Kansas Modification Center (KMC), the Wichita outfit developing a Boeing 777-300ER converted freighter, continues modifying its first aircraft and now aims to secure Federal Aviation Administration approval in late 2026.
The firm, one of three competitors offering 777 converted freighters, had once aimed to achieve a supplemental type certificate (STC) for its conversion in 2024.
While that timeline slipped, KMC founder and chief operating officer Jim Gibbs says the modification is progressing well. He foresees significant demand for his company’s “777-300ERCF” conversion, saying the jet’s unique forward cargo door is among factors setting it apart.
“The engineering took a little bit longer than what was expected”, as did pre-modification flight testing, which involved “widespread fatigue-damage tolerance” evaluations, Gibbs says.
He also cites the slow pace of working with the FAA and notes “inconsistent requirements”.
“One of the big ones right now that we’re going through is the use of the term ‘supernumerary,’” Gibbs says, as an example. That term refers to employees (though not pilots) who travel aboard aircraft and who assist with aspects of the operation. The FAA recently stopped allowing use of that term.
“They did not like that term, even though it’s been used on every passenger-to-freighter conversion,” Gibbs says. As a result, KMC has needed to revise placards and drawings inside the aircraft.
Certification progress stopped this week when parts of the US federal government shutdown due to a budget standoff in Washington, DC. Gibbs says FAA staff working on the project left when the shutdown took effect.
Amid that backdrop, Gibbs expects KMC will complete the first modification around June 2026, after which it will begin STC-credit flight testing.
KMC advertises its 777-300ERCF as having 92,986kg (205,000lb) of payload and ability to carry 47 cargo pallets – 33 on its main deck and 14 below.
KMC is leading the project but has partnered with maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) shop NIAR WERX Engineering Services, an affiliate of Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research.
Gibbs says the first modification is well underway in Wichita. The partners have removed the jet’s floor beams and within 30 days expects to remove fuselage skin panels – those measure more than 9.1m (30ft) long – in the area where the team will install a forward cargo door.
Modifying the jet’s existing skin panels to accommodate the door would have added too much weight, so KMC hired Spirit AeroSystems to supply new skins tailored for the project, Gibbs says.
“We have all kinds of structural parts that show up every day,” adds Gibbs, citing floor beams, avionics boxes, placards, cabin structures and ducting components required for the jet’s “Class E” cargo compartment.
The project requires only few avionics updates. Those include equipping the 777 with a new computer that integrates with its existing master caution system to display conversion-specific messages, such as related to fire detection.
KMC has hired cargo specialist Telair to supply the jet’s cargo handling system and expects to install that system next year, Gibbs adds.
COMPETING 777 CONVERSIONS
Two other firms are chasing similar opportunities by offering cargo-converted 777s. Those include Israel Aerospace Industries, which recently received an STC from the FAA and Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority for its 777-300ERSF, which has a rear cargo door and maximum structural payload of 100,698kg. Aircraft lessor AerCap is IAI’s launch customer.
US firm Mammoth Freighters, meanwhile, recently started flight testing its 777-200LRMF, also with a rear cargo door and with 106,594kg of payload. Qatar Airways is that aircraft’s launch customer.
Gibbs cites KMC’s forward cargo door as a competitive advantage, saying the design prioritises “ease of loading” and more importantly weighs less. The 777’s rear fuselage undergoes significantly more stress than the forward fuselage, a consequence of its location between the wings and engines and rudder and horizontal stabiliser. As such, rear doors require more structural reinforcement, Gibbs says.
If the autopilot “kicks the rudder hard over… all that stress goes through the back of the airplane,” he notes. “That’s just something… the front of the aircraft just does not have.”
KMC holds firm orders for three 777-300ERCFs from launch customer Backbone Freighter Leasing, an affiliate of German asset manager Dr Peters Group. Backbone holds options for another seven modifications.
“We… haven’t sold a lot of airplanes, or tried to sell a lot of aircraft,” says Gibbs, who puts the cost of the conversion in the “mid-to-upper $30 million range”.
“The closer you get to STC, the more you can sell the conversion for,” he adds, noting also that the jet’s exact specifications – its maximum structural payload and life limit, for instance – will become clear as the programme matures.
Gibbs recently ramped up KMC’s marketing efforts, having in September visited China, where he says “really major carriers” expressed “a lot of great interest”. He also cites interest from customers in the Middle East.
The first conversions – those ordered by Backbone – will be completed in Wichita but KMC expects to partner with other MROs, including those overseas, to handle future conversions.
Gibbs has struck a memorandum of understanding with Thai Airways to establish a conversion line in Bangkok.
Though KMC and partners in 2024 said they reached an agreement to establish a conversion facility in Casablanca, Gibbs now says that partnership “never did pan out”, adding, “It just was not a good fit”.
Gibbs foresees strong demand for cargo-converted 777Fs, saying used aircraft will become increasingly available for conversion in the coming years as Airbus and Boeing ramp production, prompting airlines to retire more used jets.
Carriers have kept many widebodies in service longer than anticipated due to delivery delays.
Some 760 777-300ERs remain in service globally, of which 180 are more than 15 years old, according to fleet data provider Cirium.
