Boeing

The 2,000th Boeing 7-series wide-body - a 747-400 - rolled out of the company's assembly plant in Everett this week. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group assembles all 7-series wide-body airplanes, including the 767 and 777, at its Everett factory - the largest building in the world.

"The success of our Everett wide-body jets began with the 747 and continued with the 767 and 777," said Ed Renouard, vice president and general manager - 747/767 Programs. "That success is based on our long-standing commitment to design and build safe, reliable, high-quality airplanes that meet our customers' market demands."

More than 100 customers worldwide have ordered about 2,500 Boeing 7-series wide-body airplanes, of which nearly 2,000 have been delivered. Boeing has delivered 1,148 747s, more than any other wide-body. Wide-bodies are large jetliners with more than one aisle in the passenger cabin. They generally have longer range and higher passenger and cargo capacities than standard-body, single-aisle aircraft.

"The future for the 747, 767 and 777 airplanes is brighter than ever," Renouard said, referring to the company's projection of worldwide demand for 5,000 wide-body airplanes during the next 20 years.

With 1,072 airplanes in service and its distinctive trademark "hump," the 747 is the most recognized commercial airplane in the world. During its lifetime, the 747 worldwide fleet has logged more than 50 million flight hours, 12 million flights and 20 billion miles (32 billion kilometers) - enough to make 42,000 trips to the moon and back. During her reign as "Queen of the Skies," the 747 has flown 2.2 billion people - the equivalent of nearly 40 percent of the world's population.

The first 747 rolled out of the Everett factory Sept. 30, 1968. Over the years, Boeing significantly improved the airplane's range, payload and operating cost. The current model - the 747-400 - with a standard three-class configuration, has the lowest cost per seat-mile of any jetliner in history and a dispatch-reliability rate of 98.8 percent. With its 400-plus seating capacity and 8,370-mile (13,392-kilometer) range, the 747-400 offers the highest passenger capacity for this range than any commercial jetliner in service.

Through its recent merger with McDonnell Douglas, the company's wide-body family also has grown to include the MD-11 and DC-10 airplanes. The MD-11 is built at the Douglas Products Division in Long Beach, Calif. To date, nearly 180 MD-11s have been delivered. Prior to building the MD-11, the Long Beach facility delivered 446 DC-10s, including 60 KC-10s used as military tankers.