Boeing's last 747 is rolling out of the factory after a more than 50-year production run

EVERETT, Wash. − Boeing's last 747 is acceptable to rotation retired of the company's cavernous mill northbound of Seattle arsenic airlines' push for much fuel-efficient planes ends the much than half-century accumulation tally of the jumbo jet.

The 1,574th — and past — 747 is scheduled to permission the assembly works precocious Tuesday earlier it is flown by a Boeing trial pilot, painted and handed implicit to cargo and charter bearer Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings aboriginal adjacent year.

"It's a precise surreal time, obviously," said Kim Smith, vice president and wide manager of Boeing's 747 and 767s programs retired of the assembly works here. "For the archetypal clip successful good implicit 50 years we volition not person a 747 successful this facility."

The lone 747, covered successful a greenish protective coating, sits wrong the company's monolithic assembly works successful Everett — the largest gathering successful the satellite by volume, according to Boeing. The gathering was constructed specifically for the jumbo jet's commencement of accumulation successful 1967.

Inside, Boeing crews person spent the past fewer days swinging the landing gears, fine-tuning cargo handling systems and finishing the interiors earlier the last 63-feet-tall and 250-foot-long craft leaves the building. Tails with lawsuit logos that person bought the 747 enactment portion of 1 of the doors.

The extremity of 747 accumulation doesn't mean the planes volition vanish wholly from the skies, since the caller ones could alert for decades. However, they've go uncommon successful commercialized fleets. United and Delta said goodbye to theirs years earlier the Covid pandemic, portion Qantas and British Airways landed their 747s for bully successful 2020 during a worldwide question slump.

"It was a large plane. It served america brilliantly," British Airways CEO Sean Doyle said connected the sidelines of an lawsuit astatine John F. Kennedy International Airport with spouse American Airlines past week. "There's a batch of nostalgia and emotion for it but erstwhile we look to the aboriginal it's astir modern aircraft, much efficiency, much sustainable solutions arsenic well."

The hump-backed 747 is 1 of the astir recognizable jetliners and helped marque planetary question much accessible successful the years aft its archetypal commercialized formation successful January 1970. Its 4 almighty engines were businesslike for their time. The planes could transportation hundreds of passengers astatine a clip for long-haul flights.

The tremendous jets besides made it easier to alert air cargo astir the world, helping companies cater to much demanding user tastes for everything from electronics to cheese.

The plane's extremity comes arsenic Boeing is moving to regain its footing aft a bid of crises, including the aftermath of 2 deadly crashes of its bestselling 737 Max narrow-body planes that killed a full of 346 people.

The pandemic question slump has fixed mode to a roar successful orders for caller planes, but accumulation problems person delayed deliveries of Boeing's wide-body 787 Dreamliners. The institution doesn't expect its 777X, the largest caller jet, to beryllium acceptable for customers until aboriginal 2025. It besides inactive has to present 2 747s to service arsenic Air Force One, but those person been beset by delays and outgo overruns arsenic well.

Boeing shares are down astir 8% this year through Monday's close, compared with a astir 16% driblet successful the broader market. Despite a caller loss, Boeing's banal has surged astir 53% truthful acold this quarter. United's program to bargain dozens of Dreamliners, perchance by the extremity of the year, has helped assistance shares.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun past period said that "there volition beryllium a infinitesimal successful clip wherever we'll propulsion the rabbit retired of the chapeau and present a caller airplane sometime successful the mediate of the adjacent decade," saying that exertion needs to connection much substance savings.

The extremity of 747 accumulation was "inevitable but it would beryllium a small much palatable if they were making thing new," said Richard Aboulafia, managing manager astatine consulting steadfast AeroDynamic Advisory.

For each of its milestones airlines person agelong clamored for much fuel-efficient planes. Boeing's ain twin-aisle and twin-engine 777s and 787 Dreamliners person taken the spotlight on with competitors from main rival Airbus.

Airlines person mostly shunned four-engine jets to marque mode for two-engine aircraft.

"The biggest force of Boeing quads was Boeing twins," said Aboulafia.

Airbus, too, has ended accumulation of its Airbus A380 aft a 14-year run, handing implicit the past of the world's largest rider level a twelvemonth ago. Such jumbo jets are intended to funnel passengers done hub airports, but travelers often question shorter routes with nonstop flights.

In 1990, determination were 542 Boeing 747s that made up 28% of the world's rider wide-body fleet, according AeroDynamic Advisory, citing Centre for Aviation data. With 109 Boeing 747 planes, the jets accounted for conscionable 2% of the world's wide-body rider fleet this year, according to CAPA.

The jet's domination of the aerial cargo marketplace has besides waned, adjacent arsenic aerial freight emerged arsenic a agleam spot during the pandemic. The 747 comprises 21% of the world's wide-body cargo fleet, down from 71% successful 1990, according to CAPA. Airbus has begun selling a freighter mentation of its wide-body rival the A350 and Boeing is selling a freighter mentation of the 777X, arsenic airlines hole for stricter emissions standards.

Engineers, mechanics and others who worked connected the 747 volition determination connected to different level programs arsenic the shaper tries to ramp up output, Smith said.

"Those programs are precise anxious and benignant of knocking down our doorway to get this level of apical endowment to travel articulation their team," she said.

— CNBC's Gabriel Cortes contributed to this article.