The Federal Aviation Administration has officially certified the Boeing 737 MAX-10, the newest and largest of Boeing’s 737 MAX line.
The FAA announced the certification on Tuesday, saying it followed “years of extensive review” that included incorporating new safety features and reduced fuel consumption.
The certification program included nearly 1,000 total test flights, along with safety assessments and design reviews, federal officials said.
With the FAA’s approval, the Boeing 737 MAX-10 is now approved for production and eventual delivery to domestic and international carriers.
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U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the approval a “major win for American manufacturing.”
“We invented flight, we pioneered air travel, and we are going to continue leading the way in aviation safety and innovation,” Duffy said in an FAA release.
Officials for Boeing said the company has already taken more than 1,500 orders for the new planes, and that deliveries will begin in the coming months.
What are the features on the Boeing 737 MAX-10?
Boeing officials say the new MAX-10 rounds out the 737 MAX line, which it claims “offers airlines the most efficient and flexible single-aisle airplane lineup in aviation.”
The MAX-10, the largest of the line, can carry up to 230 passengers in a “maximum seating configuration,” with the lowest per-seat cost of comparable planes and a longer range than similar-sized competitors.
The Boeing 737 MAX-10 also introduces an “enhanced Angle-of-Attack system,” which Boeing says reduces the possibility of “erroneous air data and eases pilot workload in the case of a failure.” That system will become standard across the 737 MAX line, Boeing says.
“Completing the certification program clears the path for us to deliver a Boeing airplane that will set a new standard in commercial aviation,” said Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 737-10 offers greater capacity, longer range and the best seat economics in its class, a platform that will create more value and opportunities for airlines around the world.”
Boeing says the planes are the first commercial jets to be certified to current federal safety standards, which mandate thousands of pages of safety documentation, regular meetings with the FAA, and a “rigorous” testing schedule with more than 2,000 hours of flight time and 1,000 hours of ground tests.
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Ben Schlappig of One Mile at a Time described the approval of the Boeing 737 MAX-10 as a “big deal for airlines.”
“Here in the United States, Alaska, American, Delta, and United, each have 100 or more of these planes on order. You’ll find similarly large orders at Ryanair, WestJet, Pegasus Airlines, Akasa Air, and more. So this plane has proven super popular with airlines,” Schlappig writes. “What makes the 737 MAX 10 attractive is obvious — the plane has amazing per-seat economics.”
Schlappig adds that it makes sense for airlines to prioritize the largest airplane variant available in order to fill more seats with only a small increase in overall operating costs.
He stresses, however, that airlines will need to be careful to make sure they’re able to actually fill them.
“I suspect airlines won’t be using the extra space to necessarily cram in a ton more seats, but instead, I imagine we’ll see even more premium seating,” he added.
To read the entire release from the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX-10, click here.
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