Boeing 737 maximum 10 the airliner was approved for passenger service after years latethe Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday.
The certification of the Max 10 represents another important step in Boeing’s efforts to restore its reputation and financial footing after years of safety, quality and production challenges. Once approved for production, the aircraft can now be sold to domestic and foreign carriers.
“After extensive safety reviews – including thousands of hours of test flights – the FAA team is ready to approve the sale of this critical aircraft,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “This is a major victory for America’s manufacturing industry and our country’s status as a global aviation power.”
Duffy is expected to speak about the decision later Tuesday during a visit to Boeing’s manufacturing plant in Everett, Washington.
The Max 10 is an important part of Boeing’s efforts to regain ground in the narrow-body market. For airlines, the larger plane offers a way to carry more passengers on a single flight, potentially reducing costs per seat. For travelers, that could eventually mean more seats on popular routes, although the impact on fares will depend on how airlines deploy their planes and how much competition they face.
The single-aisle aircraft, which can accommodate up to 230 seats, was presented at the Paris Air Show in 2017 to help Boeing compete with its rival Airbus. But technical and regulatory obstacles are recurrent delayed certification of the largest version of Boeing’s best-selling 737 family.
Boeing said in its 2020 annual report that it planned to make the first delivery of the plane in 2023. The company now plans to begin deliveries in 2027.
The delays have set back a key part of Boeing’s business. Speaking at an investor conference last month, CEO Kelly Ortberg said the Max 10 represented about 30% of Boeing’s 737 order backlog. The company’s website lists its total order backlog of 737 at more than 4,500 planes.
The certification of the Max 10 completes the range of four 737 Max models. The FAA authorized the smaller Max 7 for use by airlines in August.
Boeing’s difficulties have been particularly serious since two fatal accidents involving the smaller Max 8 killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019 off the coast of Indonesia and Ethiopia. In 2024, a the sign flew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9 in mid-flightrenewing scrutiny of Boeing’s manufacturing and safety practices.
The Max 10 is intended to compete with Airbus’ A321neo family of models, which entered service in 2017. The larger A321neo can carry more passengers and fly further without refueling than the Max 10.
Always, Boeing designed the Max 10 to carry more passengers while burning less fuel than older planes – a potentially attractive combination for airlines facing soaring jet fuel costs amid the U.S.-Iran war. These increasing costs have put additional pressure on airlines to control their spending.
Certification means that the FAA has determined that the Max 10 design meets safety standards, following technical reviews and flight tests. But Boeing must continue to show that it can consistently build its planes to the approved design, and each plane must be licensed before it can carry passengers.
In the wake of the fatal Max 8 crashes, the FAA has overhauled how it certifies Boeing planes. But over the past 18 months, the agency has gradually eased some of its restrictions on the company, increasing the limit on the number of planes Boeing can produce. In July, the FAA also said Boeing could again issue certificates of airworthiness for its 737 Max and 787 aircraft at the end of production, allowing the company to regain some responsibility for determining whether the finished planes are ready to fly.
Boeing’s Everett site provides additional flexibility because the Max 10 is longer than other variants of the 737 Max family. Ortberg said the plane could not be installed nose-to-tail on its production line in Renton, Washington, where Boeing builds the 737, but could be housed in Everett. That would allow Boeing to produce a wider range of longer planes as it ramps up production, Ortberg said.
Major customers for the Max 10, include United Airlines, Delta Airlines, American airlines and Ryanair. Alaska Airlines joined that list in January, ordering 105 Max 10s, with options for 35 more.
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