Positioning and Marketing of the 777

BOEING 747-400

BOEING 777-200

BOEING 767-300

Within Boeing's own product line, the 777 series is positioned in size and range between the 747-400 and the 767-300. The 777's size choice was made, like many other aspects of the plane's design, based on the inputs of customer airline operators. Airlines had wanted a plane smaller than the 747 to serve long range, medium capacity routes where a 747 would have had to fly daily with more empty seats or less frequently with a full load. In these situations, the 767 lacked either the capacity or the range at full capacity. The 777 provides both the range, and capacity, to fly full while still allowing daily departures providing airlines with more flexible schedules.

Originally conceived as the 767-X, a stretched, modified 767, the 777 evolved its own design sharing little more than its nose section and the wide-body twin engines below wings configuration. The 777 features a new, larger wing, a much wider fuselage barrel, significantly larger engines, and advanced avionics not found on either the 767 or the 747.

Design of the 777, for the first time in aircraft design history, was accomplished with feedback and input from the customer at all stages. Launch customer United Airlines, as well as many other major air carries such as JAL, ANA, Lufthansa, Delta, and American, were all consulted by Boeing in the design process and many things were done differently as a result. More so than ever before, the ease and cost at which the 777 could be operated and maintained was a key design factor.

The 777 is currently most widely used on high load, medium range and medium load long range routes. Examples of these are United Airlines Denver to Chicago route, British Airway's London to New York, and Cathy Pacific's Hong Kong to Tokyo flights.

Being the last to market in its segment, the 777 had to offer advantages over its competitors to justify its slightly higher purchase price and its later delivery dates. Key selling points were the airplane's wider fuselage cross section, advanced systems, low cost of operation, and fleet commonality with other Boeing transports.