First flight test for Lufthansa's 777-9. But German carrier still doesn't trust and already has 'plan B' ready

"Don't say cat if you don't have it in the bag," said Giovanni Trapattoni, great coach of Juventus, Inter and the national team. The German translation escapes us, but that is what the Lufthansa management in Frankfurt has been thinking for months and months about the Boeing 777X, for which the German carrier is expected to be the launch customer in 2027, that is, the one that will receive the first example of the 2.0 version of the famous Triple Seven.

Boeing reiterated last month, during the press conference to present financial data for the first quarter of 2026, That the 777X is "on track" for entry into service over the next year.

But the plane has had several mishaps since 2020, the year of its first flight, to date, so much so that certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to come to them. And deliveries to the carriers that ordered it, initially scheduled from 2024, then slipped to 2026 and finally to 2027.

Lufthansa has purchased 20 Boeing 777-9s for its passenger operations. And Friday, May 8, was in its own way a historic day for the German carrier and for Boeing, as the first 777-9 destined for Lufthansa conducted its first flight test with the real Premium Economy and Economy cabins on board that will equip it when it enters service (Business and First's will come later), taking off and landing from Paine Field Airport and performing a 3-hour, 27-minute flight from the states of Washington and Oregon.

During an interview granted to the U.S. website Simple Flying, the president of the Group, Carsten Spohr, reiterated his confidence that Boeing will meet the announced deadline for delivery of the first aircraft.

But should that not happen, he confided that he has a 'plan B,' which they are already implementing in Frankfurt: to keep all 12 Airbus A340-300s the company has in service through 2027. "This would allow us to make up for the absence of the new airplane by having a large seating capacity available," Spohr said.

Of course, would mean keeping planes in service for at least another whole year that have four engines and thus consume a lot of fuel, have an average age of more than 26 years, and mount dated cabins, especially in Business Class where the configuration is still 2-2-2. But, better than leaving passengers stranded or cutting connections and destinations.

Recently, Lufthansa had to, as a matter of cost, close its subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline., communicating at the same time that the last four Airbus A340-600s will retire at the end of Summer 2026 (exactly October 6, Spohr confirmed), with at least two-four (of the eight still in service) Boeing 747-400s also leaving the fleet at the end of this summer season and the remaining four to six doing the same by Summer 2027.

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