Certification of Boeing 737 Max May Be Delayed

Boeing must achieve regulatory approval for the Max 10 and the slightly smaller variant—the Max 7—no later than December to meet its delivery deadlines.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, October 04, 2022 at 12:01 PM ET

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The airline said it will begin deliveries in 2025. [Courtesy: Boeing]

Key Takeaways:

Boeing faces a critical December deadline for regulatory approval of its 737 Max 7 and Max 10 variants, a process significantly delayed by new cockpit-alerting requirements enacted after two fatal 737 Max crashes.
The current certification challenges are set against a backdrop of past controversies, including the grounding of the 737 Max fleet and multi-million dollar settlements for Boeing misleading investors and regulators regarding the aircraft's safety issues.
The FAA has indicated that approval for the Max 10 is not expected until summer 2023 at the earliest, making the December deadline unlikely, prompting a proposal by a senator to extend the certification deadline to September 2024.

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The clock is running out for the Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) to meet its deadline for regulatory approval for the latest versions of the 737 Max. According to Reuters, Boeing must achieve regulatory approval for the Max 10 and the slightly smaller variant—the Max 7—no later than December to meet its delivery deadlines.

The process is delayed in part by new cockpit-alerting requirements that are part of certification reform legislation that was passed in 2020 after two 737 Max accidents—one in Indonesia, the other in Ethiopia—that killed 346 people. In the aftermath, the global fleet of Boeing 737 Max jets were grounded for two years while Boeing, the NTSB, and the FAA conducted investigations.