John Travolta revealed how Qantas gave him a 707

If you’re an aviation enthusiast, you probably know about the story of John Travolta and his iconic Boeing 707, which he somehow managed to get from Qantas — well, sort of.

Travolta is a legendary actor, but when he’s not acting, the man is also a hardcore enthusiast of all things airplanes.

He owns a few jets of his own and has certifications to fly a long list of aircraft.

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John Travolta loves his airplanes

Travolta parks some of his airplanes at his home and even has a private runway for take-off and landing.

The star of today’s story is John Travolta’s Boeing 707, which he purchased from Qantas but later managed to get the airline to pay for.

This 707 was truly special and first entered service in 1964 — only to go out of service four years later.

Further, it had several renowned names, such as Frank Sinatra, as its owners until Travolta got it in 1998.

He also got a custom registration for his beloved plane, and it’s still registered as the N707JT.

If you can’t tell, that’s a rare number, with the actor’s initials included in it.

Since he owned that jet, how exactly did Qantas ‘give’ him the 707?

John Travolta unfolded the story in an interview, of which someone clipped a part of it and posted it on YouTube.

He got the Boeing 707 in the most unusual way possible

The airplane he owned had a generic corporate livery, and he was looking to replace it.

After a bunch of conversations, he reached out to the then-chairman of the board of Qantas Airlines.

Travolta offered to pay the airline to put its logo on his Boeing 707.

You read that right, he likely had the whole thing backward, and that’s precisely what the Qantas board member told him.

After a month-long wait of negotiating, Qantas came back to him with an offer to give him a Boeing 747.

Although it was a lucrative deal, Travolta humbly refused and asked the airline to pay for the 707’s yearly costs.

The airline further agreed to handle its costs in exchange for the actor becoming Qantas’s brand ambassador.

This happened quite some time ago, but it certainly makes for an interesting story.

Since then, the actor has donated the popular 707 to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS).

However, that wasn’t the only jet he had — because he owned a collection of several airplanes.

That’s how much he loves aviation, and it makes you appreciate the obsession.