Boeing completes 737-7 and 737-10 flight testing, anticipates FAA certification ‘very soon’
Boeing has wrapped up flight testing of the smallest and largest variants of its 737 MAX family and expects to receive FAA type certification for both designs “very soon,” according to its chief executive officer.
“Completing the certification work on our development programs is one of our biggest goals,” Kelly Ortberg said during a Tuesday morning earnings call.
Ortberg said the company anticipates certification of the 737-7 variant first, followed by the 737-10. In a Tuesday news release, Boeing said both aircraft “remain on the path toward certification in 2026.”
Ortberg added that “these certifications pave the way for both airplane variants to start deliveries in 2027.”
The certifications of both aircraft are long delayed, in part due to design updates and increased regulatory requirements prompted by the 2018 and 2019 fatal crashes of MAX 8s operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, respectively.
When 737-7 flight testing commenced in 2018, Boeing expected FAA certification and the first deliveries to come in 2019. Similarly, when 737-10 testing began in 2021, the company was targeting a 2023 entry to service.
Boeing said in today’s release three MAX 10 test aircraft have completed “976 flights totaling more than 2,060 flight hours and about 1,040 ground test hours.”
These tests sought to validate “an update to the 737 Engine Anti-Ice (EAI) system,” the release noted, which Boeing plans to introduce “in production of all 737 MAX models” and to retrofit “across the in‑service fleet.”
Remaining work on the 737-10 includes development assurance reviews and system safety assessments, which are 60% and 32% complete, respectively, the release said.
Ortberg said completing the flight tests will give Boeing the opportunity to “apply some resources to speed up the completion of the 777 program.” That program is on track to begin deliveries in 2027, he added.
