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.
In this post:
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:
- Emirates will be installing its new first class on the 777X, which is otherwise only available on fewer than a dozen 777-300ERs; the planes will also be getting a new business class product with doors, at long last
- Cathay Pacific was going to debut its new Aria Suites business class on the 777X, but is now retrofitting existing 777-300ERs with this product; the airline will still debut its new Halo Suites first class on this jet
- Singapore Airlines was going to debut both a new first and business class product on its 777Xs, though with the delays, these cabins will first be retrofitted on some A350s
- Qatar Airways is expected to launch a new first class on the 777X, in addition to offering its refreshed Qsuites business class
- Lufthansa was going to debut its new Allegris business class on the 777X, but due to the delays, this is now being installed on A350s and 787s first
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?
The incompetence of Boeing is terrible. I'm amazed they get anything flying. I doubt they've made a rollout schedule in their history.
The real question is how much profit Boeing will make from any of the aircraft currently on the order book, given the compensatory discounts demanded by airlines that have already spent years tapping their metaphorical feet in frustration at these seemingly endless certification and delivery delays.
That can be easily fixed.
Any airlines flying into the US must use a Boeing otherwise they cannot fly in.
They are not allowed to take any compensatory discounts or any discounts they receive are then taxed by the US government and fed back into hiring real Americans.
Our country is the greatest in the world and if people want to continue visiting us, they they fly the safest planes into our country, which is Boeing.
I've been saying it for the past 4-5 years.
This plane will NEVER be certified.
That's all!
Can we maybe consider the use of the term “Emirates new First Class”.
When your child turns 10, even if they are your youngest, you don’t call them the new addition to the family. The Emirates product will be over a decade old by the time the first Emirates B777X takes to the skies. In my mind Emirates should be in the process of designing a newer version.
Not blaming Emirates… clearly not...
Can we maybe consider the use of the term “Emirates new First Class”.
When your child turns 10, even if they are your youngest, you don’t call them the new addition to the family. The Emirates product will be over a decade old by the time the first Emirates B777X takes to the skies. In my mind Emirates should be in the process of designing a newer version.
Not blaming Emirates… clearly not something they took into account back in 2014 or 2015, before wars and pandemics.
Similar delays with Boeing Starliner.
This is clearly an attack and bribery by the Europeans and Airbus to keep Boeing grounded. The Trump administration should ban all Airbus plane in US airspace going forward until this attack stops.
here is that attention you ordered
I think you've obviously skipped your meds for a few days. Somebody call the nurse...
What a disaster.
Boeing is an embarrassment.
One is ever hopeful that none of the Boeing fanboys are holding their breath for their first flight on this beleaguered aircraft. The reality is that nothing is guaranteed as far as Boeing ever completing this project is concerned.
There's next to 0% chance that Boeing won't complete and certify this product.
At what time, or with acceptable performance, dispatch reliability, and perhaps even overall safety? Those are still questions.
In your lifetime Synn? …. :-)
Seems fitting to rename to “Boing” cause that’s what it’s gonna take to spring this program into shape and pace. It’s almost like Boeing forgot how to make planes after the 787.
Where did Boeing say they were going to deliver the 777x in 2026. Is there somewhere they said that publicly? This is a couple months of delays. Ben is writing like Boeing has said it will take another one year. According to your own article The FAA said they’ll be done with certification in early 2027. Boeing said deliveries will begin in 2027. So what exactly are we complaining about again?
@ Opus -- I never claimed that Boeing said they were going to deliver 777Xs in 2026, just that the plane would be certified by then. I suspect this represents a delay of a minimum of several months, given that previously October was targeted for certification.
When we're within a year of the plane allegedly entering service, I think an additional delay of several months is newsworthy.
It was due to be certified in October, according to who? Boeing never said that, i haven’t even heard or read that anywhere from any airline.
But ultimately what does An October 2026 certification do vs January 2027 certification at this point? It’s already 7 years late and the plane was never scheduled to be delivered in 2026.
Kelly Ortberg literally said 2 days the certification flights will still finish in 2026. Only...
It was due to be certified in October, according to who? Boeing never said that, i haven’t even heard or read that anywhere from any airline.
But ultimately what does An October 2026 certification do vs January 2027 certification at this point? It’s already 7 years late and the plane was never scheduled to be delivered in 2026.
Kelly Ortberg literally said 2 days the certification flights will still finish in 2026. Only ETOPs extends till next year. ETOPS takes 3 weeks btw. In case you didn’t know
Well - they did announce that the aircraft would enter into service in 2019… nope 2021…2023….oops I meant 2024…. Scratch that I meant 2025 and oh just kidding… we meant 2027 all along and given the pace of the certification… even that’s unlikely.
