The 747 entered service on January 22, 1970, on Pan Am's New York–London route; the flight had been planned for the evening of January 21, but engine overheating made the original aircraft (Clipper Young America, registration N735PA) unusable.

The first "Jumbo Jet" to enter commercial service was the Boeing 747-100, which made its inaugural flight with Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) on January 21, 1970. The flight traveled from New York's JFK Airport to London Heathrow, signaling the beginning of the "Age of Mass Travel." The 747 was a marvel of 1970s engineering, being the first wide-body aircraft with "twin-aisle" seating and a distinctive "hump" on the upper deck that originally housed a luxury lounge for First Class passengers. It was more than twice the size of the previous leading airliner, the Boeing 707, allowing airlines to lower seat costs and make international travel accessible to the middle class for the first time. In 2026, while most 747s have been retired from passenger service in favor of more fuel-efficient twin-engine jets, the "Queen of the Skies" remains a high-value icon of aviation history, celebrated for its role in shrinking the globe and defining the glamour of the jet-set era.