WASHINGTON: American multinational corporation Boeing on Tuesday will wave a final goodbye to the original and arguably most aesthetic “Jumbo Jet”, 747.
The last commercial Boeing jumbo will be delivered to Atlas Air in the surviving freighter version, more than half a century after the 747 grabbed global attention as a Pan Am passenger jet with the recognizable humped silhouette.
Thousands of current and former Boeing employees and guests will attend a bittersweet ceremony in Everett on Tuesday before cargo carrier Atlas Air flies away the 1,574th and last ever built 747 model.
The final jumbo jet of its kind will depart from outside the grand assembly plant purpose-built for the 747 in the late 1960 – at a time when the building was not even complete as the first plane was assembled.
Jumbo’s legacy
Boeing’s 747 revolutionized air travel only to see its more than five-decade reign as “Queen of the Skies” ended by more efficient twinjet planes.
In the years after its launch, the jumbo elevated the Puget Sound region to the premier airplane manufacturing site of the world and lifted Boeing to supremacy in aviation.
Boeing’s 747 not only made international air travel routine, but also made its mark on global affairs, symbolising war and peace, from US’ “Doomsday Plane” nuclear command post to papal visits on chartered 747s nicknamed Shepherd One.
