FAA Certifies Boeing 737 Max 10

EVERETT, Wash. — The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday signed off on the Boeing 737 Max 10, the biggest version of the company’s best-selling single-aisle jet, ending a certification fight that dragged on for close to 10 years.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered the approval in person at the Boeing assembly plant in Everett. He pointed to thousands of hours of flight testing behind the decision and framed it as a win for manufacturing in the United States. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency would keep holding the planemaker to its toughest safety standards as production ramps up.

The agency issued an amended type certificate, which states the design meets federal safety rules, along with an updated Production Limitation Record that authorizes Boeing to build the jet. Before signing off, regulators required changes tied to the federal Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act as well as NTSB recommendations, including a flight-control update with an enhanced angle of attack sensor that measures the pitch of the plane.

Boeing said the test program logged more than 2,000 flight hours and 1,000 hours of ground testing, and that the Max 10 is the first commercial airliner certified under the full requirements of the 2020 safety law. The improved angle of attack system will become standard across the whole Max lineup, the company said.

The Max 10 typically carries between 185 and 210 people in a two-class cabin and up to 230 in its densest layout, with a range of about 3,100 nautical miles. That makes it larger than the Max 9, which seats 175 to 195, and the Max 8, which seats 160 to 180. Boeing says the jet burns about 20 percent less fuel than the older planes it replaces, a selling point as airlines wrestle with jet fuel prices driven up by the war with Iran.

Demand has been waiting. More than 30 airlines have ordered 1,555 of the jets, more than 30 percent of the unfilled Max backlog, with United, Delta, American and Ryanair among the biggest buyers. Alaska Airlines added 105 in January with options on 35 more. Boeing expects first deliveries in 2027.

First shown at the 2017 Paris air show as an answer to the Airbus A321neo, the Max 10 was slowed by technical problems and by tougher oversight after two Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people. The FAA cleared the smaller Max 7 in August, so the new approval completes the four-model family. Each plane built must still be cleared individually before it can carry passengers.

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