Boeing has said that TIA is expected "no earlier than" end of March. Another potential problem that I'm hearing is that the CAA might be severely understaffed for the task of certifying the plane. A lot of the work is to review/confirm what EASA is doing, but this is the first plane since Brexit and apparently people in BCA & BA are expecting delays. Still aiming for 2026, but not a certainty.

Apologies, I did actually mean Cabin Crew and they are all long haul (no short haul). Yes it’s not a problem training them but it would have to be done which is a time commitment.

I’ll put my head above the parapet and stick by this one. Maybe it’s something to do with the BKK route? Still currently showing as a 777 but as we all know it can change.

Thanks for this update! Really appreciate you remembering my post! I’m sure there’ll be delays seems it won’t be anything like the previous one that moved the EIS by 2 years. But I’m assuming anywhere between 3-6 months delay, not ideal but at this point 3-6 months for the 777X is small fish.

Boeing wake up please!

The other big hurdle is the industrialisation phase. Elon Musk doesn't get much love recently (and he's 100% responsible for it I hasten to add) but when he said that 'productionising is a lot harder than prototyping' he was absolutely right. I have exactly zero trust in Boeing delivering those birds on time, on schedule and on spec once they've gotten all the paperwork in order. They still can't churn out 787s at a decent rate and decent quality, and even the 737s are proving too hard for them.

My opinion counts for nothing but I'd be very surprised if there's more than a 779 in BA's fleet by 2027.

I can understand that opinion. Also one must remember there’s type certificate and there’s the production certificate. The production certificate is what officially says Boeing can build to the design specifications. Given what has happened with the MAX, that might cause issues.

The jet is on the way…the pace..well.

But with Boeing, I’ve just come to expect nothing

Bangkok will be a relatively low yield route and will need the current Gatwick 777 cabins to make money. It is not a route that will need First Class or lots of J seats.

The only other remote possibility could be the introduction of new routes that warrant a 788 cabin. However, I will remain sceptical for the time being.

The 788 has neither an F cabin nor a huge J one (31 in new CS config), but that aside I share your doubts that it will be introduced at LGW. They need a much bigger Y cabin than the 787 can provide to have any hope of profitability.

Thank you for the information re the 788 I didn't realise they were without a first class cabin. Apologies. However, I agree they lack the necessary capacity unless other
specific routes are planned.

No worries I take your point, we'll wait and see. One of us will be right whichever.

With the AY A320 leases ending this month theyll need to keep them for now, id imagine the last two parked A319s in MAD will be back in LHR before the summer.