The Boeing 747, also known as the jumbo jet, is the second largest passenger airliner after Airbus A380. Until the first commercial flight of the A380 in 2006, however, it remains the largest aircraft in commercial service. The four-engine 747, produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, combines passenger-carrying capacities with its unique two-deck configuration (the small upper deck is usually used for business-class passengers). A typical three-class layout would accommodate about 400 passengers. An advanced one-class layout would accommodate a maximum of 600 passengers. The characteristic hump created by the upper deck has made the 747 a hugely recognisable icon of air travel. The 747 flies at high-subsonic speeds (typically 0.85 Mach or 565 mph or 909 km/h) and features intercontinental range (8,430 statute miles, or 13,570 km, for the 747-400 version), in some configurations sufficient to fly New York-Hong Kong (roughly a third of the globe) non-stop. In 1989 a Qantas 747-400 flew non-stop from London to Sydney, a distance of 11,185 miles, in 20hrs 9min: this was a delivery flight with no passengers or freight aboard. By May 2004 (http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/displaystandardreport.cfm?cboCurrentModel=747&optReportType=AllModels&cboAllModel=747&ViewReportF=View+Report), a total of 1381 aircraft have been built or ordered in various 747 configurations, making it an extremely profitable product for Boeing.

http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/jumbo_jet