Boeing’s 777-9 Finally Takes to the Skies

MIAMI — Boeing has been haunted by bleak news lately, but on Saturday at a little after 10 in the morning, there was something for the airplane manufacturer to cheer about: The Boeing 777-9 took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash, on its inaugural test flight. Once airborne, one of the two pilots reported, “All flight controls are good. Very solid.” A crowd of two hundred or so stood in awe as the big bird took off, then erupted in applause, high-fives, and hugs.

“This major milestone for the #777X airplane program begins the next critical phase of testing as we work towards certification and then delivery to customers in 2021,” Boeing tweeted after takeoff. And thus began a rare positive day for the Chicago-based company.

The 777X-family jet, powered by two GE9X turbofans, is the largest commercial airplane in the world with passenger capacity of 426 and a length of 251 feet 9 inches (76.72m) for the 777-9 (the 777-8 is 229 feet long). One Boeing spokesperson called it “the marquee airplane.” It is also said to be the world’s most fuel-efficient twin-engine jet, in part because the massive GE jet engines allow the airplane to fly at higher altitudes, where it will use less fuel. Boeing officials pegged the fuel savings at as much as 13% per passenger seat.

Boeing had to wait out strong winds and bad weather on Thursday and Friday before the bird successfully took off on Saturday. The plane needed to take off to the north and head out over water for safety precautions, which meant wind speeds needed to be 10 knots (11.5mph) or less. On Friday, winds gusted up to 30 knots, making takeoff impossible. But Saturday’s winds were calm.

The 777-9 flew for about five hours and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle at 2:30 p.m. A T-33 chase plane was also in the air with the jumbo jet.

The company was in dire need of some good news after the global grounding of the 737 MAX following two widely publicized crashes that killed 346 people in 2019. The Jan. 25 inaugural 777-9 flight officially kicks off a campaign that is expected to eventually lead to certification in 2021, about a year behind Boeing’s original schedule.

The 777-9 was supposed to have its first test flight in the second quarter of 2019, but problems with the GE9X engine’s compressor pushed the schedule back. Additionally, a cargo door blew off during a ground pressurization stress test, adding to delays and headaches for Boeing. It’s not yet been announced whether the test will need to be redone.

The GE9X engines are so large that they needed to be tested on a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet. The 777X family jet has a wingspan of an incredible 235 feet, 5 inches (71.75m). The wingtips themselves are 11 feet long and are able to fold, so that the jetliner can fit into standard airport gates. When on the ground with wingtips folded, the wingspan is reduced to 212 feet, 8 inches (64.83m). The hinged wingtips—which are typically seen on military aircraft, not commercial planes—are the 777X’s most distinctive feature.

But so far, orders for the 777X have been underwhelming. To date, the company reports 309 orders, most of which are from Emirates Airlines. Emirates had ordered 150, but has since reduced that order to 115. Qatar Airways has ordered 60; British Airways ordered about 40; and several other airlines—including All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines—have ordered 20 each. Boeing had expected Chinese airlines to order the new jet, but trade tensions have kept the country from showing interest, at least so far. Many analysts say airlines are likely to take a wait-and-see attitude toward the plane, in no small part due to its hefty price tag. The list price for a 777-9 is $442.2 million.

Orders for the wide-body 787 Dreamliner have also slowed a bit, and Boeing has adjusted its production schedule from 14 Dreamliners a month to 12.

Another stumbling block for the big bird could be intense regulatory scrutiny of its simulators in the wake of the 737 MAX scandal. Recently, internal emails among Boeing employees were turned over to Congress. Several of them tie the 777X to problems that plagued the 737 MAX. “Best part is we are re-starting this whole thing with the 777X with the same supplier and have signed up to an even more aggressive schedule,” wrote one jaded Boeing employee.

Another unnamed employee wrote, “We put ourselves in this position by picking the lowest-cost supplier and signing up to impossible schedules. Why did the lowest ranking and most unproven supplier receive the contract? Solely based on the bottom dollar. Not just the MAX but also the 777X! Supplier management drives all these decisions.”

Those comments and recent history at Boeing likely mean extra scrutiny on all new airplanes going forward.

Still, on this overcast Saturday in Everett, about 45 minutes north of Seattle, the crowd of Boeing employees, aviation fans, and well-wishers couldn’t help but be optimistic, if just for the day.

“This airplane, for me, is the flagship for the big airlines around the world,” said Wendy Sowers, Boeing’s marketing director for the 777X. “It represents the great things we can do as a company.”

The crowd on hand in Everett was smaller than it would have been on Thursday or Friday because many of the Boeing workers had the day off, but a couple hundred were on hand to cheer the plane on. The massive bird kept its audience spellbound as it took off. The folding wingtip action and the incredible size of the wingspan had people agog.

Boeing employees traded high fives and hugs as the bird soared. Social media lit up to. “Massive, gorgeous bird,” wrote one fan. “You get a real appreciation for the size of the wingspan when it turns onto the runway.” Another chimed in, “Ranking high on the list of cool things to witness, #777X taxis into position @FlyPaineField.”

The 777X family of jets will be made up of the larger 777-9 and the 777-8, with capacity for 384 passengers. This family of jets has been called the heir apparent to the iconic 747, which went on its first flight almost exactly 50 years ago today. Forbes magazine, for one, posits that the 777X “may be the jumbo for a green generation.” Only time will tell, but today, the clock started ticking.