The Last Ever Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet Is Delivered To Atlas Air

Source: Boeing

After 54 years of an era of the iconic jumbos, "The Queen of The Skies", Boeing delivered the last Boeing 747 built, N863GT, to Atlas Air yesterday, marking the end of the jumbo program. 

Source: Boeing

Source: Boeing

Boeing 747 Celebration

And Boeing held a celebration with its employees from all over the world, Boeing 747 operators, including Atlas Air, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, UPS, and people responsible for the Boeing superjumbo project. During the celebration, Boeing also paid tribute to Bill Boeing.

Source: Boeing

Boeing and Atlas paid tribute to Joe Sutter, known as the "Father of the Boeing 747" and one of the chief engineers of the Boeing 747 program. 

Source: Boeing

History 

The 747 was conceived while air travel was increasing in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, revolutionized long-distance travel. 

In the early 1960s, even before it lost the CX-HLS contract, Boeing was asked by Juan Trippe, president of Pan Am, one of their most important airline customers, to build a passenger aircraft jet 2+1⁄2 times the size of the 707. During this time, airport congestion, worsened by the increasing number of passengers carried on relatively small aircraft, became a problem that Trippe thought could be addressed by a larger new aircraft.

In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft for US$525 million(equivalent to $3.3 billion in 2020 dollars). 

During the ceremonial 747 contract-signing banquets in Seattle on Boeing's 50th Anniversary, Juan Trippe predicted that the 747 would be "…a great weapon for peace, competing with intercontinental missiles for mankind's destiny".

The first Boeing 747 was rolled out on September 30, 1968 - Photo source: Boeing

On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the Everett assembly building before the world's press and representatives of the 26 airlines that had ordered the airliner.

Entry into service

On January 15, 1970, First Lady of the United States Pat Nixon christened Pan Am's first 747 at Dulles International Airport (later Washington Dulles International Airport) in the presence of Pan Am chairman Najeeb Halaby. 

First Lady Pat Nixon ushered in the era of jumbo jets by christening the first commercial 747 in 1970. Photo Source: White House Photo Office

United Airlines and Delta said goodbye to their Boeing 747s years before the COVID-19 pandemic, while Qantas Airways and British Airways grounded their 747s for good in 2020 during the pandemic. But despite this, the Boeing 747 is still being used in cargo operations and to transport packages and goods around the world.

The Boeing 747's Final Flight

Flight 5Y747 tracked via RadarBox.com 

The final Boeing 747 flight, 5Y747, took off from Everett Airport at 08:19 PST (Pacific Standard Time) and landed in Cincinnati at 17:37 (EST). The Boeing (registered A6-EVS) is the 54th jumbo delivered by Boeing to Atlas Air. The cargo company is the largest operator of 747 freighters in the world.

Today on February 1, 2023, one day after delivery to Atlas Air, the last Boeing 747 performed a flight path drawing a crown and a giant 747, saying goodbye to the Boeing 747 program.

Flight 5Y747 tracked via RadarBox.com 

And track them all with AirNav RadarBox!

Boeing 747s around the world

Here are some statistics provided by AirNav RadarBox, including the airlines that operate the Boeing 747 the most and the airports where the B747s operate the most flights.

Most active airlines & busiest airports (Boeing 747) provided by AirNav RadarBox

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