Boeing 747, last example produced. From Air Force One to commercial flights: history of a legend of the skies
First commercial flight in 1970. At 10 p.m. Italian time the handover ceremony for the 1574th example produced at the Seattle factory. It is the last page of a glorious history spanning more than 50 years
For the civil aviation world today it is a historic date. Boeing is preparing to deliver - when it is 10 p.m. in Italy - the last example of his legendary 747. The giant of the skies took off for the first time on January 22, 1970 for a PanAm-branded commercial flight between Washington and London.
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The American company's famous jumbo jet was the world's first twin-aisle aircraft and during its glorious parabola Has flown in the colors of 100 airlines. Always unmistakable because of its "humped" nose, the 747 has also entered the public imagination for being the plane that carries the POTUS (President Of The United States): impossible not to remember him in the movie with Harrison Ford "Air Force One".
On TFC we also reminded you. When Alitalia was teaching marketing to the world flying one of probably its most beautiful Boeing 747s ever, or what in the 1997 sponsored Baci Perugina on the livery. The "Queen of Heaven" looked just like this during her first flight to New York.
#ThrowbackThursday 1997: the @Boeing 747 @baciperugina in the hangar. Which is your favorite livery? Photo by Stephen https://t.co/iV5pbeVbzN pic.twitter.com/YjAaS9Hej6
- Alitalia (@Alitalia) March 23, 2017
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Today, January 31, 2023, the last 747 is scheduled to be delivered (specifically a 747-8 freighter) four-engine to the Atlas Air company at its plant in Everett, in the northwestern U.S.. On this occasion, the following is being planned a real "farewell" ceremony. which will be attended by thousands of the company's former and current employees, as well as Boeing's own customers and suppliers.
Join us in bidding farewell to the #QueenOfTheSkies on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at 1 p.m. PST in a live webcast of our final 747 delivery celebration. #ThankYou747
Watch here: https://t.co/3jQ0anyDoN pic.twitter.com/imp4ZdxTtu
- The Boeing Company (@Boeing) January 25, 2023
Today, not many airlines continue to use the Boeing 747. The world's most famous jumbo jet was definitely one of the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic: In fact, many companies had said goodbye to the aircraft in order to switch to smaller, more efficient planes to compensate for the lower demand.
As we had reported last May, moreover, the company had already announced the end of production of these historic aircraft. The 747 commercial version is still exploited, in particular, by Air China, Lufthansa, Air India, Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, Mahan Air, Rossiya Airlines, Iraqi Airways. While it will be the cargo version of the 747 that will survive the evolution: all fans of the legendary jumbo jet will be able to continue to admire this model, which will still be used in the future just for cargo transport.
Promotional image of Lufthansa's first 747-200 freighter, 1972 - Photo by Boeing.com
What will happen to the 747 retirees? Most of it is obviously dismantled and recycled the pieces, sometimes, however, there are more interesting ways to dispose of old aircraft. There are examples that become restaurants, hotels or attractions of various kinds. But not only that: the fuselage of a 747 has been used to become part of a new building complex under construction in the US, two skyscrapers will be connected by a 747 in Miami.
In the future, the American company's new production will be dedicated to two-engine wide-body airliners (more environmentally sustainable).
The Boeing 747 has certainly changed the way of travel for millions of people around the world. Among them, of course, there are also we at TFC, who with a bit of nostalgia can only join the message launched by the same U.S. company summarized with the hashtag #ThankYou747