The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap between Boeing's other wide body airplanes, the twin-engined 767 and quad-engined 747, and to replace older DC-10s and L-1011 trijets. Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, with a first meeting in January 1990, the program was launched in October, with an order from United Airlines. The prototype was rolled out in April 1994, and first flew in June. The 777 entered service with the launch customer, United Airlines, in June 1995. Longer range variants were launched in 2000, and were first delivered in 2004.
It can accommodate a ten–abreast seating layout and has a typical 3-class capacity of 301 to 368 passengers, with a range of .
It is recognizable for its large-diameter turbofan engines, six wheels on each main landing gear, fully circular fuselage cross-section, and a blade-shaped tail cone. It is the first Boeing aircraft with fly-by-wire controls. It initially competed with the Airbus A340 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, both now out of production, and competes with the Airbus A350 and A330-900.
The original 777 with a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of was produced in two fuselage lengths: the initial 777-200 was followed by the extended-range -200ER in 1997; and the longer 777-300 in 1998. These 777 Classics were powered by General Electric GE90, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. The longer-range 777-300ER, with a MTOW of , entered service in 2004, the ultra long-range 777-200LR in 2006, and the 777F freighter in 2009. These long haul variants use GE90 engines and have extended raked wingtips. In November 2013, Boeing announced the 777X development with the -8 and -9 variants, both featuring composite wings with folding wingtips and General Electric GE9X engines.