Last Boeing 747 close to roll off the assembly line

The last Boeing 747 is close to roll off from the assembly line in the Boeing plant at Everett (WA). This will end the production of the “Queen of the Skies” 53 year after its first flight

The final 747-8 will be delivered to Atlas Air later this year.

When the last 747 rolls off the assembly line, Boeing has built 1.574 Boeing 747s. Production started with the Boeing 747-100 msn 20235 (line # 1) in 1968 and will end the coming months with a Boeing 747-8F msn 67150 (line # 1574).

A few years ago the retirement of the 747 still seemed relatively far off, but COVID-19 related pressures and the emergence of superior flight design technology resulted in the end of the production earlier than expected.

The 747-8F lacks the efficiency in fuel economy of more modern aircraft and rising fuel prices have caused airlines to move away from the aging 747. Its primary use in the aviation industry today is as a cargo aircraft, with airlines as Atlas Air and UPS currently the largest operators of the 747.

Boeing first hinted that production of the Boeing 747 may come to an end in the Summer of 2016, when the backlog of the only version still in production, the 747-8F, was very limited and Boeing had to cut the monthly production rate to 0.5. However to everyone’s surprise Boeing received a big order for fourteen 747-8Fs and options for fourteen more from UPS in October 2016. This UPS order breathed some much-needed new life into the programme and gave Boeing a backlog big enough to keep the 747-8F in production until at least 2021 and beyond. However in July 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boeing officially announced that it would end production of the 747 in 2022

In January 2021, Atlas Air placed an order for four new 747-8Fs. Boeing said in press release that these four 747-8F airplanes would be the final four aircraft to roll off the production line in Everett (WA).