The Boeing 777-9 is unlikely to enter service until at least 2025
Boeing 777-9
Boeing will meet with US and European regulators concerning the Boeing 777X program next week. While certification is still some way off, the meeting will explore problems and solutions with the 777X as Boeing strives to certify its aircraft.
After recent reports suggesting the Boeing 777X may not receive certification until late 2024 or 2025, Boeing will hold a meeting with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding the jet.
The meeting will reportedly examine the problems afflicting the 777X program and evaluate possible solutions. There are still major issues to work through before the 777-9 is certified.
According to Reuters, Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told reporters in Washington,
“We just need to agree on common principles of how to achieve the safety targets that we have, and we need to understand each other. That’s where we are. We need to agree on planning, and who does what.”
In a March letter to Boeing, the FAA claimed that existing certification schedules for the 777X were “outdated and no longer reflect the program activities.”
The Boeing 777X introduction will likely be postponed until 2025 in the latest delay to hit the program. While Boeing had initially hoped for certification in 2023, it reluctantly admitted that late 2024 is now more realistic.
Emirates President Tim Clark echoed this belief after claiming the airline isn’t expecting its first 777X until 2025.
The 777X has been in development since 2013 and was initially earmarked to enter service in 2020. However, a series of problems involving production, certification and engine issues have held up the program.
In May 2021, the FAA set the 777X program back again, claiming a “lack of data and the lack of a preliminary safety assessment.”
The 777X will need full certification before Boeing can begin deliveries to many eager customers. The 777X program has now received over 340 orders, with Middle East carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways making up the two largest customers.
Boeing recently entered talks with another big 777X customer, Singapore Airlines, which has 31 of the type on order. There are concerns that continued delays to the 777X program could cause customers to look elsewhere, particularly after Emirates intimated it could scrap its 777X order after delays.
Boeing has suspended production of the 777X while it grapples with certification and design issues. So far, only four 777Xs have been built.