In the early 1970s, the Boeing 747, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar became the first generation of wide-body passenger airliners to enter service. By the mid-to-late 1980s however, the DC-10 and L-1011 models were approaching retirement age, prompting development of replacement designs. McDonnell Douglas was working on the MD-11, a stretched and upgraded successor to the DC-10, while Airbus was developing its A330 and A340 series. In 1986, Boeing unveiled its proposal for an enlarged 767, tentatively named the 767-X to target the replacement market for first-generation wide bodies and to complement existing 747 and 767 models in the company‘s lineup. Their initial proposal featured a longer fuselage and larger wings than the existing 767, along with winglets. Later plans expanded the fuselage cross-section but retained the existing 767 flight deck, nose and other elements.
Unfortunately for Boeing at the time, their airline customers weren’t interested in the 767-X proposals they put forward and instead desired an even wider fuselage cross-section and fully flexible interior configurations. But that wasn’t all. Airlines wanted the new airliner to achieve both short-to-medium intercontinental range capability and an operating cost lower than that of any 767 stretch. A tall oder indeed! Airline planners’ requirements had become increasingly specific by then which added to the heightened sense of competition among the world’s aircraft manufacturers. By 1988, Boeing had come to realize their only answer was to start fresh with a new design which eventually became the 777 twin jet. The company decided upon the twin-engine configuration given past design success, projected engine developments and reduced cost benefits. On December 8, 1989 Boeing began issuing offers to airlines for the new model.
Alan Mulally served as the 777 Program’s Director of Engineering and was then promoted to lead the Program as Vice President and General Manager. (He was later named Executive Vice President at the company and subsequently became the Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.) The design phase for the new 777 twin jet was different from Boeing’s previous commercial aircraft. For the first time, 8 major airlines had a role in its development. They included All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, Qantas and United Airlines. This was a departure from industry practice in which manufacturers typically designed aircraft with minimal customer input. The 8 airlines that contributed to the design process became known within Boeing as the “Working Together Group.” By March of 1990, the company and those 8 airlines had decided upon basic design configurations which pushed the envelope. These included a cabin cross-section close to the 747s capacity for up to 325 passengers, flexible interiors, a glass cockpit, fly-by-wire controls and 10 per cent better seat-mile costs than the A330 and MD-11! Boeing selected its Everett factory in Washington, home of 747 production, as the final assembly site for this new aircraft.
On October 14, 1990, United Airlines became the 777s launch customer when it placed an order for 34 Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft valued at $11 billion with options on an additional 34. The carrier required the new jetliner be capable of flying 3 different routes: Chicago to Hawaii, Chicago to Europe and non-stop from Denver (a hot and high-altitude airport) to Hawaii. Many of the airlines involved in the design were instrumental in the final product. In January of 1993, a team of United developers joined other airline teams and Boeing designers at the Everett factory. The 240 design teams, with up to 40 members each, addressed almost 1,500 design issues with individual aircraft components! The fuselage diameter was increased to suit Cathay Pacific, the baseline model grew longer for All Nippon Airways and British Airways input led to added built-in testing and interior flexibility along with higher operating weight options. It really was a team effort.
The Triple Seven was also the first commercial aircraft designed entirely by computer. Each design drawing was created on 3-dimensional CAD software. This allowed engineers to “assemble” a virtual aircraft, in simulation, to check for interference and verify that the many thousands of individual parts fit properly, thereby reducing costly rework. Initially, the company was not convinced of the software’s capabilities and actually built a physical mock-up of the nose section to verify its results. The test was so successful that additional mock-ups were cancelled. The 777 was completed with such precision, it was the first Boeing jet that didn’t need any “kinks” worked out on an expensive, physical mock-up plane! The company delivered the first 777 to United in May of 1995 and the airline’s inaugural commercial flight took place on June 7 of that year when the carrier flew N777UA from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles.
After introducing the original model, Boeing developed an increased gross-weight variant of the 777-200 with greater range and payload capabilities. This 777-200ER (Extended Range) entered service with British Airways in January of 1997. It offered greater long-haul performance and became the most widely-ordered version of the aircraft through the early 2000s. On April 2, 1997, a Malaysia Airlines 777-200ER named “Super Ranger” broke the Great Circle “distance without landing” record for an airliner by flying eastward from Boeing Field in Seattle to Kuala Lumpur, a distance of 10,823 nautical miles in 21 hours and 23 minutes! Boeing next turned its attention to a stretched version of the twin jet and on October 1997, the 777-300 was born. In early 2000, the company launched its next-generation twin jet program and the 777-300ER made its first flight in February of 2003. This model combined the 300s added capacity with the 200ERs range and became the top-selling 777 type as airlines replaced comparable 4-engine aircraft with twin jets for their lower operating costs. The Triple Seven has been ordered and delivered more than any other wide-body airliner as more than 60 customers have placed orders for 2,049 aircraft of all variants, with 1,609 delivered (as of August 2019).
Boeing has not been content to rest on its laurels. The 777X will feature the new General Electric 9X engine, a high-bypass turbofan developed exclusively for this aircraft, with a program cost of well over $2 billion. It powered the 777s maiden flight in January and received its FAA engine-type certificate in late September. Rated for 110,000 pounds of thrust, the GE 9X engine is expected to improve aircraft fuel efficiency by 10 per cent over its predecessor. But these new and more powerful engines don’t tell the whole story. There’s so much more. The new Triple Seven features composite wings with folded wingtips, greater cabin width and seating capacity and innovative technologies garnered from the Boeing 787. The 777X was brought to market with two types; the 777-8 and the 777-9. The first will provide seating for 384 passengers and has a range of 8,730 nautical miles while the latter has seating for up to 426 persons and a range of over 7,285 nautical miles. Development costs for this aircraft are expected to top $5 billion with $2 billion for the carbon-composite wing alone. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2022. The driving force behind the new aircraft? Emirates President Tim Clark who calls the 777X an "absolute peach."
Hats off to Boeing Commercial Airplanes on their newest-generation aircraft! Designed to compete in the same field as the Airbus A350, this 777 is the world’s latgewell on its way toward become the world's largest and most efficient twin jet. As a veteran of many 777-200 and 300ER fights, I can't wait to take to the skies on the B777X.
Until next time...stay safe.
Let's hope we can all get access to a 777 flight in the near future ... and Emirates to Dubai would do nicely!