Hollywood icon and movie megastar John Travolta is known for his passion for aircraft, having owned quite a collection over the years, but the tale of how the legendary actor acquired a Boeing 707 from Qantas is truly one for the books.

Even with the skies full of aviation oddities, like the oldest planes that are somehow still in service and the new 360ft ‘Mega Plane,’ Travolta’s 1964 Qantas 707 has a unique legacy and striking look that still sets it apart.

A Mansion With Wings

Travolta is a keen pilot with a long list of certifications to fly an even longer list of planes. He also owns seven private jets and has a mansion with a landing strip in Ocala, Florida, showcasing his passion for aviation pretty darn clearly. He purchased the Boeing 707-138B from Qantas in May 1998 and renamed it N707JT, a custom registration sneakily featuring the actor’s initials.

The actor then went on to transform the aircraft and removed 150 commercial seats to install 15 luxury armchairs. It was nothing short of a mansion with wings. Its opulence is evident from its two bedrooms, one of which had a full-sized bathroom, a sitting area, an entertainment room, and a galley containing silverware and tableware for 34 people.

A Hollywood Twist

While on tour promoting his then-new film of the time, Swordfish, Travolta reached out to the CEO of Qantas with a wholly unusual proposal. He suggested that the carrier replace the generic paint on his plane with the Qantas logo, and offered to pay them anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 USD for the privilege.

In an interview with Grant Cardone, Travolta said that he told the Qantas CEO:

“I would love for it to have a Qantas livery on it and go on it would make me happy personally.”

The CEO was shocked to know that the actor was willing to pay the company to put their logo on the plane, assuming that these kinds of things usually happen the other way around. A month after the initial meeting, the CEO ended up calling Travolta and informed him that the company had decided to give Travolta his own 747… free of charge.

The actor was taken by surprise but ended up proposing an alternative idea. Considering that he already had a 707 and was not eager to switch to the 747, the actor asked Qantas to fund his 707 as he was spending $4 to $5 million USD a year for its upkeep. In return, he would endorse the company and become its brand ambassador.

The company agreed to the offer and replaced the plane’s generic paint job white and blue colour with Qantas’ iconic colour scheme and logo. Hundreds of thousands of miles later, we can safely say that Qantas was actually the one scoring a killer deal: they had bagged a Hollywood superstar as a lifelong frontman for only a few million dollars a year… well played.