The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday certified Boeing’s 737 MAX-10, the largest and long-delayed model in the 737 MAX family, clearing the way for deliveries to airlines.
The FAA announced the approval in a news release datelined Everett, Washington, where Boeing builds the plane. Boeing confirmed it in its own release, and The Washington Times reported the decision.
What the FAA approved
- Type certificate: An amended certificate confirming the plane meets design and safety rules.
- Production: An updated production record that lets Boeing build the jet for U.S. and foreign carriers.
- Required fixes: The FAA made Boeing add changes tied to the 2020 Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act and National Transportation Safety Board recommendations. They include flight-control updates with an enhanced angle-of-attack sensor, which measures the plane’s pitch.
“This is a major win for American manufacturing,” Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in the FAA release. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency “will continue to hold Boeing to the highest safety standards” as production begins.
The plane
Boeing says the MAX-10 typically seats 185 to 210 passengers in two classes, with room for up to 230, and can fly about 3,100 nautical miles. The company says the enhanced angle-of-attack system will become standard across the 737 MAX family.
More than 30 customers have ordered 1,555 of the jets, Boeing said. That is more than 30 percent of the 737 MAX order book. The company said testing included more than 2,000 flight hours and 1,000 hours of ground tests, and it expects to start deliveries in the coming months.
Years of delays
Boeing says the MAX-10 is the first commercial airplane certified to the full extent of the 2020 safety law, which Congress passed after two fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. The FAA certified the smaller 737-7 earlier this year.
Sources: Federal Aviation Administration release; Boeing release; The Washington Times.
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