected to continue flying for years, predominantly as a freight carrier.
The aircraft is said to have been conceived on a fishing trip. Keen to cut costs by carrying more passengers on board his airline’s jets, Juan Trippe, founder of Pan Am, challenged William Allen, former president of Boeing, to make an aircraft even bigger than the manufacturer’s existing 707 jetliner. With up to 400 seats, the 747 doubled the typical commercial jet capacity when it entered service in 1970 with Pan Am on the London-New York route.
“This was the aeroplane that introduced flying for the middle class in the US,” Ben Smith, chief executive of Air France-KLM, said. “Prior to the 747, your average family couldn’t fly from the US to Europe affordably.”
It took years for the programme to truly get off the ground and the cost pushed Boeing to the brink. However, the arrival in 1989 of the 747-400, with new engines and made from lighter materials, helped carriers to meet mounting demand for transpacific flights.
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace manufacturer, assembling commercial jets, military aircraft, missiles and space technology. It has a stock market value of $125 billion.
The final 747 delivery raises questions over the future of Boeing’s widebody manufacturing site in Everett, Washington, on the outskirts of Seattle. In 2020 the group decided to end production of the 747, as other dual-engined jets had replicated its range and capacity at lower cost. Boeing’s 777X, set to take its place, will not be ready for at least another two years.
