Aircraft
777X Changes Force Boeing to Relearn Hard Lessons
777X change issues is a crisis four decades in the making
Boeing 777 assembly line
Boeing is having to incorporate multiple changes at the production stage for its 777X airliners. © Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Boeing has more than 30 777-9 airliners built and stored at its production facility in Everett, Washington. Some have been stored since 2020 with years of testing and certification delays pushing deliveries to next year. However, every stored aircraft must undergo change incorporation first to meet FAA standards, a process that involves years of scrutiny, system updates, and fixes identified during testing.

CEO Kelly Ortberg, responding to a question on the first-quarter 2026 earnings call, provided a high-level overview of the challenges Boeing faces with the the 777X program.

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