BERKELEY, Mo.—On it’s way back to its headquarters in the state of Washington following last week’s appearance at the Paris Air Show, a Boeing 777-9 landed at St. Louis Lambert International airport Sunday and on Monday, played host to St. Louis-based employees who helped build it.
The 777-9, which has been in production since 2014, but won’t be delivered until 2025, is the only current commercial airplane built with St. Louis-made parts. The manufacturer’s defense unit here produces several military aircraft.
St. Louis-based employees build the 777-9’s folding wing tip and moveable elements on the plane’s tail for more than 500 composite parts for the plane, the largest amount the St. Louis facility has produced.
A company spokesman couldn’t confirm the exact number of St. Louis jobs connected specifically to the 777-9 because some of the work crosses over to the defense side as well.
“Folding wings tips are fantastic. There’s a whole lot of discussion about them but they work great. When they’re folded, the airplane fits into the same gate and taxiways as a legacy triple 7,” said Ted Grady, the Chief pilot. “They’ve been really reliable, really safe not really had issues with them.”
The plane which landed here is one of four test models the company has used since flights began in 2020. Grady described the one here now as the “workhorse”.
Employees were walking around and through the plane taking photos like tourists. The plane itself is outfitted with testing equipment and storage tanks to mimic weight, which themselves look like a tourist travel log, decorated with reminders of previous voyages, including last week’s trip to Paris.
The 777-9 will carry up to 426 passengers and is large enough to fit the fuselage for a 737 inside.
Boeing has more than 340 orders for the planes, including a deal announced last week in Paris with Air India for 10 of them. On the other end of the spectrum, Emirates Airlines has a deal for 115 planes, USA Today reported in 2014. Boeing has other deals with Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa.
The first 777-9 was supposed to be delivered in 2020, but there have been delays. The 2025 delivery “reflects an updated assessment of the time required to meet certification requirements. The company has paused production on the planes through 2023 to minimize inventory.
St. Louis Boeing employees helped make the wing components for the 777X test plane. It stopped at St. Louis Lambert International Airport on June 26, 2023.
