Boeing is building the world’s largest two-engine airliner, but it’s been a long and difficult road.
In November 2013, the American planemaker announced a brand new commercial jet — the Boeing 777X, which has been broken down into two variants including the 777-8 and the 777-9. The company also has a freighter option — the 777-8F.
Boeing plans to launch the passenger one first with the 777-9 entering the market in 2026. Emirates is set to be the launch customer, though the expected timeline has already been delayed from its original 2020 entry.
Challenges surrounding the 737 MAX crashes, the pandemic, and the supply chain first contributed to the slowdown.
Then, in August, a problem was discovered in flight tests. As CEO Kelly Ortberg announced the company would lay off 10% of employees, he also announced a further delay to the 777X.
Boeing estimated the delay will cost it $2.6 billion, and Emirates President Sir Tim Clark slammed the planemaker, saying they will have “a serious conversation.”
Nevertheless, with over 500 orders for the plane, Boeing is standing by the program. It showed off its giant 777X testbed at the 2023 Paris Air Show — take a look.
Known as Flight Test 1, the 777-9 is one of four 777X test aircraft in Boeing’s fleet.
Flight Test 1 had flown more than 1,300 hours across some 540 flights, a flight-test engineer told Business Insider at the June 2023 airshow.
Each plane has its own purpose, focusing on a spectrum of items such as auto-land, environmental testing, low-speed performance, and extended dual-engine range operations.
Boeing builds experimental aircraft to test the limits of the jet and collect data on new technologies — particularly the 777X’s folding wingtips.
The testbeds are essential for certification and help Boeing demonstrate to regulators the safety and reliability of its aircraft’s technology and engines.
In August, 777X flight tests were paused after a problem was discovered in the structure that connects the engine to the plane.
“During scheduled maintenance, we identified a component that did not perform as designed,” Boeing said in a statement shared with Business Insider. “Our team is replacing the part and capturing any learnings from the component and will resume flight testing when ready.”
The revolutionary folding mechanism — which is a first in the industry — was introduced to solve the 777X’s problem of airport space.
The twin-engine airliner will have a wingspan of 235 feet and five inches, which is longer than all previous 777 models.
The 23-foot-longer wings help generate more lift and improve efficiency by 10% compared to predecessors and competing aircraft.
When creating the 777X design, Boeing wanted to ensure the bigger airplane could still fit into the 777-designated airport ramp space.
Each aircraft type has specific airport requirements for everything from the width of the taxiways to the size of the gate, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The above picture shows the space difference between an Air New Zealand Boeing 777 and a Lufthansa Airbus A340.
Boeing wanted to ensure the 777X wouldn’t require new infrastructure, saving airports and operators time and money.
But at the same time, the jet’s total wingspan needed to be longer than old 777 models to meet efficiency goals.
A longer wingspan generates more lift, improving performance and decreasing operational costs.
At over 235 feet long, the wings stretched too wide — so Boeing added a system that folds the wingtips up when the plane is parked at the gate.
When the wingtips are retracted, the total wingspan is that of older 777 variants at about 212 feet.
A Boeing spokesperson says despite the novelty of the wingtips, they’re safe thanks to redundancies built into the jet.
James Hanley, a Boeing experimental test pilot, told Insider at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2022 that once the plane slows to about 50 knots, the wingtips would fold.
He added that because the folding mechanism couldn’t occur until the jet reached the ground, it was a non-issue in the case of a go-around.
Plus, the wingtips are locked in flight and cannot be manipulated once airborne.
The aircraft is engineered to alert the pilots that wingtips are not extended before takeoff, whether that be via an alarm or auto-throttle not working, for example.
Moreover, the wingtips are part of the pilots’ pre-flight checklist — adding another layer of safety.
In addition to the wings, the test aircraft is responsible for evaluating myriad other items, such as how the jet performs with heaps of ice on the wing.
It can also access things, including how well it can recover from an out-of-control dive or spin or how it performs flying through rough weather.
To conduct these tests under various conditions, engineers have special systems on board.
One is a series of black water tanks that can manipulate the jet’s center of gravity.
The tanks located in the front and aft of the plane allow workers to transfer water back and forth to test the jet under different centers of gravity.
A typical test flight can be about three and a half hours and employees sit at workstations complete with computers and cupholders, the Boeing engineer said.
Engineers and pilots work together to plan and brief the tests, assessments, and goals for each mission.
Pilots will also relay information to the engineers, such as how the systems perform and if there are any human factors concerns, meaning how people interact with the machine.
Though timing can depend on the day’s plan and weather conditions.
“If the type of testing is kind of difficult on the body, we won’t fly very long,” the engineer said. “If it’s fuel mileage testing, it’s clearly going to be longer.”
Engineers coupled several tests together for efficiency and there were typically 10 to 20 people on board for each mission.
But the engineer added that there would be fewer people allowed on board during higher-risk tests.
Also on board the plane were several rows of cabin seats, as well as a sign that compared the windows with the rival Airbus A350.
The A350 competes with the 777X, but the 777-9 variant is bringing enhancements like bigger windows and more capacity.
The 777-9 can specifically fit up to 426 people in a two-class configuration with 10 seats across in economy. Airbus actually changed its A350 design to accommodate 10 abreast rows as a way to better compete with the 777X.
We got a rare opportunity to see the skeleton of the jet as its wiring and interior systems were exposed.
There were hundreds of feet of wire exposed, as well as insulation systems and other unique components that a typical airline passenger will likely never see.
Problems were found on three test aircraft in August 2024.
The Air Current, which first reported the news, said that Boeing found issues with one of the parts on three of its test aircraft.
The part in question is a crucial piece of the structure that connects the engine to the plane.
In October, Boeing pushed back the 777X from 2025 to 2026.
Tim Clark said in a statement shared with Business Insider that because of inspection delays and ongoing strike action, “I fail to see how Boeing can make any meaningful forecasts of delivery dates.”
The Dubai-based airline has over 200 Boeing 777X planes on order.
Clark canceled 35 orders in late 2019, and he has since converted 16 of the 777-8 orders to the 777-9 — the former so far garnering less interest from customers.
Emirates expanded its order at the 2023 Dubai Air Show to a total of 205.
In addition to Emirates, several other global airlines also hope to one day own the jet — though none are in the US.
While American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines are still holding off, carriers including Air India, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines are all 777X customers.
The post See inside a test Boeing 777X, which has been further delayed to 2026 and annoyed its top customer appeared first on Business Insider.
