No, Boeing did it first with the original 777, way back in 1994. A folding wingtip was designed, the folding mechanism was built and qualification tested, the engineering drawings were all released, it was added to the option catalog, but no customer ever ordered the option.
You used to be able to see the qualification test rig mechanism at the Museum of Flight restoration center in Everett, but they scrapped it during the pandemic.
This is the new reality for all airliners now that there are much more rigorous mandatory safety analyses in place. The 777-9 just happened to be on the edge of certification when they came along.
> This is the new reality for all airliners now that there are much more rigorous mandatory safety analyses in place.
That's an interesting roundabout way of saying that they were not following the certification requirements before, and that it now takes much longer for them to actually conform to the rules they should have followed in the first place.
> The 777-9 just happened to be on the edge of certification when they came along.
Yeah, killing 346 passengers due to extreme negligence will do that to you.. These pesky FAA requirements standing in the way of business..
And more generally, door blow-outs during pressurization tests and engine pylons failing are maybe not things that can be blamed on certification rigorousness..
> they were not following the certification requirements before...
Those requirements didn't yet exist. The multitude of new safety analysis requirements enacted by the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act that was passed in 2020 just overlapped the program's (then) planned introduction, which also slid.