 The first commercial orders for the 707 came on October 13, 1955, when Pan Am committed to 20 Boeing 707s and 25 Douglas DC-8s, dramatically increasing their passenger capacity (in available revenue passenger seat-miles per hour/per day) over its existing fleet of propeller aircraft.The competition between the 707 and DC-8 was fierce.Pan American ordered these planes, when and as they did, so that they would be the operators of the "first-off" production line for each aircraft type.