Emirates rejects first 10 Boeing 777X jets after years of delays, calling them unusable as design changes and technical issues deepen setbacks for Boeing
Emirates has refused to take delivery of the first batch of 10 Boeing 777X jets, in the latest setback for Boeing, after the airline’s president, Sir Tim Clarke, said the planes that had been delayed for years were unusable, and joked that they were “only fit for conversion into cans of cooked beans”.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph on the sidelines of the Farnborough International Airshow, Clarke said Emirates would not receive the batch “definitively”, adding that the scale of modifications made to the aircraft since they were manufactured in 2019 makes it impractical.
He added that the manufacturer was free to dispose of these planes, saying, “What they do with them is up to them,” before adding sarcastically: “Heinz might be interested in turning them into cans of cooked beans.”
777X: Emirates’ largest programme
Emirates is the largest customer of the 777X, having ordered 270 of the 777X’s aircraft, each valued at about $440 million, but repeated delays caused by design modifications pushed the delivery of the first aircraft by seven years, after it was scheduled to enter service in 2020.
Clark explained that the airline is not objecting to the program of the aircraft itself, but to the first batch, which has been subjected to repeated modifications during the years of delays, stressing that the design of the 777X has undergone significant changes that have made the rehabilitation of these aircraft useless.
The program has seen a series of technical issues, including a malfunction in the thrust control system that led to the suspension of test flights in 2024, an accident in 2020 during which the propeller of an aircraft rose without pilot intervention, as well as an early failure to test the aircraft’s structural endurance, factors that contributed to the postponement of the program by several years.
Structural concerns
Clark also revealed the company’s concerns about structural testing during which an airframe’s hull failed earlier than expected, noting that the modifications made to the airframe since the first flights were too significant.
In another development, The Air Current reported that one of the 777X jets was dismantled in 2025 after being grounded for six years near Boeing’s manufacturing facility in Seattle.
Stephanie Pope, President of Boeing Commercial Aircraft, said the company has made modifications to the aircraft as the design evolves and matures, stressing that Boeing is constantly evaluating the cost of upgrading older aircraft against operational benefits, ensuring that the most suitable solution is reached for the company and its customers.
