Boeing's 747 farewell celebration: What it was like behind the scenes

A parade of flags kicked off the show. A live band played bluesy riffs in between speakers. There was even a famous Hollywood actor who emerged from behind the stage.

It was all part of a celebratory spectacle by Boeing to give the “Queen of the Skies” the send-off she deserved.

Thousands of invited spectators — including scores of current and former Boeing employees — packed into the jet maker’s wide-body factory north of Seattle to bid farewell to the 747, the world’s first jumbo jet that may go down as the most recognizable commercial aircraft ever produced.

Symbolically taking place in the building where the plane was first built more than 50 years ago, the event marked the delivery of the final 747 that will ever be made.

Stan Deal, CEO of the company’s Boeing Commercial Airplanes, kicked off the hourlong celebration by lauding the 747 as the “plane that changed the world forever.”

Deal led a succession of speakers that ranged from former Boeing executives to the current CEOs of Lufthansa and Atlas Air, two of the world’s biggest 747 operators.

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Also popping out on stage was actor and pilot John Travolta, who revealed that the voice guests heard narrating the event’s videos was none other than himself.

But the event’s most dramatic moment came about an hour into the celebration when Boeing opened the hangar doors to unveil the final 747 as a fitting backdrop.

“With that, bundle up. It’s going to get a little cold,” Boeing’s Deal warned the crowd as the hangar doors began to open.

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The cold rushed in from a blustery Puget Sound afternoon, but the crowd was undeterred, cheering as the plane came into view.

The plane — tail number N863GT and a freighter version — was bound for cargo carrier Atlas Air, which will go down in down in aviation trivia lore as the answer to the question: “What carrier took the last 747 ever made?”

As the applause subsided, Atlas Air CEO John Dietrich took to the stage, calling it “an incredible honor for me to be here today for this milestone occasion in aviation history.”

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“To see our aircraft on this big stage is a very proud moment for all of us at Atlas Air,” he continued, noting Atlas Air is the world’s largest operator of the 747. He called it “the biggest, baddest commercial aircraft that’s flying out there.”

With the delivery complete, the plane was scheduled to fly from Boeing’s Everett factory at 8 a.m. Wednesday, bound for Cincinnati.

With that, the 747 production era will draw to a close.

Don't worry, though, you can still fly the 747. Lufthansa, Air China, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines still use the planes for passengers.

Lufthansa to overhaul its 747 cabins?

There's one interesting possibility that emerged during the 747 farewell event.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr hinted Lufthansa could overhaul its 747 cabins as he made his remarks to the assembled crowd Tuesday.

It began as he sang the praises of the jet, saying he connected in San Francisco en route from Frankfurt to Seattle specifically so he could fly Lufthansa’s 747-8 service offered on the Frankfurt-San Francisco leg.

“When I realized I had to come to the West Coast for this event, there was only one way to travel,” he told the crowd. “To take our 747-8 yesterday from Frankfurt to San Francisco to arrive here in style, in the nose of this wonderful airplane.”

He continued to expound on the virtues of the plane.

“The customer experience is simply great, on every version, in every aspect, when you fly a 747,” he said. “Passengers love it. The crews love it. And, by the way, [plane] spotters love it too because – especially the 747-8 — it’s just so damn good-looking.”

Then came the apparent tease of a possible cabin update for the plane.

“That’s why we at Lufthansa are currently looking into another upgrade of the 747-8 in all classes to fly this amazing airplane way into the next decade, including the amazing first class in the nose,” he shared.

A nod to the ‘Father of the 747’

The final 747 bound for Atlas Air was delivered with an image on the fuselage honoring the late Joe Sutter.

Sutter was the chief engineer of the Boeing 747 program, which has led to many calling him the “Father of the 747.”

Sutter died in 2016, but members of his family were in the audience for the delivery event.

A parade of flags

The farewell ceremony began with flag bearers parading out flags bearing the logos of the more than 100 airlines that ordered 747s from Boeing.

The procession kicked off the event with a bit of pageantry and later helped frame the Atlas Air 747 as it appeared behind the opening hangar doors.

As the event ended, several employees of now-defunct airlines came to find the flags of their former employer and snap a photo.

Related reading:

• Flying on the Lufthansa Boeing 747-8's upper deck
• These are the last Boeing 747s you can fly in the world
• The final United 747 flight
• The last Delta 747 flight