Giving Wings to Grandma

An Interview with Joe Sutter, Father of the Boeing 747

Audio-MP3
20 min

Airlines come and go. But one airplane, put in service in 1970 by Pan Am and designed and built by Boeing is still flying, still being manufactured and, like Swiss Cheese or a Brooks Brothers suit, still looks the same. It is that ubiquitous, bulbous Cyrano of the skies, the Boeing 747. Joe Sutter, called the "Father of the 747", led a team of 4,500 (his number) engineers in designing what has been called "the old ladies airplane" because not even granny is afraid to fly it. At 85, Sutter is still flying too. We caught up with him in Hong Kong where he was inducted into the "Gallery of Legends" of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.