The Boeing 747 flies into history with end to production announced, brought down by coronavirus and demand for fuel economy
- Designed in the 1960s, the original jumbo jet democratised air travel. After 50 years’ passenger service, it has been overtaken by more fuel-efficient airliners
- Its days were already numbered before the Covid-19 pandemic decimated air travel, and production will end in 2022
The Boeing 747 revolutionised air travel and tourism, allowing affordable flights for millions of people eager to see the world. But the fuel-guzzling, four-engine plane’s days are numbered. Boeing confirmed this week it will stop production of the jumbo jet in 2022. The 747 simply cannot compete with today’s more efficient, twin-engined planes.
More than anything, the plane democratised air travel by letting holidaymakers take cheaper flights, often in chartered 747s fitted with economy class seats – legroom be damned. For 35 years, the 747 ruled the skies – until Boeing’s European rival Airbus came out with the super jumbo A380.
The 747 owes its existence to Juan Trippe, the visionary founder of the now defunct Pan American World Airways. As far back as the early 1960s, Trippe was convinced that air travel, in particular transoceanic flight, was due for a huge boom. As the story goes, during a fishing trip in Alaska, Trippe persuaded his friend Bill Allen, who then ran Boeing, to build a plane twice as big as the Boeing 707.
Trippe allegedly said that, if Allen had the guts to build such an aircraft, Pan Am would buy it. A few years later, the first 747 took to the skies, with Pan Am as the launch customer.