Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg revealed during the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call that around 30 completed Boeing 777X aircraft currently stored at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, will require extensive “change incorporation” work before they can be delivered to customers. While Thai Airways has not officially confirmed any order for the Boeing 777X, the programme’s ongoing certification delays and costly retrofit efforts remain closely followed within the airline industry as carriers evaluate future-generation long-haul aircraft.
The aircraft were produced over several years while the 777X programme faced repeated certification delays. During that time, the aircraft design continued to evolve through flight testing, leaving many already-built jets behind the latest certification standard Boeing is now pursuing. As a result, every stored aircraft must undergo retrofitting before entering commercial service.
According to Ortberg, the amount of rework varies depending on when each aircraft was built. Older airframes require major structural modifications, with Boeing engineers effectively reopening completed aircraft and rebuilding sections to align with the latest design configuration. More recently built aircraft will mainly need software and systems updates.
Ortberg described the retrofit programme as a “pretty massive activity,” noting that older aircraft will take significantly longer to complete due to the scale of structural-related changes required.
Boeing has reportedly assembled a dedicated team to manage the programme and plans to bring all 30 aircraft to a common configuration baseline before applying final updates — an approach the company believes will streamline the process. However, the effort is expected to take several years.
The situation has drawn comparisons to Boeing’s infamous “Terrible Teens” period involving early-production Boeing 787 Dreamliners, many of which also required extensive rework before delivery.
At least one airline has reportedly classified the affected batch of 777X aircraft as “impaired” and indicated it will refuse delivery of aircraft from the stored inventory, potentially setting the stage for future contractual disputes.
To avoid further delays, Boeing plans to prioritise newly built aircraft coming directly off the production line for initial deliveries, with Lufthansa expected to become the launch customer for the 777X programme in mid-2027.
The Boeing 777X programme has already accumulated more than US$15 billion in charges and was originally scheduled to enter service in 2020. Certification is now targeted for late 2026, while the costly and time-consuming rework effort continues in parallel — underscoring the long-term consequences of manufacturing aircraft before the final design standard was fully certified.