• 

  Boeing

  Stock Code:

  BA

  Date Founded:

  1916-07-15

  CEO:

  Dave Calhoun

  Headquarters Location:

  Chicago, USA

  Key Product Lines:

  Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787

  Business Type:

  Planemaker

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 B737 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 says it's taking longer to get FAA approvals

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.

The FAA came under heavy criticism and increased scrutiny in the fallout of the B737 MAX 8 accidents. It has changed how aircraft certification happens, with the FAA bringing in-house many tasks it previously allowed Boeing and other OEMs to handle. Senior vice president Mike Fleming, who oversaw the introduction and support of the B787 Dreamliner fleet, is leading the Boeing team returning the MAX to service. The Reuters report said Fleming told reporters:

"We really need to complete a good proportion of the development assurance work. It's taking longer to get approval of our documents than it has in the past."

Fleming also said the FAA and Boeing are working through a process that is different from what Boeing has done in the past, making it a challenge. He added that the regulators control the timeframe, and it is incumbent on Boeing to deliver on the certification plan. As an example, Fleming said the FAA had taken ownership of certifying Boeing safety assessments that deal with how pilots interact with systems known as human factors. Before the post-MAX accident reviews, this work was previously delegated to Boeing's engineers.

The Airbus A321XLR is in Boeing's rear view mirror

Boeing has around $16 billion of orders waiting on the MAX certification, including large potential orders from Ryanair, Delta Air Lines, and British Airways parent IAG. The program is already three years behind schedule and losing ground to the Airbus A321XLR, which had its first flight this week. The MAX 10 is the largest aircraft in the B737 fleet, with a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6.100 km) and can carry a maximum of 230 passengers. The A321XLR has a longer range of 4,700 nm (8,700 km) with a maximum capacity of 220.

In its May 31, 2022, Orders and Deliveries report, Boeing lists unfilled orders for 4,094 737 MAX aircraft. It does not identify MAX orders by type, but given the interest already shown in the MAX 10 by major airlines, there would be significant orders with Boeing.

If Boeing and the FAA cannot get the aircraft certified by the end of this year, the US Congress can issue a waiver to extend the time for that to happen. However, the current mood on Capitol Hill indicates that it is not a likely outcome.

Now the MAX 8 is proving successful, how important is the MAX 10 to Boeing?

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