Editor’s note: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 777’s first delivery and entry into service. This article profiles one of the thousands of teammates who have helped make it the world’s most popular and best-selling widebody airplane family of all time.
Michael Klein, a teammate on the 777/777X program, vividly recalls the 2009 flight that would reunite his newly expanded family with relatives in the U.S. after a year overseas.
- “My wife and I spent the previous year teaching at the Kyiv International School, an American institution in the capital of Ukraine,” he said. “As we returned to America, our family had grown by one – we welcomed our adopted daughter.”
A journey home: Klein, his wife and their two children faced an unexpected challenge on the trip: They were stranded for a night at a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport after missing their connecting flight. Arriving at the airport the next day, the family was eager to continue their journey.
- “We saw the airplane that would take us home – a Boeing 777,” Klein said. “Even though we still had many hours of flight time before we would be reunited with loved ones, I was overcome with anticipation. That airplane represented home and time spent with our family we had not seen in a year.”
Helping build the 777: Three years later, Klein joined Boeing as an electrical systems installer. His first assignment involved building electrical shelves for the very airplane – the 777 – that had once carried his family home.
- “I still remember the first shelf I completed and sent to the factory for installation,” Klein said. “I felt immense pride knowing I played a part in creating one of the best airplanes in the sky.”
