BOEING 777-9 UNDERTAKES CERTIFICATION FLIGHTS AMID HOPES OF 2025 ROLLOUT
Boeing is taking its newest passenger jet through the "most thorough" testing program ever, as airlines anticipate receiving the aircraft as soon as 2025 after years of delays.
The 777-9 is the latest addition to the company's fleet, and forms part of the wider 777X project, launched in 2013 as an upgrade to the 777 family of wide-body commercial airplanes.
Having received Type Inspection Authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration, which signals that the plane is ready for regulatory evaluations to commence, the company said it conducted its first certification flight on Friday "with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration personnel on board the aircraft."
"Our team has put the 777-9 test fleet through more than 1,200 flights and 3,500 flight hours across a wide range of regions and climate conditions," Boeing told Newsweek.
The test fleet will now "undergo the most thorough commercial flight test effort Boeing has ever undertaken," the company added.
According to Reuters, the FAA has said that the certification process "takes many months."
In Addition to the 777-9, the 777X selection includes the 777-8 Freighter and the 777-8 passenger airplane.
Boeing first unveiled the new aircraft during the Dubai Airshow in 2013, and said that the first 777X would be delivered in 2020.
However, the 777X development program has encountered numerous delays and setbacks, including those related to the certification process.
The plane's 2019 maiden flight was put on hold until 2020, after issues were reported with the aircraft's General Electric GE9X engines.
Boeing then suspended testing of the 777X in September 2019, after reports emerged that the cargo door had blown off one plane during a static stress test.
Boeing paused production of the 777X in April 2022, and changed its estimate for first delivery to 2025, which it said reflected "an updated assessment of the time required to meet certification requirements."
When contacted by Newsweek, Boeing did not provide a new timeline for when certification would be complete, nor when the new plane would start being shipped to customers worldwide.
However, orders have so far been placed for 480 777X jets, according to Boeing, including 106 from Emirates.
During a February event at the U.K. Aviation Club, Emirates President Tim Clark said that delivery of the 777X "is probably at the back end of next year and maybe 2026, if we're unlucky."
In May, Emirates announced that it would need to retrofit nearly 200 older 777 models due to the delayed delivery, the bill for which Clark said would need to be "put at Boeing's door," according to The National News.
In May, Singapore Airlines, another customer for the 777X, said it was still expecting the plane to be delivered in late 2025.
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2024-07-15T14:52:46Z
