Christmas could be coming early for Boeing, as rumors have surfaced that the Boeing 737 MAX 7 aircraft may be nearing FAA certification before the end of the month. This would be the latest chapter in Boeing’s road to recovery as it faced a list of safety and quality issues. This news will please the type’s biggest customer Southwest Airlines, as the world’s largest low-cost carrier has been waiting patiently for certification of this plane, of which it has more than 250 on order.
According to the Wall Street Journal, it is expected that federal regulators are set to certify the MAX 7 later this month, which will be a long time coming for the plane maker, meaning that it will be certified to start carrying passengers.
The Boeing 737 MAX 7 Could Be Certified Before Month End
The MAX 7 is the smallest of the MAX family of aircraft, and assuming that there are no further issues with the plane, it would be expected that the plane will be certified before the end of this month. While it is the smallest of the single-aisle MAX family of aircraft, it is a derivative of the first 737 plane, which first debuted more than 60 years ago and remains Boeing’s most popular selling airplane.
For Boeing, certification on the type would be a major milestone, as Boeing has faced scrutiny after two fatal crashes of the MAX family of planes, in addition to the Alaska Airlines midair door-plug saga. It is hoped that the FAA will soon give Boeing back its own authority to sign off the newly manufactured 737s, a privilege that had been revoked in 2019 after the fatal crashes.
Safety approvals from the FAA would be what dictate the official timing of the MAX 7 certification, and Boeing is hotly anticipating the move will then allow the manufacturer to pursue its intentions to continue ramping up production to meet the demand for the popular-selling MAX family of planes. Boeing just this week opened another MAX production line at Everett, a site that had previously been used for the 767 and 747.
Certification For Other MAX Models Expected by Year-End
With the MAX 8 and MAX 9 already certified and flying, Boeing is hoping that certification for the MAX 7 will happen this month, followed by the MAX 10 before year-end. These hopes have been emphasized by the Boeing Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Ortberg, that this is the ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’
Once certified, the MAX 7 will provide a significant boost to the Southwest fleet, one of Boeing’s largest customers. Currently, the Dallas-based airline has been flying its older 737-700 planes as it waits for delivery of the upgraded type. The current fleet of 737-700s at Southwest is an average age of more than two decades.
Currently, WN has more than 258 MAX 7 planes on order from Boeing, with the plane maker already having completed more than 20 of these, which are currently awaiting certification and are stored at Boeing’s Moses Lake facility in Washington State.
Boeing’s CEO said the company is “pretty confident” both variants will be certified this year.
Won’t Be Flying Passengers Until 2027 At The Earliest
According to Southwest, the imminent certification and subsequent delivery of the MAX 7 are unlikely to enter service before the year-end, with the airline suggesting it would not begin flying the type until early 2027. For the MAX 10, there are still a few more hoops to jump through, with this type’s biggest customers including Chicago-based United Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.
This latest news that the MAX 7 could receive its FAA certification before the end of the month will be celebrated not only by Southwest, but also by other carriers on the order book, which include WestJet and Allegiant Air. Southwest is the launch customer of the type and the largest customer with the vast majority of it on order.
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