- New Boeing 777x Photos
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- New Boeing 777x
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The 777 now comes in a new form: the 777X, which flew for the first time in January, becoming the largest twin-engine airplane ever to fly. You can expect to see it flying passengers next year. Boeing took a pre-tax charge of $6.5bn for the 777X program. “We now anticipate that the first 777X delivery will occur in late 2023,” Calhoun said in a message to employees. This is the promise of the new Boeing 777X, a hotly anticipated next-generation aircraft that is coming closer to readiness, in the first full mock-ups of its interior. The new aircraft's possible.
Boeing Co took a hefty US$6.5 billion charge on its all-new 777X jetliner as it posted a record annual loss on Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of a two-year safety crisis over its 737 MAX.
The results cap a tumultuous year for the world’s largest aerospace company during which the pandemic erased demand for the industry’s largest jetliners just as Boeing fights to emerge from the nearly two-year grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX after fatal crashes.
Boeing said it now expects the 777X, a larger version of the 777 mini-jumbo, to enter service by late 2023, three years later than initially planned, with a longer and costlier certification process after scrutiny over the 737 MAX.
Boeing is making “prudent design modifications” to the 777X, including hardware changes to the actuator control electronics, in response to regulator expectations, Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun told analysts.
“2020 was a historically challenging year for our world,” he said.
Boeing shares fell 3 percent against a slightly lower Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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Calhoun said Boeing has sufficient liquidity to manage the downturn but sounded a note of caution on the smoothness of vaccine distribution and an early summer rebound in air travel.
The historic slump in air travel and expanded inspections over production defects has halted deliveries of some 80 787s to airlines so far, cutting off a key source of cash and raising the prospect of a reach-forward loss as Boeing works to clear an inventory of about 450 737 MAX jets.
Boeing said it expects to resume handing over 787s to customers later this quarter, with none in January and few in February, though analysts say deliveries are not expected to recover to 2019 levels until at least 2024.
The company reaffirmed plans to hit a sharply-reduced production rate of five 787s per month in March, when it will consolidate production at its South Carolina factory, a decision first reported by Reuters.
Boeing, which has delivered some 40 737 MAXs from its stored inventory, is also sticking with plans to reach a production rate of 31 737 jets per month by the beginning of 2022, though at least one analyst expects that to slip to early 2023.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted its own 22-month 737 MAX flight ban on Wednesday, as did Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), following a move by US counterparts in November and Brazil and Canada afterward.
China, which was first to ban the plane after the second crash in March 2019 and which represents a quarter of MAX sales, has not said when it will act.
New Boeing 777x Photos
Even so, Boeing said on Wednesday it expects to win remaining 737 MAX regulatory approvals in the first half of 2021.
Demand from China also been curbed by years of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, though industry sources have expressed cautious hope for a revived deal now US President Joe Biden is in office, following a pattern of government-brokered Chinese jet orders coinciding with transfers of power or diplomatic resets.
Calhoun earlier told CNBC he was “optimistic” about new big plane orders from China, although industry sources have cautioned that demand remains thin despite Chinese traffic rebounding more quickly than elsewhere.
![Boeing Boeing](/uploads/1/3/4/8/134869309/244062691.jpg)
Boeing unveiled $8.3 billion in operating charges on Wednesday, including a $468 million charge for abnormal 737 production costs, $275 million over KC-46 aerial refueling tanker production issues, and $744 million linked to its 737 MAX settlement with the US Department of Justice over a fraud conspiracy charge.
The company’s net loss rose to $8.44 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $1.01 billion a year earlier, taking its full-year loss to a record $11.94 billion.
Revenue fell 15 percent to $15.30 billion in the quarter.
Boeing has successfully completed the first flight of the world's largest twin-engine jetliner - a respite from the ongoing controversy surrounding the 737 MAX.
It took three attempts to get the 777X off the ground, as the first two planned tests were abandoned owing to high winds.
The plane - which is 77m (252ft) long and can seat more than 400 passengers - took off from a runway just outside Seattle on the US west coast.
New Boeing 777x Test Flight
Four hours later, it landed at the historic Boeing Field, not far from rows of 737 MAX planes left grounded after two fatal crashes triggered safety concerns.
The new Boeing model, which will be officially known as the 777-9, also boasts folding wingtips that mean it can fit its wings into the same parking bays as other jets.
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Following the successful maiden voyage, Boeing executive Stan Deal said: 'It's a proud day for us. It made all of our employees proud one more time of who we are and what we get to do, by flying a brand-new aeroplane that is going to change the world one more time.'
Boeing's new 777X is expected to enter service in 2021 - with development issues meaning this is a year later than planned. Each plane is worth an estimated $442m (£338m).
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More than 300 of the planes have already been sold, and the jet is expected to compete with the A350-1000, a new offering by rival Airbus.
Regulatory hurdles do lie ahead for the 777X, which will be the first major aircraft to be certified since the role of software flaws in two fatal 737 MAX crashes emerged.
Boeing's New 777x-8
The Federal Aviation Administration has vowed that rigorous testing will be conducted before the plane is allowed to carry passengers - while Emirates, one of Boeing's clients, has said the plane should be put through 'hell on Earth' to ensure it is safe and performs properly.
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Boeing's chief test pilot Craig Bomben, who served as a co-pilot for Saturday's flight, said: 'We took the time to get the aeroplane ready for flight test so I think we are going to march through flight tests successfully and quickly and get it certified to the FAA standards.'