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.
But it was in the seemingly endless rows at the back of the new jumbo that the 747 transformed travel. Now, two previously delivered 747s are being fitted to replace US presidential jets known globally as Air Force One. “It was transformational across all aspects of the industry,” the senior consultant at Ascend by Cirium added.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.