Nearly 54 years after the first Boeing 747 left the factory floor, the storied history of the “Queen of the Skies” came to an end on Tuesday, January 31 as the last 747 Boeing will ever make was entered into service. The delivery of this final 747 marked an end to the extraordinary life of the first ever mass-produced commercial airplane. The 747 is widely regarded as having changed commercial air travel by improving access to travel for all while simultaneously becoming an iconic symbol of American ingenuity.
Boeing began designing the 747 during the 1960’s at the request of Pan American World Airways. Boeing and Pan Am cleverly designed the airplane for both the delivery of passengers and cargo. The 747’s unique design featured a cockpit above the main cabin. This allowed for the nose of the aircraft to open up and allow for easier loading of cargo onto the plane. Designing the 747 with cargo in mind allowed it to remain in service for so long – indeed the final 747 was delivered to cargo shipper Atlas Air.
The prototype of the ‘Jumbo’ being rolled out of its purpose-built factory – the largest building ever built – at Everett, Washington, USA. The world’s largest passenger aeroplane, the Boeing 747 carries up to 400 people. The aircraft first entered service in 1970. Photo: SSPL/Universal Images Group 
The 747-300M jet airliner (combi) from the American manufacturer Boeing. 1980. Photo: Photo12/Collection Bernard Crochet/Universal Images Group 
The Boeing 747, the first mass-produced American commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft, during its first flight in February 1969. Photo: Photo12/Collection Bernard Crochet/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747-100 prototype stored without engines. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Shuttle Orbiter mounted a Boeing 747, 1977. Photo: SSPL/Universal Images Group 
Air France Boeing 747-300 Combi on final-approach over Maho Beach sand and sea with a dark-blue sky. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Winglet, flaps, trailing-edge of the wing and boat-fairings of an ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 747-400 flying over islands in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747-400 on the production-line at the wing fuselage join stage. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
British Airways Boeing 747-400 climbing away after take-off. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747-200 taking-off at sunset with runway-lights on. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
a Boeing 747 flying enroute into a blue-sky at sunset. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Pilot with hand on the throttle-levers in the Thai Airways International Boeing 747-400 cockpit simulator at high-altitude over Egypt heading north at night with curvature of the earth visible on the horizon (exaggerated by fisheye lens). Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747 on final-approach with flaps deployed. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Air France Boeing 747-200M on very low final-approach over Maho Beach with hotels behind. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
26th Boeing 747-400 for United Airlines, 2nd in from the hangar doors and winglet of Asiana 747-400 on the Everett production-line. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Nose cargo loading door of a Boeing 747-200F opening at dawn. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747-200 with a golden light glinting off the underside climbing enroute. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Airliner flying enroute with contrails. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747-400 landing showing flaps and undercarriage at touchdown on the runway. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group 
Boeing 747 landing on the runway at sunset with runway-lights on and Windsor Castle in the distance behind. Photo: Aviation-images/Universal Images Group
While the iconic 747 is made up of more than 6 million parts sourced from across the globe, every single 747 was manufactured at the giant Boeing plant in Everett, Washington. The plant, built specifically for the 747, is regarded as the largest building in the world by volume. The plane delivered on January 31 to Atlas Air was number 1,574, all produced in Everett.
The first Queen of the Skies Pan Am flight took passengers from New York to London in 1970. Since then, more than one billion passengers have flown more than 57 billion nautical miles in 747’s. The success and longevity of Boeing’s “Super Jet” is even more remarkable considering its demise was predicted soon after it’s maiden voyage in 1970. Aviation experts expected at the time that supersonic aircraft such as the Concorde and Tupolev jets would offer passengers and airline companies travel time and cost benefits the 747 could never match, and this would eventually leave the 747 servicing only cargo deliveries. These predictions never came to light as the 747 continued to serve passengers while both the Concorde (final flight in 2003) and Tupolev (last one manufactured in 1971) models ceased production.
The 747 was twice as large as any other passenger plane when it went into service. The size of the plane allowed it to carry hundreds more passengers in a single flight than other planes, allowing airline companies cost-savings they were able to pass on to passengers. The resulting cost decreases made air travel affordable for many who never could afford it before, driving the worldwide travel movement that would begin during the 1970’s and never cease.
The size and power of the 747 allowed it to carry perhaps its most memorable passengers – NASA’s Space Shuttles. Boeing 747’s carried the Shuttle across the United States numerous times.
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Sources:
https://www.boeing.com/commercial/747/50thanniversary
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/business/last-boeing-747-plane.html by Nirak Chokshi, January 31, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/boeing-747-jumbo-jet-travel/index.html by Howard Slutsken, February 4, 2023
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeing-747-last-plane-rolls-off-assembly-line/