Boeing says it’s taking longer to get 737-10 Max FAA approvals

The chances of the 737 MAX 10 being certified by the FAA in 2022 are looking slim. Speculation about when the Boeing MAX 10 will be certified continued this week during Boeing’s press briefings ahead of the Farnborough Airshow.

On June 16, Reuters reported Boeing had told reporters that it was making progress with regulators on its 737 MAX 10 aircraft but declined to offer a clear timeline on when it expects to win approval. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has previously indicated that certification of the MAX 10 before the end of this year is unlikely.

If the FAA has not certified the MAX 10 by the end of 2022, the aircraft will need significant system re-design under the current US legislation. After hearings into the fatal MAX crashes, the US Congress passed legislation that requires aircraft certified after December 31, 2022, to comply with current FAA crew-alerting regulations.

Boeing’s closest competitor to the Airbus A321XLR will be the 737 MAX 10, both expected to launch in 2023.

If the MAX 10 is not certified in time and the Congress does not issue a waiver to the law, Boeing will have to upgrade the flight deck to meet the crew-alerting rules. Pilots would have to undergo separate MAX 10 training, and switching between the MAX 10 and other variants will not be as simple as airlines want it to be. This would add significant costs to Boeing and the airlines and may jeopardize the MAX 10 program.