The last commercially flying Boeing 747 has just completed its final flight, and it signed off by crowning itself as the undisputed queen of the skies.
The final flight of a Boeing 747 took off from Paine Field, WA (flight number 5Y747, tail N863GT) on the morning of February 1, 2023, and headed for Cincinnati, Ohio.
Flying with Atlas Air, it sought to honor the legendary ‘Queen of the Skies’ and all who built, flew and worked with her for over 50 years.
They drew a giant queen’s crown with the numbers “747” underneath, over central Washington in the United States.
The 747 program proved to be revolutionary for the global aviation industry, and in doing so changed the world over the course of more than 50 years.
While its production stopped several years ago, the queen remains in service with a smattering of airlines. Some have converted it into cargo planes by airlines such as Atlas and UPS.
People who are not aviation geeks or plane spotters, can identify the iconic 747 due to its unique design. For decades, an airline was not considered a serious contender by the public unless they sported the 747s in their fleet.
747 a huge gamble
In the beginning, when the plane was created on the back of rising demand for air travel, it was a make or break gamble for Boeing to create the 747.
The project nearly bankrupt them.
But in the end, it all worked out, thanks in large part to “The Incredibles”, the mechanics who built the first 747s.
American airlines Pan Am said that if Boeing would build it, they would buy it. And those initial sales are what helped Boeing sell it to nearly every airline in the world thereafter.
