Journey’s End

Fifty-four years after the first 747, dubbed The City of Everett, astonished a world still acclimating to the Jet Age, the 1,574th and final specimen of the aircraft on behalf of which the term Jumbo-Jet was coined has left Boeing's sprawling and storied Everett, Washington, wide-body plant for flight testing.

The final 747 to roll off the production line is a 747-8—the largest and latest member of the beloved 747 family and longest commercial aircraft currently in service. The grand machine—upon undergoing completion and flight-testing—will be delivered to Atlas Air, the American cargo, passenger, and charter airline, and worldwide aircraft leasing powerhouse. Named for the Greek mythological figure Atlas—a Titan condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders throughout eternity—Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of Boeing 747s.

The archive of the 20th Century’s breathtaking aeronautical achievements and legendary characters contains few tales so compelling, unlikely, and world-changing as the conception, design, and development of the 747. Born of Pan Am boss Juan Trippe’s desire for a jet airliner more than twice the size of Boeing’s iconic 707, the 747 occasioned the second of two instances in which Boeing’s management, led by William M. Allen, bet the company’s continuing existence on the success of a new and revolutionary airplane design.

At a time when aviation industry pundits vehemently and vociferously asserted that long-range subsonic airliners would be supplanted by supersonic transports the likes of Aérospatiale/BAC’s nascent Concorde, Allen green-lit the 747, trusting in forward-thinking engineers like Joe Sutter—a visionary described by Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine as the "father of the 747"—who designed the new airplane to be easily adaptable to freight carriage, thereby remaining economically viable even if sales of the passenger version declined.

Boeing Vice President and general manager of 747 and 767 programs Kim Smith remarked: "For more than half a century, tens-of-thousands of dedicated Boeing employees have designed and built this magnificent airplane that has truly changed the world. We are proud that this plane will continue to fly across the globe for years to come.

Boeing confirmed in 2020 that it would wrap 747 production in 2022. In keeping its word, the plane-maker frees up resources and manufacturing capacity conducive to the production of newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft such as its 777 and 787 models. Notwithstanding the myriad and sound reasons for which the 747 has begun its long, stately departure into history’s dusty vastness, the world’s skies will be poorer for the eventual absence of the airplane renowned aeronautical engineer Hendrik Tennekes called “… the commuter train of the global village.”

FMI: www.boeing.com