The Boeing 777-200ER is a large long-range twin-jet seating roughly 270 to 370 passengers, flown in the US by United and American on international and high-demand domestic routes. Its massive engines and six-wheel landing gear make it easy to pick out among widebodies.
777-200ER at a glance
- First flight
- 1994 (777-200); 1996 (777-200ER)
- Length
- 209 ft 1 in (63.7 m)
- Wingspan
- 199 ft 11 in (60.9 m)
- Engines
- 2 × GE90, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 800 turbofans
- Seats
- ~270–370
- Cruise speed
- ~482 kt (555 mph) / Mach 0.84
- Service ceiling
- 43,100 ft
- Range
- ~7,000 nmi
How to recognize the 777-200ER
The 777 is a big, muscular twin-jet. Everything about it looks heavy: the engines are huge, the fuselage is wide and round, and the landing gear has an unusual number of wheels.
- Engines: two enormous round engines under the wings, with fans nearly as wide as a 737's fuselage. On the GE90-powered jets the intake is so large you can see the swept fan blades from far away.
- Landing gear: each main gear has six wheels in three pairs. This is a signature 777 feature; most widebodies have four-wheel bogies.
- Tail cone: flattened side-to-side into a blade shape, like a knife edge, rather than a round cone.
- Wingtips: plain, slightly raked tips with no winglets.
- Fuselage: a perfectly circular cross-section with a rounded nose and six cockpit windows.
- Size vs. 777-300ER: the -200ER is about 33 ft shorter, so its body looks more balanced with the wing; the 777-300ER looks very long.
- Sound and contrail: a deep, powerful rumble and two thick contrails at cruise.
An A330-300 is about the same length but has small winglets, four-wheel bogies, a round tail cone and much smaller engines.
Where and when you'll see it
United (callsign UAL) and American (AAL) are the US operators, flying 777-200ERs to Europe, Asia, South America and Hawaii, plus some busy domestic routes such as transcontinental and hub-to-hub flights. Many foreign airlines fly them too, though most have moved to newer types. United's hubs at San Francisco, Newark, Houston, Chicago and Denver, and American's Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami, are the best places to see them.
Cruise is usually FL310 to FL410, stepping higher as fuel burns off. On ADS-B the type code is B772 with a heavy emitter category. Long-haul departures leave in the afternoon and evening, and arrivals from Europe usually come in the afternoon local time.
United flies some 777-200s on domestic routes to Hawaii and between hubs, making them common in Denver, Houston and San Francisco airspace. American uses them across the Atlantic and to South America.
Easily confused with
- Boeing 777-300ER: The 777-300ER is about 33 ft longer and has raked wingtips.
- Airbus A330-300: The A330-300 has smaller engines, winglets and four-wheel main gear.
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: The 787-9 has a pointed nose, raked wings with lots of flex and chevron engines.
Quick facts
- The 777 was the first airliner designed entirely with 3D computer modeling, without a full-scale physical mockup.
- United Airlines launched the 777 into service in 1995.
- Its six-wheel main gear spreads the weight so the aircraft does not need a center landing gear like some four-engine jets.
777-200ER questions
How can I tell a 777 from other widebodies?
Look for six wheels on each main gear, huge round engines and a blade-shaped tail cone. No other common widebody combines all three.
Which US airlines fly the 777-200ER?
United and American Airlines both fly the 777-200ER on international and some domestic routes.
Cities where it's a regular
Dallas–Fort Worth · Houston · Memphis
Spot one live
Open the live sky tool and look for B772 in the type column, or browse the live map on airplanes.live.