Boeing warns of further potential 777X certification delays

Kelly Ortberg, the chief executive of Boeing, has warned that the company is falling behind on the certification schedule of the 777X, noting that there is still a “mountain of work” ahead for the planemaker to certify the aircraft.

Ortberg, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, spoke during the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference on September 11, 2025, touching on many topics about the company, its culture, and its aircraft programs.

This included the 777X.

Ortberg highlighted that the demand for the aircraft is “fantastic,” but the executive had to admit that Boeing has to get itself “through the certification program, and the mound of work is still in front of us.”

The good news, according to Ortberg, is that Boeing now has five 777-9s participating in the test program, and there have not been any new technical issues with the aircraft or the GE Aerospace GE9X engine. “[…] both the airplane and the engine are really performing quite well,” he said.

However, the CEO continued that Boeing is at that point in the certification program where it needs to be burning down certification tasks, “and we are falling behind on the certification.”

“But we still don't have authorization from the FAA for a good portion of the certification program. […] we are clearly behind our plan in getting the certification done.”

Boeing can go fly the aircraft, but it cannot actually get certification credit until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides the required Type Inspection Authorizations (TIAs). The manufacturer is currently receiving incremental TIAs, providing only a “limited capability of being able to get the certification credit done."

“It is something that I have asked Jay Malave, who is our new CFO [Chief Financial Officer – ed. note], to spend some time, as we come through this quarter, really looking at this – the schedule slip and understanding what the implications are and our go-forward plan.”

Ortberg noted that even a minor delay has “a pretty big” financial impact since Boeing is in a forward-loss situation with the program.

While Ortberg was asked whether the 777-9 is still slated to enter service in 2026, he did not directly provide a timeline of when the aircraft would be certified and delivered to airlines.

During the company’s Q2 2025 earnings call, Brian West, the outgoing CFO of Boeing, said that testing activities with the FAA have continued to progress, with the company remaining “focused on the work ahead to deliver the airplane next year," namely 2026.

Turning back to the event on September 11, 2025, Ortberg also touched on the other uncertified aircraft within Boeing’s portfolio, the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10, reminding that the certification timeline slipped into 2026.

The CEO said that the good news about the two aircraft types is that Boeing has made “really good progress on the design of the engine anti-ice since that time.” Currently, the manufacturer is working with the FAA to certify the design of the system and what tests need to be done.

“So, we are still planning on getting that cert done next year, getting aircraft delivered next year, and I think, incrementally, we have made some good progress on the design part.”

According to Boeing’s latest orders and deliveries filings, as of August 31, 2025, the planemaker had unfilled – not gross – orders for 309 737 MAX 7, 1,273 737 MAX 10, 43 777-8, 59 777-8F, and 463 777-9 aircraft.