Boeing 707 center section tanks. Its first flight was on January 11, 1958; 69 turbojet 707-320s were delivered through January 1963, the first passengers being carried (by Pan Am) in August 1959. The 707-420 was identical to the −320, but fitted with Rolls-Royce Conway 508 (RCo.12) turbofans (or by-pass turbojets as Rolls-Royce called them) of 18,000 lb (79 kN) thrust each. The first announced customer was Lufthansa. BOAC's controversial order was announced six months later, but the British carrier got the first service-ready aircraft off the production line. The British Air Registration Board refused to give the aircraft a certificate of airworthiness,
Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 377s (and United DC-6s) were scheduled between Honolulu and San Francisco () in 9 h 45 min each way. The longest (by distance) 377 nonstop flights were made by Pan Am from Tokyo to Honolulu during four winter seasons beginning in 1952–1953. In January 1953, two nonstops a week were scheduled with a flight time of 11 hr 1 min due to strong tailwinds; the following August all flights took 19 hours, with a stop at the Wake Island Airfield. By 1960, Stratocruisers were being superseded by jets, such as the de Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, and Douglas DC-8. The