Particularly when it comes to passenger services, the Boeing 747 is rapidly disappearing from the air after five decades of dominance. As we wave goodbye to the Queen of the Skies, we feel it's a good time to look back at the history of the aircraft, including its cost.

Getting the widebody off the ground

The 747 was truly a pioneer. It was the first-ever commercial widebody jet and opened up doors across the whole travel industry. Pan American leader Juan Trippe wanted an efficient way to place 400 passengers on one aircraft. Initially, he felt the best route would be to stack two single-aisle cabins on top of each other. Boeing's engineers came up with the widebody solution with a partial second deck.

However, in 1968, the program cost was already at $1 billion. This figure may not seem like a lot, but today, the cost would be equivalent to approximately $7.61 billion. The initial 747 rolled out of Boeing's assembly line in Everett at the end of September, and the type conducted its first flight on February 9th, 1969.

A new era

The 747 was formed to optimize seat-per-mile and ton-per-mile income. It brought another golden age of air travel as the 1970s got underway.

As Northwestern University’s Transportation Library puts it:

"With increased capacity and lowered costs, the 747 helped make the air travel experience accessible to middle-class travelers. Spacious interiors with luxury appointments and enhanced in-flight dining and entertainment experiences, available to first-class and economy passengers alike, served as marketing tools for the airlines that operated the 747. The jumbo jet came to occupy a permanent place in the popular imagination around the world and remains, decades later, a symbol that represents the glamour of air travel in a bygone age.”

A return flight between New York and London was retailing for approximately $550 in 1970. This is $5,350 with inflation. So, the higher business costs were backed by higher ticket prices to balance operations. Overall, flying was more expensive across the board during this period. Regardless, long-haul rates were generally higher pre-jumbo.

The first orders

With Pan Am's management heavily involved in the launch of the project, the carrier naturally became the first to introduce the plane. In April 1966, Pan Am placed an order for 25 Boeing 747-100s. The total cost of this order was $525 million (~$4 billion today). So, Boeing was already halfway to matching the cost of the program with this invoice alone. Each unit would have worked out to cost approximately $21 million (~$160 million today).

Pan Am Boeing 747
Photo: Getty Images

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The 747-400

The -400 was introduced in February 1989 with Northwest Airlines and is one of the most recognized variants of the series. This model brought advancements such as increased range and wingtip extensions, which improved fuel efficiency by 4%. The model ushered in a new era for the jumbo series, becoming a staple on long-haul missions for the likes of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.

According to TopSpeed, the price of the aircraft was up to $58.5million. Moreover, Aircraft Compare notes that the plane was going for around $266.5 million in 2007.

British Airways 747-400
Photo: Getty Images

Second-hand options

The -400 is still in the skies today, with companies such as cargo specialists putting the plane to good use. However, the variant isn't in production anymore. Therefore, if a carrier wanted to purchase one, they would have to look for a pre-owned unit.

The average price for a used -400, factoring in a loan to cover it, is approximately $16 million. Furthermore, an analysis last year found that active -400s are worth as little as around $5 million. These figures are just a fraction of the price of what a new unit once was. Still, leasing is a standard answer in the modern era.

Running fees

It might look like a bargain to own your own historic aircraft. However, it's crucial to remember the cost of deploying this juggernaut. Aircraft Cost Calculator shares that for 450 hours of flying a year, total fixed costs can amount to $851,244, and total variable costs can reach $7,812,774. So, within a few years, the cost of running the plane would swiftly exceed the purchase price. This is a core reason why so few airlines deploy the type for passenger operations.

GettyImages-1040711162 Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400
Photo: Getty Images

The last Queen

The 747-8 is the final monarch in the family. The 747-8F entered service 11 years ago this month, and the 747-8I followed the next summer. Despite only around a decade since handovers began, the final delivery within the program will soon occur. Pre-pandemic, a single 747-8 Intercontinental had cost $418.4 million. Meanwhile, the freighter variant was for sale for $419.2 million per unit. Comparing the cost of the initial 747-100, the price of the 747-8 is lower after taking inflation into account. Yet, the plane's success is a shadow of its predecessors.

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The end of the quadjet

The 747 isn't the only four-engine widebody that is being phased out by airlines. The Airbus A380 is also being retired rapidly across the globe. During the superjumbo's production, it had a list price of $445.6 million.

Price, inevitably, became a significant factor in the downfall of both quadjets. It wasn't the value of the airframe that started to deter operators but the cost of running such a behemoth.

Looking at fuel efficiency alone, the 787 Dreamliner uses five tonnes of fuel an hour compared to the 747-400's 10 tonnes. The usage is half of that of the jumbo, which would mean significant cost savings, especially in the current sensitive climate. With modern, efficient alternatives on the market, it's not a surprise that airlines simply began to look at other options.

Speaking of the Dreamliner, the 2019 list price for the range was between $248 million and $338 million. All in all, after taking inflation into account, it was far more expensive to get hands on a widebody in the mid-to-late 20th century than it is today.

Ironically, low cost was a phenomenon that came with the advent of the 747. Packing in hundreds of passengers on a single flight allowed airlines to lower prices and open up new opportunities across the industry. Nonetheless, with 52 years passing since the aircraft's introduction, it's now a whole new universe within aviation, and the conditions are ever-changing.

What are your thoughts about the cost of the Boeing 747 throughout the decades? Which types have you flown on over the years? Let us know what you think of the aircraft and its history in the comment section.

Sources: TopSpeed; Aircraft Compare; Aircraft Cost Calculator; Northwestern University’s Transportation Library