When I went out to see the delivery of the first Singapore Airlines 777 with its new interior, the event was held at Boeing’s Everett Delivery Center which opened in April.

The Everett facility is dedicated to widebody delivery, so that’s where they turn over 747-8, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft to their buyers.

It’s a 180,000 square foot facility set up to handle up to 4 simultaneous deliveries. There are contract signing rooms, guest offices, and conference rooms for airlines’ use during the delivery process.

The FAA comes on-site to do final inspections before turning planes over to their buyers.

The facility is able to support various types of events surrounding aircraft delivery. As it was explained to me, some airlines prefer to sign papers and leave with their planes while others want larger events. And when they’re spending 9 figures on a new plane they can pretty much have their delivery any way they wish.

There’s one jetway at the facility which is set up to handle TSA screening. Boeing has their own private screeners that meet TSA requirements, so departures from the delivery center now allow passengers to arrive airside at commercial airports.

We were brought down onto the tarmac, got to walk around and even saw a Dreamlifter.

Sitting next to one of the planes was a corvette. My first guess was a new promotion! “Buy a new plane, get a free sports car.” But no, apparently some employees can drive their cars onto the tarmac and park next to where they’ll be working. It wasn’t a Boeing corvette.

I also got to sit in the cockpit of the new Singapore 777.

On the way out there are last minute souvenirs, and employees can have free massages.

The photo isn’t clear, taken through glass with awkward lighting, but here’s a plaque for 787 “safety team of the year.” It’s empty, presumably because the aircraft is so new, but the joke in the group was that it was blank because there isn’t safety yet..

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