Lufthansa Rejects Early Boeing 777Xs

Lufthansa has joined Emirates as the second airline to turn down early‑build 777‑9s originally allocated to it, creating a fresh headache for American manufacturer Boeing.

These aircraft, built more than half a decade ago, have already been constructed and were part of early builds under the presumption that certification would be relatively straightforward without seven years of delays.

Now, the aircraft from this era no longer match their final specification and have created headaches for Boeing as the airlines they were built for now reject the models due to the time and work required to bring them up to standard.

Why Lufthansa Will Step Away From Early 777-9s

Lufthansa is still on track to introduce the 777-9 in Northern Summer 2027 from its Frankfurt hub, positioning itself as the launch customer as Boeing commits to Q1 2027 delivery commencement.

The German flag-carrier expects the 777-9 to be the answer to growing pains from operating older quad-engined widebodies whose maintenance and operational costs have risen over time. However, despite the delays, the handling of older early builds has now become a topic of consideration as deliveries are mapped out.

CEO Carsten Spohr has confirmed that Lufthansa will not accept all of the early‑build airframes currently allocated to it. That comes as, over two years between 2019 and 2021, Boeing assembled some 30 of the 777-9 jets ahead of certification, including early customers of Lufthansa and Emirates.

However, hindsight and a seven-year-long delay in the approval process would have shown that to be a mistake. In that time, the programme’s path has required several changes to bring it up to speed with the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulations and design input.

Software upgrades mean the early‑build 777‑9s have fallen behind newer aircraft built closer to the standard the FAA will certify. Spohr says Lufthansa is in talks with Boeing over jets that will be taken only after modernisation and also with financial concessions, but that also includes the units it’s refusing outright.

To manage the delays and uncertainty around handover, Lufthansa is keeping some of its A340-300s on hand to plan for a missed first delivery and other complications following the rejection of early build 777-9s.

Lufthansa Not The Only Airline To Reject Early Units

Lufthansa’s comments on the fate of early build 777-9s as first delivery approaches come second to Emirates, who have made their intentions even more explicit in the last month. The largest customer of the 777X has said that it will not take the first 10 or so units that were built for its fleet, as these are not fit for purpose and are likened to a baked bean can.

The jets produced in the same two-year window of 2019 and 2021 have been sitting in storage for more than half a decade, and by the time they are delivered under the assumption of 2027, they will be eight years of age at revenue service entry date.

Emirates likes to operate with a youthful fleet, and forecasting a 15-year frontline lifespan carrying passengers becomes a concern if, before entering service, what is being labelled a flagship has already reached half of that age.

President Tim Clark states that while bringing up the 777-9s to spec with patchwork and other system changes will be required, they are still uneconomical and undesirable in comparison to the later-built frames that follow closer to the guidelines the FAA has put forward.

Boeing has already been forced to scrap WH007; this was one of the earliest 777-9s bound for Emirates, and a decision was made instead to absorb the high costs that would come from a full rework. That rework and costs from airline rejections have proved to be a headache for the many 777-9s that have been sat idle for years.

777-9 Rejection Leads To Opportunity?

While Lufthansa and Emirates move to reject early-build 777-9s, it leaves the fate of these older airframes in the clouds, similarly to airlines deferring delivery slots or cancelling orders last-minute, which equally leaves opportunity for an airline that had been pursuing the 777-9 and can now acquire the model without the same delivery wait and price tag associated with a new order.

Lufthansa is the second airline that has distanced itself publicly from the early batch, Emirates being the first, and days after Clark’s comments, United Airlines was reported to have expressed interest in up to 20 of the early-build 777-9s, which would come with a heavy discount to help replace some of its older 777s.

Industry sources flagged that interest; it was the first public reporting of the opportunity being taken advantage of, or at least considered, by an international airline that had yet to commit to the program.

The core issue, however, remained in the early airframes built for a design that is no longer certifiable. That means the long delay to the 777-9s approval will add time to these earlier jets, which do not have the same changes to wings, flight controls, and engines on the certification basis the FAA will greenlight.

United Airlines would eventually shut down reports of its interest, stating that it was not going to move ahead with the early 777-9s. While no other airline has come forward publicly to express interest, some are eyeing a flagship such as Thai Airways that has yet to commit to a programme of choice for which a discount could prove attractive.

Until these early 777-9s find a home, they will continue to be the latest headache for Boeing and a clear example of the journey the model has been on across nearly a decade of production and certification, without a single commercial flight operated.