FAA Certifies Boeing 737 MAX 10 After Years of Delays

EVERETT, Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the Boeing 737-10, the largest member of the 737 MAX family, Boeing announced October 20. The manufacturer said it expects to begin deliveries in the coming months.

The FAA approved an amended type certificate for the aircraft, according to Boeing. The company lists 1,555 orders from more than 30 customers and says the variant accounts for more than 30% of unfilled 737 MAX orders.

Approval closes a certification process that extended well beyond Boeing's earlier service targets. When the 737-10 first flew on June 18, 2021, Boeing was targeting entry into service in 2023. More than five years after that flight, the program can move toward customer handovers.

What the Approval Changes

A type certificate concerns the aircraft's design. The FAA's certification process distinguishes design approval from manufacturing approval, which addresses the ability to build aircraft that conform to that design.

Individual aircraft also need airworthiness certificates at the end of production. The FAA described that separate step when it restored Boeing's authority to issue airworthiness certificates for all new 737 MAX and 787 aircraft under agency oversight in July.

Tuesday's certification therefore establishes the design approval needed for the MAX 10 delivery program. Boeing's announcement does not identify the first recipient, an exact handover date or the first passenger flight.

For readers following the successive forecasts and technical reviews, our 737-10 certification-delay timeline traces the program from its original 2020 service target through the final regulatory review. Today's decision resolves the approval question that remained open in that report.

More Seats and Revised Flight-Deck Systems

Boeing lists typical two-class capacity at 185 to 210 passengers, with a maximum of 230 seats and a range of up to 3,100 nautical miles (5,740km). The larger cabin gives customers another capacity choice within the MAX family; actual seating will depend on each airline's configuration.

The aircraft also introduces an enhanced angle-of-attack system. Boeing's technical explanation describes monitors that detect faulty sensor readings, prevent erroneous data from reaching other systems or substitute a default value. An alert identifies the affected sensor on the pilots' primary flight displays.

Boeing says the changes are intended to reduce pilot workload during sensor failures. Its October 20 announcement says the enhanced system will become standard across the MAX family.

The manufacturer said the certification program involved nearly 1,000 test flights, more than 2,000 flight hours and 1,000 ground-test hours.