Boeing 747: Requiem for the ‘jumbo jet’
For decades, the venerable Boeing 747, popularly known as the jumbo jet, dominated the skies of the world. Air India was one of the first international airlines to get these in 1971. It still has four of them, mostly for VVIP flights.
Most airlines have retired them or announced plans to do so in a few years. British Airways had announced its fleet of 25 would be retired by 2024, but the current situation in the airline industry has hastened plans to do so. Qantas sent its last Boeing 747 to the “boneyard” of aircraft in Mojave desert in the United States.
The term jumbo, though almost synonymous with the Boeing 747, also meant any wide-bodied jet. The Airbus A380, a much bigger aircraft, called the super jumbo may also be on its way out.
The 747s were the biggest aircraft when they were launched. Most international airlines had versions that could carry about 360 passengers, though some Japanese versions could carry up to 660 passengers. The largest of these once carried almost 1,087 passengers to Israel in an evacuation of Ethiopian Jews. Boeing also made freighter versions for carrying cargo and a Combi that would also carry more cargo and fewer number of passengers. Air India also used these aircraft on routes where passenger demand was less and there was more cargo demand. More than 1,500 Boeing 747s were manufactured since their introduction in 1968.
The first passenger jets, the de Havilland Comets, were introduced by BOAC (predecessor of British Airways) way back in 1952. They were unfortunately subject to many accidents, due to metal fatigue, and withdrawn. The development of the Boeing 707 in 1958 truly introduced the jet era. In 1960, Air India was the first airline in Asia to get these and also became the world’s first all-jet airline. Air India placed an order for the Boeing 747s in 1967 and received the first one in April 1971. Air India had designed its own interiors of these aircraft as well as made the famous “jharokhas” for the windows of these. Air India introduced its new Palace in the Sky livery and branding, when it got its first Boeing 747, Emperor Ashoka in 1971.
Pan American World Airways, now sadly defunct, felt the need for bigger aircraft than the Boeing 707 and worked with Boeing for designing these. Boeing had to work on many new systems. The baggage and cargo were loaded in containers. Bigger and more fuel-efficient engines were designed to make it more cost-effective to operate. The 747 was a double-decker aircraft, with a lounge-cumbar for first-class passengers. In those days, the business or club class had not been introduced. Eventually, business class was introduced and was located on the upper deck, so the lounge-cum-bar was removed.
The first Boeing 747 was launched by the then American First Lady, Pat Nixon, on January 15, 1970, in Washington DC and entered international service on January 22, 1970, on Pan American’s New York-London route. Air India also introduced Boeing 747s on the New York route in 1971. In fact, for quite some time, there were only four carriers — Air India, BOAC, Pan American, TWA — on this route with daily service. Full page advertisements of Air India for these could be frequently seen in The New York Times in the 1970’s and 1980s. An era has ended.
Speedy Dutt, an aviation geek, inventor and mathematician, worked with Air India for many decades. It was his last wish to see this piece, written in 2020, appear in the Hindustan Times, where his late wife Prabha Dutt once served as chief bureau. He died from Covid-19 on April 27, 2021