Lufthansa has confirmed it is negotiating with Boeing over the fate of the first serial Boeing 777X airliners built several years ago. The German carrier is considering whether to reject a portion of the aircraft or accept them only after modernization fully funded by Boeing.
Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said the airline is discussing which aircraft will not be taken at all and which can be modified and delivered with financial compensation from Boeing. He noted that Emirates previously started similar negotiations, while United Airlines has also refused early Boeing 777X models.
Certification delays and scrap decisions
The negotiations follow long certification delays for the Boeing 777X program. Over years of waiting, early production aircraft became outdated because their installed equipment and configuration no longer match current program standards, requiring extensive modernization before delivery.
Emirates earlier rejected its first ten Boeing 777X airliners. Emirates President Tim Clark said with irony in an interview that the planes might only be useful to Heinz to make baked bean cans. Boeing recently wrote off and scrapped one of the first Boeing 777-9 models built for Emirates after finding modernization economically impractical. Despite the issues with early models, Lufthansa still expects to receive its first Boeing 777-9 in the summer of 2027.
