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Boeing closed the books on a bruising 2020 by announcing another unpleasant surprise on Wednesday: a $6.5-billion hit from delays to its new 777X plane that exacerbated the aerospace giant's annual loss.

Boeing, which saw its revenues ravaged by the commercial airline downturn sparked by the COVID-19 crisis and the 20-month grounding of its 737 MAX model, now expects first deliveries of the wide-body 777X in late 2023, compared with the earlier timetable of 2022.

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The accounting for the 777X prolongation pushed Boeing's fourth-quarter loss to $8.4 billion, plunging its tally for all of 2020 to $11.9 billion in the red, its biggest ever annual loss.

The past year was one of 'profound societal and global disruption which significantly constrained our industry,' said Chief Executive Dave Calhoun.

The 777X was launched in November 2013 with two variants: the 777-8 and the 777-9. The 777-8 provides seating for 384 passengers and has a range of 8,730 nmi (16,170 km) while the 777-9 has seating for 426 passengers and a range of over 7,285 nmi (13,500 km). The 777X features giant carbon-composite wings, the largest Boeing has ever designed. The wings are so long that to fit at standard airport gates, each has to fold upward on a hinge 11 feet from. The Boeing 777X is the American aerospace manufacturer’s latest variant of the popular Boeing 777 family. The aircraft comes as the giant winds down its Boeing 747 program. However, the aviation gods haven’t been kind on the 777X thus far, with the program facing severe headwinds primarily due to engine issues initially. The combined 777 and 777X rate is slowing from five per month to just two in 2021 and looks likely to remain at that level for some time. Boeing has delayed first deliveries of the 777-9 to 2022. The 777X series is based on the proven 777, which is already being flown by Lufthansa Cargo as a cargo version and by Austrian Airlines and Swiss as a passenger version. With a length of 76.6 meters and a width of 71.8 meters, the 777-9 far surpasses its predecessor and is currently the longest passenger aircraft in the world.

'The deep impact of the pandemic on commercial air travel, coupled with the 737 MAX grounding, challenged our results.'

In light of radically worsened market conditions, Boeing has taken a hacksaw to costs, announcing job cuts of some 30,000 employees over two years.

The company also completed a $25-billion bond offering to provide liquidity to ride out the downturn.

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Boeing executives emphasized that they expect a long-term recovery in travel demand, but reiterated that it will take about three years for activity to return to pre-pandemic levels.

They cautioned that profit margins will be under pressure until demand returns and the company is able to ramp up plane production.

'I'm quite optimistic,' Calhoun said in a conference call with analysts.

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'There's nothing about the market right now that has me switched off on that, but we are talking about 2023. It's going to take that long for us to sort of work our way out of the COVID world.'