Boeing Priming 777-9 Supply Chain For Planned Production Restart

LE BOURGET—Some Boeing suppliers have been asked to begin shipping parts to support restarting 777-9 final assembly in early 2024, ShowNews has learned. 

Multiple suppliers confirmed the move, including some that provide parts for Boeing-made components.

Final assembly of new 777-9s has been paused since early 2022. At the time, Boeing said “production” would not resume before 2024, and first deliveries would slide from late 2023 to 2025 because of certification-related challenges. Activating the front end of the production process now aligns with that timeline, as Boeing generally considers production as final-assembly work, including gathering parts and subassemblies at the first station on the line. 

Boeing declined to discuss details of its supplier communications. “As we have said, we diligently manage all aspects of our production system and would execute a robust plan and phased approach to re-integrate the 777-9 into production,” the company said.

The move to restart supplier shipments could suggest confidence in the 777-9’s certification progress, which has faced several hurdles in the past two years. The next key milestone, FAA type inspection authorization (TIA), would clear the company to begin formal certification test flights. The company’s current timeline sees certification and first deliveries—once slated for 2019—in late 2025.

Launched in 2013, the 777-9 program has endured several sizable delays. Issues during early flight trials have prolonged obtaining TIA, which the FAA will not grant until it is confident the airplane is ready, and Boeing has addressed all major questions. The company, which this week brought a 777-9 to the Paris Air Show for the first time, is now seemingly confident it has satisfied questions raised by both the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), though it stresses that TIA issuance, like all certification milestone decisions, is up to the FAA.

Program delays led Boeing to pause production so the company could focus on assembly of in-demand 777F freighters and to prevent the buildup of additional 777-9 inventory. There are 24 completed 777-9s and several more in various states of final assembly.

Now, with the possibility of certification tests in the offing and, with it, a firmer configuration, new production is on track to resume—albeit it at a very slow rate—to support a planned ramp-up to at least four aircraft per month in 2025. Program sources indicate the initial rate when production restarts could be as low as half an aircraft per month.