FAA lets Boeing sell 35 additional 777F freighters

The Federal Aviation Administration granted Boeing an exemption on 15 September 2026 from airplane carbon dioxide emissions rules. The regulatory decision permits the planemaker to produce and deliver up to 35 additional 777F freighter aircraft across a three-year period running from 2028 through 2030.

Boeing builds 777F cargo planes at a monthly rate of two aircraft, and it expects the 35 exempted jets will take about 18 months of production time. Without the waiver, Boeing estimated that the United States could lose up to 15 billion dollars in export value, based on a list price of 440 million dollars per freighter. In 2024, total United States air cargo exports stood at 600 billion dollars, with large widebody freighters carrying 260 billion dollars of that total.

The relief bridges a production gap caused by delays to the next-generation 777X program. The 777-9 passenger jet is expected to enter commercial service in 2027, followed two years later by the 777-8F freighter in 2029. As of 31 August 2026, Boeing held an unfilled backlog of 38 orders for the 777F, which includes six jets allocated to sanctioned Russian carrier Volga-Dnepr. Deliveries reached 35 units in 2025 and 18 units during the first eight months of 2026, lifting cumulative 777F deliveries to 312 aircraft.

According to the FAA, adding 35 freighters will increase the global cargo fleet by 2% relative to 2024 levels and could lift global freighter fleet fuel burn by 8%. In the United States, civil aviation accounts for 9% of domestic transportation greenhouse gas emissions and 2% of total national emissions.