As Boeing 777-8 freighter, which has won 68 orders from customers worldwide, is being built at Boeing’s 777/777X final assembly facility in Everett, Washington, employees express their pride and hopes, and talk about their approach.

The teams work on the ‘wing-body join,’ i.e. they bring the 777-8F’s mid-fuselage together with its composite wings, which span 235 feet (72 metres), i.e. about twice the distance of the Wright brother’s first flight!

“This is something to be proud of,” says Landa. “It’s a whole new freighter that our customers are excited about, and we’re excited to be building something brand new,” says assembly installer Pedro Landa.

Then, the teams begin outfitting forward and aft fuselage sections with systems and wiring. “We’re building on the success of the legacy 777 Freighter,” explains Jens Biemann, design engineer lead. “This is going to be an airplane that will help customers be successful in their businesses.”

Building a new airplane is challenging, from coordinating parts to becoming familiar with new installation plans. “This is the first one and it isn’t a seamless effort yet,” comments Landa. “But we rely on each other, count on one another and succeed as a team. And as we move on with more and more, we’ll get more familiar with it and learn how to build it more efficiently.”