Last day in Seattle for a Boeing 747

“The progress of aviation, from the 747 to the Concorde to the space shuttle, has long been driven by the goal of going faster and higher.”

It began in the 1960s as a collaboration between Boeing and PanAm, a new jet airliner with bold design.

The Queen of the Sky, as the 747 was known, dominated the world’s air routes for decades to come.

A team led by Boeing engineer Joe Sutter designed and built the jumbo in less than two and a half years. They launched things that changed long-haul travel forever: from the 747’s twin-aisle design to in-flight entertainment.

Now, 54 years later, Boeing has ended production of the 747. When the last planes fly out of its Seattle-area factory on February 1, the curtain will fall on the four-engine era, after Airbus has already abandoned its ill-fated bid for a competing jet.

In total, Boeing has built 1,574 of the 747, from passenger versions to freighters to special versions like the NASA-ordered version that carried the Space Shuttle or Air Force One for US presidents.

Flight progression, from the 747 to the Concorde to the space shuttle, has long been driven by the goal of going farther, faster, and higher. But over time, another consideration has emerged: cost.