This week the end of Boeing 747 deliveries was celebrated in a very special way…
The last Boeing 747 in the world has been delivered
On January 31, 2023, Boeing delivered a 747-8 to cargo airline Atlas Air. It wasn’t just any 747, though, but rather it was the last 747 ever produced. A huge event was held at Boeing’s Everett factory to celebrate this.
It’s cliched, but the Boeing 747 is truly the plane that made the world smaller, opening up routes and city pairs that were previously unimaginable. The plane has long had the title of “Queen of the Skies,” and for good reason.
The journey of the 747 began in 1967, and the plane remained in production for over half a century. In total, 1,574 Boeing 747s were produced over that time period. As is the case with most planes, incremental improvements were made over time, with the introduction of the 747-400 in 1988, and the introduction of the 747-8 in 2005.
For better and worse, technology has improved considerably over the years. It’s for the better that we have planes now that are smaller, more fuel efficient, and longer range, since that enables all kinds of city pairs to be served nonstop. It’s for the worse in the sense that many of us love the 747, and are sad to see the plane progressively be phased out.
The last Boeing 747’s special delivery flight
Atlas Air’s is the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 747, as the carrier flies dozens of these jets around the globe (primarily with cargo). Yesterday the airline flew the final 747-8 to be produced from Seattle to Cincinnati. Specifically, the plane has the registration code N863GT.
The direct air distance from Paine Field (PAE) to Cincinnati (CVG) is 1,965 miles, so you can expect that the flight would have taken under four hours if flown direct. However, that’s not what happened, as the plane made a special detour.
Specifically, the plane instead took the scenic route over the state of Washington, drawing a special message in the sky.
As you can see, the Atlas Air 747-8 “drew” the numbers 747 in the sky, with a crown on top of it.
In the end, the flight took around 6hr20min, so this little display took over 2hr30min to complete.
I’m not as sentimental about this as I expected to be
I’m a huge avgeek, and the Boeing 747 is my favorite plane. However, I’m not particularly sentimental about this milestone. Why? Well, the reality is that the last passenger Boeing 747 was delivered all the way back in 2017, over five years ago.
So from a passenger’s standpoint, we’ve already had many years to process that no new passenger 747s are being produced. On the plus side, Lufthansa, Korean Air, and Air China are continuing to fly Boeing 747-8s, and they should stick around into the 2030s. Now, I’ll absolutely be sad when the final passenger 747 flight operates, and will do what I can to get on that (though I imagine there could be some competition for that).
Bottom line
It’s the end of an era, as Boeing 747 production has been wrapped up, after 50+ years. Atlas Air took delivery of the world’s final 747-8 this week, and it celebrated the occasion with a special flight, rightly acknowledging the plane’s title as the “Queen of the Skies.”
It’s sad to see Boeing 747 production end, though in reality we’ve only seen cargo versions of the plane produced in recent years. As passengers, we can continue to fly the 747 on airlines like Lufthansa and Korean Air. Now, it’ll be a really sad day when there are no more passenger 747s in service.
What do you make of the last 747’s special flight?
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