Last Boeing 747 Operated By Delta Makes Final Flight

SEATTLE, WA - Born in Everett in the late 1960s, the revolutionary Boeing 747 jetliner was laid to rest last week at an airplane graveyard in Arizona. A Delta Airlines 747-400 flew from Atlanta to Pinal Airpark in Arizona last Wednesday, marking the final passenger flight for a 747 operated by a U.S. airline.

The 747 was developed by Boeing in the late 1960s at the request of Pan American Airlines. The airliner was built in Everett - the plant would produce some 1,500 747s over 48 years - and made its first flight in 1970.

The 747 is iconic, easily recognizable because of the hump at the front of the plane. On passenger flights, that space is reserved for first class passengers. But it also allows the plane to be converted into a front-loading cargo jet.

Boeing is still manufacturing the 747-8 variant, however the 787 Dreamliner is replacing many 747s. Airlines like British Airways, Air China, and Lufthansa still use the 747.

Caption: The first produced Boeing 747-400 aircraft lands at Schiphol Airport in Schiphol, Netherlands, May 19, 1989. The 747-400, purchased by the Dutch flag carrier KLM, is the world's largest passenger aircraft.

Photo by Albert Overbeek/Associated Press