Boeing shows its first 737 MAX 10 aircraft, the largest of the MAX family, which gets to compete against the Airbus A320neo

Boeing shows its first 737 MAX 10 aircraft, the largest of the MAX family, which gets to compete against the Airbus A320neo

In the midst of its current crisis and under a low-key ceremony, Boeing presented his first 737 MAX 10 aircraft at its facilities in Renton, Washington, whose guests were the same company employees and some of the media.

This 737 MAX 10 is the first to come off the production line ready to start tests to do the first deliveries in 2020. Of course, as long as the issue of the safety of the 737 MAX 8 is resolved, which have been on the ground since March 2019 after the two fatal accidents that caused the death of 346 people.

550 sold for 20 international customers

According to Boeing, in the next few days they will start with system and engine tests, and if everything goes according to plan, This 737 MAX 10 will make its first flight in early 2020.

The company explained that the 737 MAX 10 is the largest variant of its MAX family, whose main characteristics focus on having a single aisle and a length of 43.8 m, which gives it a capacity of up to 230 passengers in a single class, or two variants of 188 and 204 passengers with two and one class respectively.

To keep costs down and make the MAX 10 attractive to the market, Boeing retains many of the features of its predecessor, such as the wing design and CFM Leap 1B engines, although this version launches a new landing gear.

The Boeing 737 MAX 10 promises a maximum range of 6,110 km, which according to the manufacturer means “the lowest cost in miles per seat of all single-aisle aircraft on the market.” To put this in perspective, the Airbus A320neo has a capacity of 195 passengers and a range of up to 6,500 km, while the Airbus A321neo offers space for 240 passengers and can carry them up to 7,400 km.

Boeing’s goal is to end the reign of Airbus and its neo, which have been in the market since 2016-2017. And beware, the Airbus A321XLR is coming, which seeks to be the longest-range single-aisle plane in the world, so Boeing is beginning to be overtaken by its largest competitor. According to the manufacturer, to date they have already received orders for 550 737 MAX 10 aircraft, from 20 international customers. The goal is to do the first deliveries during the second half of 2020.

The return of the 737 MAX 8 is targeted for January 2020

Boeing is confident about the return of the 737 MAX 8. So far the only thing that is expected is the certification of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which according to the company should arrive in the next few days. This means that before the end of the year the plane could begin its first test flights, this in view of a return in early 2020.

The tentative date is January 15 for the return to the air, and Boeing has already prepared for this having sent the new certification courses for pilots, as well as its own engineers to update and review the aircraft on the ground.

However, airlines such as Southwest (which is the one with the largest number of MAX planes currently) and American Airlines, have already announced that they will continue with MAX operations suspended until March 2020as they will first seek to ensure that the planes are safe and ready to fly again.

To this we must add that the 737 MAX 8 will have to pass other local certifications before it can fly outside of the United States. As in the case of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which has indicated that the aircraft will have to carry out its own tests with the measures taken by Boeing, and it will not help if the US FAA has given the go-ahead.