The 747 akanga akaberekwa apo ndege kufamba akanga achiwedzera muna 1960s. Nguva vezvokutengeserana ndege chokufambisa, kutungamirirwa guru kukurumbira pakati Boeing 707 uye Douglas DC-8, akanga revolutionized refu-daro kufamba. Kunyange asati akarasikirwa CX-HLS chibvumirano, Boeing akakumbirwa Juan Trippe, purezidhendi Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), mumwe wavo chinokosha kambani vatengi, kuvaka mutakurwi ndege kupfuura kaviri kukura 707. Panguva iyi, yendege congestion, akawedzera nokuwedzera nhamba vatakurwi akatakura pamusoro munenge duku ndege, akava dambudziko kuti Trippe akafunga aigona kugadziriswa ne ndege itsva yakakura. Muna 1965, Joe Sutter akatamisirwa kubva Boeing kuti 737 kukura chikwata kutarisira magadzirirwo itsva airliner, akanga atotanga muenzaniso nhamba 747.
Boeing 707 uye Douglas DC-8