IATA 721ICAO B721

Boeing 727-100

Boeing

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Boeing's iconic tri-jet that revolutionized short-haul aviation.

First flight

1963

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

94–119 passengers

Range

4,170 km

Engines

Three Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofans mounted at the rear fuselage

Status

Retired

The Boeing 727-100 is a narrow-body, short-to-medium-range commercial jet airliner developed by Boeing in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was designed to operate from shorter runways at smaller airports, featuring a distinctive rear-engine configuration with three Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines and full-span leading-edge slats for enhanced low-speed performance. The 727-100 entered service with Eastern Air Lines in February 1964 and quickly became one of the most commercially successful airliners of its era. It was capable of serving airports with limited infrastructure, expanding jet service to many cities previously unreachable by larger jets. Production of the 727-100 was eventually succeeded by the stretched 727-200 variant, which became even more popular. The 727 family as a whole remained in production until 1984, with over 1,800 aircraft built across all variants. By the 2020s, the type had largely been retired from passenger service due to noise regulations and fuel inefficiency.

Notable operators

Major operators included Eastern Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, TWA, and Delta Air Lines.

Notable facts

›First Boeing airliner with three engines, all mounted at the rear of the fuselage.
›Featured a T-tail design and an airstair built into the rear fuselage for gate-free boarding.
›Was the first jetliner to carry one billion passengers.
›The 727-100 was designed to use the same fuselage cross-section as the Boeing 707.
›D.B. Cooper famously parachuted from a hijacked 727-100 in 1971, exploiting the aircraft's ventral airstair.