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Oct. 14, 2015, © Leeham Co.: Delta Air Lines sees a major surplus of young Boeing 777s developing in the near term as key operators plan to let the aircraft go from leases or retirements. The looming surplus makes it more likely that increased pressure on Boeing's efforts to sell new 777s, and to sell them at reasonable margins, will become increasingly difficult.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, sees Delta's comments as further evidence supporting the likelihood there will be a sharp production rate reduction as early as 2017, perhaps down to six/mo.

Separately, Bernstein Research's aerospace analyst Doug Harned, also see 777 rates coming down to the equivalent of 6.5/mo in 2017, six in 2018 and five in 2019. The first 777X isn't scheduled for delivery until 2020, when Harned predicts only five deliveries of the X.