(Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images The plane took off from a rain-slicked runway a few minutes after 10:00 am local time (1800 GMT), at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, home to Boeing's manufacturing site in the northwestern US. Boeing's new long-haul 777X airliner made its first flight Saturday, a major step forward for the company whose broader prospects remain clouded by the 737 MAX crisis. There was not pressure to lock in long-term 777X production slots since sales were limited.Ī Boeing 777X airplane taxis before taking off on its inaugural flight at Paine Field in Everett. China Eastern acquired its 20 -300ERs between 2014-2017. But that was also before Covid-19.Įven in that more optimistic time, Chinese airlines did not urgently need 777X aircraft since their 777-300ERs were still relatively young.

That was in the lead up to the U.S.-China trade war easing with a pact committing China to purchasing goods like Boeing aircraft. China Eastern and wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai Airlines fly the 787-9. Airlines globally are reworking their orderbooks, which could see 777X orders cancelled or delayed.īoeing expected mainland Chinese airlines to buy their first 787-10s, the higher-capacity variant popular with Asian airlines. It last sold 18 777X aircraft to British Airways in 2019 and 20 to Singapore Airlines in 2017. Since then, aviation’s global outlook has deteriorated.Ī passenger aircraft sale would be far more complicated, economically and politically, but also momentous.īoeing has not sold any 777X aircraft to a mainland Chinese airline, and recent sales elsewhere have been slow. Selling 777-9 and 787 aircraft became loosely involved with the 777 freighter since Boeing was offering a credit memo for a passenger jet sale.Ī credit memo does not imply a purchase is guaranteed, and the 777 freighter deal was not contingent on a mandatory 777-9 and 787 purchase, according to the March 29 proposal Boeing disclosed. Widebody freighters active at select combination airlines as of April 2020 Will Horton

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