Boeing Goes Big

In this era of total uncertainty for airlines and aircraft manufacturers, it’s easy to miss the news that Boeing is rolling out testing on their largest twin-engine jet, the B-777X. At a time when most airlines are retiring their B-747s and many are looking at returning their A380s after they come off lease in favour of smaller, more furl efficient jets, Boeing is hoping a larger, stretched version of their highly successful B777 is what the world needs… and wants.

Late last week Boeing conducted a productive and successful first flight of the second 777X airplane. Capt. Ted Grady, 777X project pilot, and Capt. Van Chaney, 777/777X chief pilot, flew for 2 hours and 58 minutes over Washington state before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field at 2:02 p.m. Pacific.

Designated WH002, this airplane is the second of four in a dedicated flight test fleet and will test handling characteristics and other aspects of airplane performance. An array of equipment, sensors and monitoring devices throughout the cabin allows the onboard team to document and evaluate the airplane’s response to test conditions in real time.

The 777X test plan lays out a comprehensive series of tests and conditions on the ground and in the air to demonstrate the safety and reliability of the design. To date, crews have flown the first airplane nearly 100 hours at a variety of flap settings, speeds, altitudes and system settings as part of the initial evaluation of the flight envelope. With initial airworthiness now demonstrated, the team can safely add personnel to monitor testing onboard instead of relying solely on a ground-based telemetry station, unlocking testing at greater distances.

About the Boeing 777X Family

The 777X includes the 777-8 and the 777-9, the newest members of Boeing’s market-leading widebody family.

Seat Count

(Typical 2-class)

777-8: 384 passengers

777-9: 426 passengers

Engine

GE9X, supplied by GE Aviation

Range

777-8: 8,730 nautical miles (16,170 km)

777-9: 7,285 nautical miles (13,500 km)

Wingspan

Extended: 235 ft, 5 in (71.8 m)

On ground: 212 ft, 8 in (64.8 m)

Length

777-8: 229 ft (69.8 m)

777-9: 251 ft, 9 in (76.7 m)   

Program Launch

2013

Production Start

2017

Ground Testing

2019

First Flight

January 25, 2020

First Delivery

2021

So Boeing goes big and continues to develop their 777X program. The first deliveries are scheduled for 2021, hopefully they’ll coincide with a return to some normalcy in long haul air travel, as this isn’t the kind of plane airlines need for the Boston-Atlanta route. In fact no US airlines have ordered any variations of the planes as of yet.

 

 
Initial date Customer Combined orders
November 17, 2013 Lufthansa[a] 20
November 17, 2013 Etihad Airways 25[b]
December 20, 2013 Cathay Pacific 21
July 8, 2014 Emirates 115
July 16, 2014 Qatar Airways 60
July 31, 2014 All Nippon Airways 20
June 4, 2015 Unidentified customer(s) 10
June 19, 2017 Singapore Airlines 20
March 22, 2019 British Airways 18
Totals 309

 

Emirates will be the launch customer and also the largest buyer with 115 planes on order as of January 2020.