The aviation world celebrates a huge milestone today. Pan American introduced the Boeing 747 into commercial service 40 years ago on January 21/22, 1970. PanAm Flight #2 from New York JFK to London Heathrow was scheduled to have left at 7:30 pm on January 21, but an engine problem forced an aircraft change. N736PA, Clipper Victor, finally departed at 1:52 am on January 22. This week’s issue of Flight International has a great article about the 747.
Although Southwest has never operated the “big Boeing,” its development has affected almost every airline and their passengers, even if, like us, they didn’t fly the 747. The introduction changed the way air travelers looked at the cabins of aircraft. As mentioned in my post last week, Boeing and airlines soon were adapting the “wide-body” look to aircraft like the 737. The 747 also introduced the high-bypass turbofan engine into commercial service. Visually, the big difference is that earlier jet engines looked like pipes, but the 747’s engines had big intakes with large sets of fan blades. These engines are more fuel-efficient, more powerful, quieter, and more environmentally friendly. This engine technology was developed so it could fit on aircraft like the 737, and it first appeared with the 737-300—introduced to the world by Southwest. Today’s 737 Next Generation aircraft, including the 737-700 (which we also introduced and are the majority of our current fleet) has engines that are even more quiet, efficient, powerful, and environmentally friendly that those on the 737-300. Also, the 747 and the follow-on wide-bodied aircraft changed the way that airports are designed. The introduction of the 747 marks the boundary between the early jet airliners and today’s modern aircraft.
Even today, the 747 inspires awe, even if the A-380 is larger. My first 747 flight was May 17, 1972, on Braniff’s “Pumpkin” N601BN from Dallas Love Field to Honolulu. In my airline career at Delta, I was involved with the ground handling of our own 747s and those of Sabena, whom we handled in Atlanta. I’ve also been on the ramp around 747s of World, Northwest, and United. Until you are standing on the ground and looking up at this giant, you don’t realize just how massive it is. It's hard to imagine, but anyone under the age of 40 doesn't know what the world was like without the 747. Congratulations to our friends at Boeing for this magnificent airplane.
