Story ID: 036April17
Boeing 737 Max 8 Gains FAA Certification
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Service entry anticipated “in the coming months”
Word Count: 304
The Boeing 737 Max 8 gained FAA certification last month, clearing it for service with Southwest Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, among others. Boeing said it has entered the final stages of preparing for the first Max for delivery to customers “in the coming months.”

The Max 8 certification program began a year ago with four airplanes, and the approval paves the way for not only 737 Max 8 airliners but also the BBJ Max 8. With 11 ordered so far, the Max 8 holds the lion's share of contracts signed thus far for the three BBJ Max variants (see chart).

The first of potentially five variants of the new 737 Max series, the Max 8 airliner seats as many as 189 passengers in the highest-density configuration and 162 in a dual-class layout, placing it in what Boeing calls the heart of the single-aisle market. Powered by CFM Leap-1B turbofans, it provides a 14-percent reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions compared with the 737-800NG, according to Boeing.

Plans call for entry into service of the next largest airplane in the Max series—the recently unveiled Max 9—next year, followed by the smaller Max 7 and higher-capacity Max 200 in 2019. Boeing rolled out the Max 9 on March 7 in Renton, Wash., ahead of anticipated first flight this month.

Meanwhile, studies continue into another possible stretch of the Max 9 called the Max 10X, a product ostensibly designed to compete with Airbus’s popular A321neoLR. Still not officially launched, the Max 10 could reach firm configuration next year, in time for certification in 2020, according to Boeing 737 Max program vice president and general manager Keith Leverkuhn.

The Max 8 has become the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, with 83 customers ordering 3,600 aircraft. Its direct competitor, the Airbus A320neo, has collected firm orders for 5,063 from 62 customers.

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