Boeing is in some real doodoo with this program, as they already have > a couple dozen frames sitting in storage that will require extensive upgrades to make them airworthy.
Add that number to the zero planes delivered, and one can only wonder how long it will take them to turn a profit.
Has Boeing started to take engineering seriously again? Or will they be beta testing the 777X on paying pax, just like the 737MAX?
@TravelinPenis
See what happens when you give your Orange Man obsession a break?? You actually begin to make sense and have perfectly valid points...Refreshing, isn't it?
When it comes to aircraft technology like this, I imagine the pace of innovation is slower because of the duopoly, but when the planes are delayed 7+ years, don't the planes become far less competitive and cutting edge? Won't Airbus have had a lot of extra time to do R&D of their own?
This is like the same w/ Allegris, it would've been a solid seat maybe 6 years ago when it was supposed to happen, now it's average to below average at best.
They should've just redesigned the aircraft on scratch with a fuselage made of composite and a brand new wing.
If there weren't only the two suppliers of wide bodies on the planet, Boeing would've been out of business.
Hindsight :)
@betterbub. Everyone else looked to the future & told Boeing they were nuts to upgrade the 737 to MAX spec and they did that anyway. Tweaking the 777 airframe & now they've learned another harsh lesson. Boeing made some massive mis-steps over the last couple of decades unfortunately.
Sure, but they would have been stupid to start a project they didn't think would make them money. If they knew the delays would get this bad they wouldn't have been so stupid
So Hindsight :)
you can't just steal my comment like that :(
I can because I'm lazy :)
Ben will not mind the extra clicks, lazy gains or not …. :-)
Does Boeing pay any sort of compensation to airlines waiting for it? The airlines have to keep older planes in service, do maintenance on those planes they weren't expecting to do, not be able to grow as planned? Or is this just the way it goes?
"Does Boeing pay any sort of compensation to airlines waiting for it?"
I would assume significant discounts on future orders. When CX topped up their 779s, there were significant discounts.
The year is 2100. Humanity's second moon colony is being settled. Global average life expectancy just hit 102. We have discovered a cure for almost every illness ever known. The Boeing Corporation has released a press release that the 777X will commence deliveries from 2101...
and LH announced that their new 777X aircraft will be equipped with a revolutionary Allegris middle suite with doors on both sides!
And after much thought, Boeing has stated that it will be 2300 before the tech is ready for a 757 replacement.
I actually think at this point, many airlines would pick a new solid but simple workhorse like the old pencil, over much greater fuel savings but unreliable innovation and overly complicated systems.
The psychology behind aviation geeks' inability to accept that the 757 has already been replaced in/by the market, needs to be studied.
Immortal you are clearly incorrect and need to do your own studying, if it has been replaced, why is it still flying at over 30 years old? All Boeing airlines are having to change their policies over this.
Meanwhile barely 15 year old a380s (great plane to fly in) are scrapped and retired even with this delay.
are you r3tarded or do you really need that explained to u?
Would be nice to know "Why?" the certification is delayed. Engineering issue? Supply side problems? Logistics of the certification process?
Had to dig deeper - airwaysmag reports that this is a "certification delay of several months" so the delay probably just pushed from late 2026 to early 2027, changing the last number of the year and grabbing more headlines. They went on to report that Boeing has repeatedly said the latest delay is tied to...
Would be nice to know "Why?" the certification is delayed. Engineering issue? Supply side problems? Logistics of the certification process?
Had to dig deeper - airwaysmag reports that this is a "certification delay of several months" so the delay probably just pushed from late 2026 to early 2027, changing the last number of the year and grabbing more headlines. They went on to report that Boeing has repeatedly said the latest delay is tied to the certification process rather than a newly discovered technical issue.
So the FAA is being extra cautious, perhaps, causing this latest delay? If so, that's not so bad a thing. But it sounds like a paperwork delay more than anything.
I am happy it is delayed, the longer the wait for another slave ship, the better. The front of the jet will be nicer but the back will be full of packed in and uncomfortable passengers.
Slave ship? So Boeing plans to forcibly take people from their homes, transport them across the ocean to a strange land, and force them to work under penalty of harm or death? That's an interesting corporate strategy.
That strategy has worked for the Middle Eastern and African tribal leaders for centuries. It continues today in many parts of the third world too. It might not be called “Corporate Strategy” but the principles are the same.
I know you were trying to be cheeky, but the Dutch VOC was the original corporation, and this was their exacting strategy.