HISTORY OF THE BOEING 747

1966: Boeing announces it will build the 747, which would be able to carry as many as 490 passengers.

1967: Boeing employees called “the Incredibles” begin building the 747 at a new plant in Everett, Wash. They complete the task in only 16 months.

1969: The Boeing 747-100 makes its first flight.

1970: Pan American World Airways operates its first commercial flight on the Boeing 747 on a route from New York to London. Later in the year, Continental Airlines becomes one of the first carriers to operate the 747 on a domestic flight, from Chicago to Los Angeles to Honolulu. United also starts flying the 747 in 1970.

1970s: Delta first operated the 747 was in the 1970s.

1977: NASA takes delivery of a modified 747-100 to carry the Space Shuttle.

1985: United announces a plan to acquire Pan Am’s Pacific routes and 11 747s.

1980s: Northwest was Boeing’s launch customer for the 747-400.

1988: The 747-400 debuts, with a winsgpan of 212 feet.

1990: Two 747-200s were modified to serve as Air Force One, replacing the VC-137s (707s) that had been the presidential airplane for nearly 30 years.

1999: Assembly of a militarized 747-400 freighter begins for the U.S. Air Force.

2000: Longer-range 747400ERs debut, with a range of 7,670 nautical miles, 410 miles more than the standard 747-400.

2005: Boeing announces the 747-8, which would incorporate technology from the 787 Dreamliner.

2006: U.S. Air Force’s YAL-1 debuts, its militarized 747-400 freighter for its Airborne Laser program.

2008: Delta acquires Northwest, adding the 747 back to its fleet by inheriting Northwest’s fleet of 747s.

2009: The first Delta-branded 747 flies out of Atlanta for the first time since 1977, on a route to Honolulu. It marks the beginning of the 747’s periodic appearance at Hartsfield-Jackson.

2012: Hartsfield-Jackson’s new international terminal opens, and Delta puts the Boeing 747 on its Atlanta-Tokyo route.

2012: Lufthansa takes delivery of the first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.

2014: Delta orders Airbus A350 wide-body jets to replace the Boeing 747 jets it plans to retire in 2017, as well as replacing Boeing 767-300ERs.

2014: Boeing delivers its 1,500th 747 to Lufthansa, the first wide-body airplane in history to hit the 1,500 mark. 2016: A Delta 747 crosses a street on its way to the Delta Flight Museum, where it would be made into an exhibit. March 2017: Delta opens its “747 Experience” exhibit at its museum. October 2017: UPS orders 14 new 747-8 cargo jets, with options for another 14. Nov. 7, 2017: United Airlines operates its final 747 flight on a route from San Francisco to Honolulu, with a “throwback” themed celebration recreating the first 747 flight flown by United in 1970.

December 2017: Delta retires the 747 from commercial service. The retirement of the 747 from Delta’s fleet will also mark the end of the 747 in the U.S. passenger airline fleet.