Boeing has confirmed it scrapped the seventh Boeing 777X aircraft built in the much-delayed widebody aircraft programme. The Boeing 777-9, WH007, which has sat partially completed at Paine Field for six years, was disassembled last summer, as first
The scrapped aircraft, line number 1611, was written off as part of an over $15 million accounting adjustment Boeing has made to cover the costs of the programme delays.
The planemaker’s decision to scrap this aircraft draws attention to the complex process of change incorporation that is still required for early-built inventory on this programme.
Scrapped Boeing 777-9 had been earmarked for Emirates
The uncompleted aircraft had one distinguishing feature that hinted at its planned future—its wingtips were painted with the colours of Emirates, the largest customer of the 777X.
Emirates has ordered around 270 777X aircraft in all, and has been patiently waiting for the programme to get off the ground since it placed the first order for 115 777-9s and 35 777-8s at the Dubai Airshow in November 2013. The airline’s President, Sir Tim Clark, has previously said Emirates was not interested in taking early inventory aircraft due to the significant changes required.
WH007 was the second 777X that Boeing built for Emirates, after WH006, which is still earmarked for delivery to the airline as A6-EZD.
Why Boeing scrapped WH007 while keeping WH006 still allotted to Emirates is unclear, but that may change as Boeing’s change incorporation process advances and Emirates comes closer to taking delivery of its long-awaited new widebody plane.
Boeing’s early-built 777X aircraft will require rework to meet the final certified standard
The manufacturer has over 30 early-built 777-9 airframes, some dating back to 2019, which could incur billions in change incorporation costs to meet the final certified standard.
The change incorporation process brings previously built aeroplanes up to date with changes that have occurred since they were originally built, based on lessons learned from the certification process, productivity improvements or process improvements at Boeing. Previously built aircraft must be brought up to the same standard before they can be delivered.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg described the process, during the company’s 1Q2026 earnings call, as “a pretty massive activity that we have underway.” He added that Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA) has a “dedicated team” focused on coordinating the incorporation of changes to the built aeroplanes.
“We’ve got roughly 30 777s that’ll go through this change incorp process over several years,” Ortberg said.
Scrapped 777-9 aircraft may have required extensive change incorporation
According to Air Current, the scrapped 777-9 “was far from ready for service” and may have required extensive adjustments.
“The older the aeroplane, the more change incorporation and the more structural-related changes that are needed, and they’ll take longer,” Ortberg explained, answering an analyst’s question during the 1Q2026 earnings call. “Each aeroplane has a different change incorp work scope. So, that’s what the team is doing right now—is going through defining the statement of work.
“We’re actually going to bring all of those aeroplanes down to a common configuration level and then incorporate the changes. We think that’s going to be the most efficient way.” Ortberg added that incorporating change “is something we’ve always planned” and is a standard “part of the production process.”
But the manufacturer’s delays in certifying the 777X program have made the process significantly more costly and labour-intensive.
“Unfortunately, when you build the aeroplanes early to get all the learning, but then in order to make the final delivery, we do have to bring them all up to the latest configuration. So, it’s in our EAC, it’s in our operating plan, and we’re in the early stages of that change incorp effort,” Ortberg said.
Boeing has not yet disclosed an estimate of the change incorporation costs for the 777X programme, but investors are expecting an update on this during the earnings call scheduled for 28 July.
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