Everett (United States) (AFP)
The world's largest twin-engine aircraft, the Boeing 777X, took off for the first time on Saturday after long months of delay and erratic weather in recent days.
"Yes! Takeoff of the Boeing triple 7 X," exclaimed Josh Green, a member of the aircraft manufacturer's communication team during the live broadcast of the event on the Boeing website.
It was around 10:10 a.m. local (6:10 p.m. GMT) when the aircraft's wheels, in blue and white livery, detached from the runway before rushing into the clouds above Paine Field, in Everett, some 50 miles north of Seattle in the northwestern United States.
Shortly before, the pilots had deployed the tips of the wings - the winglets - so characteristic of this aircraft. These folding tips allow to improve the lift in flight but fold when the aircraft is on the ground to be able to serve a maximum of airports.
The thrust of the two giant engines of the triple 7 X, manufactured by General Electric, then caused immense sprays of water on the runway before giving the aircraft enough speed to finally take off.
This inaugural flight, which should last several hours if all goes well, marks the beginning of a whole battery of flight tests that should lead to the certification of the aircraft. The plane will land on Boeing Field in the suburbs of Seattle.
The aircraft manufacturer had originally planned to fly the plane on Thursday, but the weather had forced the postponement just like Friday, where thousands of frustrated spectators saw the plane sitting at the end of the runway before finally giving up and flying to return to the tarmac.
The 777X, which can carry 384 to 426 passengers, has an order book of 340 units, mainly from seven major airlines, including Emirates, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. It is supposed to compete with the A350 of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
The first deliveries are not expected before "the beginning of 2021", instead of mid-2020 as initially planned, because the period of test flights should be extended and the approval procedure deepened.
The maiden flight of the 777X was originally scheduled for the summer of 2019, but had to be postponed due to problems with the new GE9X engine, manufactured by General Electric, and difficulties with the wings and software validation.
The aircraft also encountered significant problems during pressurization tests - knowingly exceeding normal operating conditions to ensure the reliability of the equipment - last September.
The 777X is supposed to consolidate Boeing's dominance over Airbus in the long-haul, a position weakened by the imminent reduction in production rates for the 787 "Dreamliner", due to the lack of firm orders from China.
According to the manufacturer's website, the 777X has a range of 16,200 to 13,500 kilometers depending on the configuration and the number of passengers on board and is extremely fuel efficient. A strong argument in these times of "fly shaming" and all-round savings for airlines.
It costs between 410 and 442 million dollars at list price, which is only very indicative and often exaggerated compared to the real price paid by customers.
- Good news desperately -
The aircraft manufacturer absolutely needs good news. It is stuck in an unprecedented crisis since the close accident of two 737 MAX in October 2018 and March 2019, which killed 346 people.
Ongoing investigations into the causes of the accident have involved MCAS software which was to prevent the aircraft from "stalling", that is to say crashing, in certain flight configurations.
But beyond this system is a whole culture of neglect, profit before security and dangerously close relations with the American regulator, which was revealed by the hundreds of thousands of documents given by the manufacturer to the investigators.
In mid-January, the board of directors appointed David Calhoun, 62, at the helm to replace Dennis Muilenburg sacked for a management deemed calamitous by the MAX crisis.
Since then, Calhoun has tried to reassure regulators, employees, airlines and President Donald Trump.
In addition to the serious crisis of confidence which the American manufacturer must face, the MAX affair has an exorbitant cost. The bill so far stands at more than $ 9.2 billion, but analysts expect it to fly away. The shortfall is about $ 1 billion per month since immobilization, calculate analysts of JPMorgan.
© 2020 AFP