Wichita ? Workers at Boeing Co.’s assembly plant in Wichita already have finished the last 757 fuselage section that will roll off the line here.

And today, the company plans to commemorate the shipment of the last fuselage section from the Wichita plant.

The 757 fuselage program, which was launched in 1979, ends this fall when Boeing delivers the last 757 to China’s Shanghai Industries. The last plane will be the 1,050th single-aisle, twin-engine 757 to be delivered since Boeing began shipments in 1982.

Nearly “everybody’s been on the ’57 at one time or another,” said Mike Wakefield, supervisor of the 757 program in Wichita.

Later this month, the section will be loaded onto a rail car for Renton, Wash., where the last 757 will be assembled. Through the years, the 757 has been sold to 55 customers and carried more than 1.3 billion passengers. The 757 is one of only five airplane models designed and built by Boeing to tally more than 1,000 deliveries.

“We know there’s something new that will replace it eventually,” Boeing sheet metal mechanic Todd Shoemaker said. “It’s sad to see it go.”

Boeing launched the 757 program with orders from Eastern Airlines and British Airways for 40. The plane was conceived during the early 1970s oil crisis to be quieter and more fuel efficient than the 727 it replaced.

But a U.S. market downturn and a growing number of airplane choices recently has meant fewer orders.

Experts say the 757 also is a victim of its own success. Many 757s flying today are less than 10 years old and don’t need to be replaced. Airlines are expected to operate them for years with Boeing supplying parts and support.

The increased capabilities of Boeing’s newest 737 and its future 7E7 will fill the market now served by the 757, Boeing officials say.

The remaining 757 workers will report to work in other areas of the plant. But the 757 holds a special place for Stuart Miles, a mechanic who says the program helped support his family for the past 18 years.

He has worked on the 757 since Boeing hired him in 1986.

“I’ve done nothing else,” Miles said. “I hate to see it leave.”