Future of Flight and Boeing Tour
If you’ve ever wanted to see airplanes being built right in front of your eyes, the Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour, located in Everett, WA, is a great place to visit. We’re two self-proclaimed aviation geeks who love planes. We love seeing them, we love being around them, we love learning about them… you get the idea. So when we visited Seattle, we ventured a little north of the city to the Boeing Future of Flight Museum in Everett, WA.
Boeing is probably most well known for manufacturing commercial jetliners though it also manufactures military aircraft, satellites, and defense systems, among many other things. We were excited to visit this Boeing location because it houses the Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner production lines. The Everett facility was built specifically for the first jumbo jet, the Queen of the Skies, Boeing 747. From the Boeing 747 to the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, this facility has been relevant for the last 50 years and has played an important role in aviation history.
LOCATION
Boeing Future of Flight
8415 Paine Field Blvd.
Mukilteo, WA 98275
Boeing Future of Flight is located about 25 miles north of Seattle, WA. Driving north on I-5, it takes about 30-45 minutes to get from downtown Seattle, WA to Evertt, WA at off-peak, non-rush hour times (pack your patience if you’re navigating this area during rush hour!). We found it to be the perfect day trip to complement our visit to Seattle.
The Boeing Future of Flight facility has a dedicated parking lot outside of the building. Parking is free.
TICKET PRICES
Daily admission at the time of publication of this post was as follows (most up-to-date information can be found here):
- Adults (16-64) – $25.00
- Youth (15 and under) – $15.00 (note that babies and children under 4 feet tall are not permitted on the tour)
- Seniors (65+ with ID) – $23.00
- Military (with U.S. Military ID) – $20.00
- Boeing Employee or Retiree (with badge) – $10.00
Advance tickets are definitely recommended and can be purchased online.
HOURS
Aviation Center Hours: 8:30am to 5:30pm
Boeing Tour Hours: 9:00am to 3:00pm
FUTURE OF FLIGHT EXHIBITS EXPERIENCE
There are two main visitor experiences at the Boeing Future of Flight: the Aviation Center and the Boeing Tour.
We bought our tickets in advance, so when we got there, we walked right in and went to the check in desk.
We were reminded about the no electronic device policy (bummer!) and were also informed that no bags of any kind were permitted on the tour. The facility has free lockers available on a first-come, first-served basis, so we put our items in a locker, set the code, and locked everything up for a few hours.
Our tour group was scheduled to leave around 1:00pm, so we had some free time to walk around and look at the exhibits. There were plenty of displays showcasing the intersection between aviation and aerospace. One of the really neat exhibits showed the materials jetliners are made of and then how they are painted and branded for each airline (how Boeing paints a Delta plane to look different from a Southwest plane, for example).
The exhibits in the Aviation Center are engaging, informative, and interesting… but the real reason we visited was to see the inner workings of the Boeing assembly line!
BOEING TOUR
The staff member at the check in desk encouraged us to be ready to go at least 30 minutes in advance of our tour start. Each tour lasts 90 minutes. We got in line to have our tickets scanned and then we were guided toward a large auditorium where the group gathered. After watching a presentation video about the history of Boeing, the tour guide split us into two groups and we headed outside to board our bus.
The first glimpse of the assembly floor is hard to capture, though vast and awe-inspiring are words that come to mind. It’s so large and there are planes in all different stages of construction on display. Since it is a working assembly plant, visitors can expect to see a lot going on unless it’s a weekend or a holiday.
Visitors are able to walk upstairs to an open-air observation air deck inside the assembly area, which provides a great view down the middle of the facility. There were two rows of planes (one row on the left side of the observation area and another row on the right side of the observation area). The planes were lined up nose to tail. Something that really stood out to us was the number of different airlines represented within the building. Each aircraft had already been painted with the logo and branding of various airlines. It was incredible to see the reach that Boeing has around the world. At this point in the tour, our guide shared that there are over 10,000 Boeing-built commercial jetliners in service around the world, which makes up almost half the world’s fleet of planes. We also learned that Boeing airplanes carry about 90% of the world’s cargo.
We took this photo in the visitor center in front of a backdrop as cameras are not allowed on the tour.
OBSERVATION DECK
The Future of Flight is located at Paine Field, offering beautiful views of the Cascades (and Mount Rainier) behind all of the planes on the property. There’s no entrance fee to visit the observation deck, so visitors are able to watch airplanes landing and taking off without purchasing a tour ticket.
In this area, we were also able to see a number of different aircraft on the property, some likely getting ready to be delivered to customers. Our tour guide shared how Boeing invites airline executives to visit the factory prior to accepting the plane into their fleet. Boeing basically throws a party every time a plane is ready to be put into use.
From the observation deck, we were able to see one of the Dreamlifters which was totally unexpected. The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter is a wide-body aircraft with a huge cargo hold to deliver airplane pieces around the world, specifically for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The Dreamlifter brings parts to Boeing’s assembly plants from suppliers near and far.
A few weeks after we got home from our trip to the Boeing Future of Flight, we were lucky enough to be randomly pursuing one of our favorite apps (Flight Radar 24) and we saw a Dreamlifter aircraft in flight from Charleston, South Carolina (where Dreamliner fuselage sections are built) as well as a Dreamlifter aircraft in flight from Japan (where Dreamliner wings are built).
RESTAURANT AND GIFT SHOP
The main area of the Future of Flight facility includes a decent sized restaurant/cafe for snacks, beverages, or a quick lunch.
There was also a well-stocked gift shop full of the perfect souvenirs for those friends and family members not in attendance, not to mention plenty of items to pick up for yourself.
We snagged this handy dandy plane spotter guide. Nerd alert!
SUMMARY
We really enjoyed going on the Boeing Tour and thought everything was well organized. It was fun to see so many large, brand new airplanes on the ground before they had ever been in the sky or around the world. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and able to answer any question sent his way which made for a great learning experience. We would highly recommend visiting because this place was just “plane” awesome!
