Photo of Luxurious Pan-Am Economy 747 Flying in 1960s: Fact Check

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Photo of Luxurious Pan-Am Economy 747 Flying in the ’60s

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Economy Class Seating on A Pan Am 747 In the Late 1960’s

Fact Check:

A message that popularly appears online claims to show a photograph of Luxurious Pan-Am Economy 747 Flight in 1960s. It is reportedly shot of an Economy-class cabin on the legendary Boeing 747 in the 1960s. The photograph appears to show passengers aboard a Boeing 747 enjoying the spacious economy class configuration. Although the photograph keeps appearing on various social media accounts sharing historical pictures, it is not real. As explained below, the photograph does not actually show luxurious Pan-Am Economy 747 flight in 1960s.

About Pan-Am Boeing 747 Flight

Boeing 747 is the first wide-body airplane that came from Pan American World Airways (commonly known as Pan-Am). With a double-deck configuration, the Flight 747 is often called Jumbo Jet. The main deck had 3–4–3 seat arrangement in Economy class and a 2–3–2 layout in First class. The upper deck had a 3–3 seat arrangement in economy class and a 2–2 layout in first class. They had a beautiful spiral staircase in between and spacious lounge area. Some of the 747 Flights also had additional amenities like Bars and Piano lounges.

The video below shows some glimpses from the Jumbo Jet Pan-Am 747 along with a brief explanation of it. The picture that follows shows passengers on board a BOAC Boeing 747 in Economy class in 1970.

Image showing Passengers on board a BOAC Boeing 747 in Economy class in 1970 — Passengers on board a BOAC Boeing 747 in Economy class in 1970

Not a Photograph of Luxurious Pan-Am Economy 747

In contrast to the claim in question, the first commercial 747 flew in Jan 1970. While the picture appears both in color and black & white versions, it actually depicts the vision of Boeing’s 747 Economy seating by its lead designer Joe Sutter. In other words, it shows interior mock-up configuration of the Boeing 747 (model). The model did not shape into a real flight and was just made to demonstrate the future vision of their flights. For your information, the planes in 1960s and earlier were indeed quite spacious, but at the cost of high price, slow speed and flight risk.