Seen at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC.

This aircraft participated in the England-to-Australia Air Race before entering revenue service with United Airlines. The airline insignia from the early 1930s shows the United route network in place of the Boeing Air Transport logo that had preceded it. The Shield would take over as the symbol of United Airlines in the mid-1930s, followed by the Saul Bass Tulip in 1974 and the Continental Disco Ball in 2011.

United was formed in 1931 by a merger of Boeing Air Transport, the airline division of the Boeing Company, with three other airlines (hence the name "United" - four airlines united into one). Boeing also owned United Technologies, which, among other things, included engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. Despite the antitrust laws requiring Boeing to divest United Airlines and United Technologies in the mid-1930s, the three companies continued to have a close relationship. United was the launch customer of not only the 247, but several more key Boeing models such as the 727, 737-200, 767, and 777, and has also been a key user of even more Boeings like the 747; United also likes to equip these planes with Pratt & Whitney engines.

The oldest of the airlines involved in the 1931 merger was Varney Air Lines, founded by Walter Varney in 1926. It is generally considered that United Airlines' history starts with the founding of Varney Air Lines in Idaho. Varney is also important because he went on to found Varney Speed Lines in 1935, which eventually became Continental Airlines that merged into United in 2010, and whose 1990-vintage Disco Ball became United's newest symbol.