The 777X is Boeing’s new flagship aircraft. While the jet was initially supposed to enter commercial service in 2020, that timeline has been pushed back considerably. With each year that passes, it seems that entry into service for the plane is pushed back by an additional year.
Up until recently, the plan was for the the plane to be certified in the coming months, before the end of 2026, meaning that commercial service could start by the summer of 2027. However, that timeline has now been pushed back yet again, and the expectation is that the plane won’t be certified until 2027.
The basics of the hugely delayed Boeing 777X project
For those not familiar, the 777X is Boeing’s newest version of the 777. The project was launched 13 years ago, in 2013, and so far not a single plane is in commercial service. The 777X will come in two variants — the 777-8 and 777-9 — and the planes are more fuel efficient, longer range, and larger than existing 777s (and larger than 787s, which are also popular).
With there clearly not being a market anymore for planes like the A380 and 747-8, this will likely be the biggest new aircraft we see manufactured in the next decade.
There are currently around 620 orders for the 777X (including for the freighter version), so the plane is popular, though not as popular as the A350 or 787, which are lower capacity while still being long range and fuel efficient. Emirates is the single biggest customer for the 777X, as the airline has 270 of these jets on order, and is using these to replace Airbus A380s, as those jets retire.
However, airlines like All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines, are also counting on this jet for fleet renewal, all with plans to make this their flagship aircraft.
The Boeing 777X won’t be certified until at least 2027
The Boeing 777X was initially supposed to enter service in 2020, but that timeline has slipped back considerably over the years. Up until the past week, the belief (at least publicly) has been that the plane would be certified before the end of 2026, allowing for deliveries in early 2027, and entry into service around the middle of 2027.
That’s no longer happening, with comments from two key people in recent days:
- FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford has stated that he expects that the 777X will be certified in 2027, while also sharing that he expects the 737 MAX 7 to be certified in the coming months, and the 737 MAX 10 to be certified by the end of the year
- Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has said that we “should expect that we will hopefully be done with our flight test program by the end of the year, with the exception of ETOPS,” and that “ETOPS is going to extend into next year,” while emphasizing that “we’re building the airplanes and getting ready to start deliveries next year”
It remains to be seen how this evolves, as it’s hard to take anything with this plane too seriously. In 2024, the plan was for the plane to enter service in 2025. For most of 2025, the plan was for the plane to enter service in 2026. As you can see, with each year passing, we also see the plane delayed by a year.
The 777X program has already accumulated around $15 billion in overruns. The good news is that Boeing is making material progress with test flights, and it seems that things are actually moving in the right direction, rather than being fully stalled. That being said, getting a new plane certified is no small task.
Going back several years, the Boeing 777X was supposed to complete its first test flight in mid-2019, but that ended up being pushed back to early 2020. This delay was due to issues with the GE9X General Electric engines on the plane. These are the largest engines ever on a commercial plane, though they were having durability problems, causing a delay in certification.
That wasn’t the only issue, though — during the 777X certification process, a door also blew off during a stress test. But that was only the start of the issues. Then Boeing had its first round of issues with the 737 MAX, when two of the jets had fatal crashes. That doesn’t even account for Boeing’s production quality issues in 2024, which caused new senior leadership to be appointed. And then in late 2024, Boeing workers went on strike.
Why the 777X delay matters for airlines & passengers
It’s pretty obvious why airlines care about the Boeing 777X delivery delays. Delivery delays with the 777X have greatly messed up fleet planning at many airlines — airlines order planes with specific strategies in mind, and a delay of this many years sure messes things up.
Beyond that, though, passengers should care about these delays as well. Several airlines intend to use the Boeing 777X as their new flagship aircraft, and will introduce new cabins on these planes. In some cases they’ve even had to change their plans. For example:
Bottom line
The 777X is Boeing’s new flagship wide body aircraft. While the plane was supposed to enter service in 2020, that timeline has been pushed back by several years. Until recently, the plan was for the plane to be certified by the end of the year, meaning the plane could enter service by the summer of 2027.
However, that has just been pushed back again — certification of the jet is now only expected in 2027, so while the hope is still that the plane enters service next year, that’s far from a guarantee, and it’s definitely not going to be happening with the expected summer timeline.
It’s just incredible to think that design on an updated version of an existing jet started in 2013, and best case scenario, will enter service 14 years later. One wonders if updating existing aircraft just ends up being more complicated, or how long it would take for a fully new designed plane to enter service. And that says nothing of the $15 billion cost overrun.
When do you think the Boeing 777X will actually enter service?
