Boeing's 747, the original jumbo jet, prepares for final send-off

The last commercial Boeing jumbo will be delivered to Atlas Air in the surviving freighter version on Tuesday (January 31), 53 years after the 747's instantly recognizable humped silhouette grabbed global attention as a Pan Am passenger jet.

Designed in the late 1960s to meet the demand for mass travel, the world's first twin-aisle wide-body jetliner's nose and the upper deck became the world's most luxurious club above the clouds.

But it was in the seemingly endless rows at the back of the new jumbo that the 747 transformed travel.

The jumbo also made its mark on global affairs, symbolizing war and peace, from America's "Doomsday Plane" nuclear command post to papal visits on chartered 747s nicknamed Shepherd One.

Now, two previously delivered 747s are being fitted to replace U.S. presidential jets known globally as Air Force One.

When the first 747 took off from New York on Jan 22, 1970, after a delay due to an engine glitch, it more than doubled plane capacity to 350-400 seats, in turn reshaping airport design.

Its birth became the stuff of aviation myth.

Pan Am founder Juan Trippe sought to cut costs by increasing the number of seats. On a fishing trip, he challenged Boeing President William Allen to make something dwarfing the 707.

Allen put legendary engineer Joe Sutter in charge. It took only 28 months for Sutter's team known as "the Incredibles" to develop the 747 before the first flight on Feb. 9, 1969.

Although it eventually became a cash cow, the 747's initial years were riddled with problems and the $1-billion development costs almost bankrupted Boeing, which believed the future of air travel lay in supersonic jets.

After a slump during the 1970s oil crisis, the plane's heyday arrived in 1989 when Boeing introduced the 747-400 with new engines and lighter materials, making it a perfect fit to meet the growing demand for trans-Pacific flights.

The same swell of innovation that got the 747 off the ground has spelled its end, as advances made it possible for dual-engine jets to replicate its range and capacity at a lower cost.

Yet the 777X, set to take the 747's place at the top of the jet market, will not be ready until at least 2025 after delays.

This week's final 747 delivery leaves questions over the future of the mammoth but now under-used Everett widebody production plant outside Seattle, while Boeing is also struggling after the Covid pandemic and a 737 MAX safety crisis.

Chief Executive Dave Calhoun has said Boeing may not design a new airliner for at least a decade.

Reuters