First Boeing 747 Wide-Body Jet

December 12, 1969

The first to be received in an illustrious line of Pan Am 747s that would change travel forever! 

Cover of Pan Am Clipper, Vol. 20, No. 26, December 22, 1969 (University of Miami Special Collections).

“What’s big as a church, heavy as a locomotive, flies like a dream, and carries upward of 500 people? The answer is Boeing’s 747… The huge machine encountered what appeared to be a moderately severe turbulence with scarcely a twitch, while grizzled experts aboard said the same rough air would have caused unacceptable discomfort in th rcurrent generation of jets… Richard Starnes, Scripps Howard Newspapers.

After arriving at JFK, the jet was unveiled for the first time to thousands of delighted visitors as reported in the “Pan Am Clipper” (12/22/1969 University of Miami Special Collections). There were also several hour-long demonstration flights scheduled for the press and others. This plane bore several other names, including Constitution, Washington, Air Express Moscow Express and Pride of the Sea.

“JFK - Despite warnings of snowstorms, on Dec.14 more than 5,000 Pan Am employees and their families came to view Pan Am’s first 747.

They came on short notice, too. No one knew until the late afternoon of Dec. 12 exactly when the plane would be accepted and delivered.

At 8 a.m. on Dec. 15, 160 employees went for a hour-long flight in the aircraft. Because of the short time schedule, those who went on the flight were chosen in the quickest possible manner. A specific number of invitations was allotted each department according to its total size. The lucky ones were chosen at random by department heads.

The 747, bearing provisional license NP733PA, is number six off the Boeing production line. It is the first of two 747s Pan Am will use to train pilots and flight engineers at Roswell, New Mexico.

It arrived at JFK on Dec. 13, after a flight from Seattle to Nassau, where Robert Blake, Pan Am resident representative to Boeing, formally accepted it.”

Boeing 747-121 (Pan Am Historical Foundation Collection).