Vanguard Airlines Boeing 777-200ER "2013-"

After the success of the 757 and 767, Boeing was looking at a substantial size gap between the 767-300 and the 747-400. With McDonnell-Douglas and Airbus working on respective placements in the market to replace aging DC-10s and L-1011s, and an exploratory 767-X program failing to generate enough traction, Boeing opted for an even more drastic approach. The company decided to explore a wider fuselage cross-section(comparable with the 747), fully flexible interior configurations, a variable range capability, and an operating cost lower than that of any 767 stretch. This lead to a clean sheet twin engine design, which, on December 8th, 1989, became the Boeing 777.

Taking a different approach, Boeing elected to form a coalition of airlines, dubbed the "Working Together Group" to aid in the development. The group would provide parameters that would allow Boeing to develop an aircraft they saw fit to order. Vanguard Airlines, a consistent Boeing customer since the 1950s, would input requests for greater range and a higher max takeoff weight, allowing for the twin engine aircraft to serve along side its 747-400s. With range in mind, Vanguard would pass on the A-market 777-200, becoming one of the launch customers of the Extended Range variant, the 777-200ER. Vanguard would select the new General Electric GE90-90B as the powerplant for their 777s, becoming one of the first airlines to do so. With an initial order of 10, the 777 would enter service in October 1998 on VG36 from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt, Germany.

Following the success of the initial aircraft, Vanguard would later order an additional 12 777-200ERs, as well as the new 777-200LR, opting to shift some of the older 747-400s into transcontinental domestic flights and begin the phaseout of the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11. The 777-200LR offered Vanguard the ability to connect almost any two airports in the world, facilitating even more market growth and connections from its largest hubs. In 2012, the 777-200LR would set a company distance record with the inauguration of Houston to Johannesburg. As of April 2022, all 42 of Vanguard's 777s remain in service, with no current plan for retirement.

N777VG is named for John Trahan, Vanguard Airlines Founder and CEO (1921-1980.)