United Airlines, once a launch customer for Boeing’s 737 Max 10, now does not plan to receive the first of that type until 2027 or 2028 due to ongoing uncertainly about the jet’s certification.
Additionally, United might no longer be the first carrier to receive the in-development jet, according to the airline’s chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella.
“We are patiently waiting for its certification… Hopefully in 2027 or 2028 we will be flying the Max 10,” Nocella said on 14 May during a New York City event. “We continue to take Max 9s until its available.”
United became the Max 10’s launch customer in 2017 when announced it had converted orders for 100 737 Max of unspecified variants into orders for Max 10s. It initially expected to receive the first of the type in 2020.
United has since ordered more Max 10s. It now has 167 of the variant on order with Boeing, according to fleet analytics provider Cirium.
But Boeing has struggled to bring the Max 10, the largest 737 variant, and the Max 7, the smallest, through certification. It has been held up by increased scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of two 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing is still working to secure regulatory exemptions from the FAA that it needs prior to certification. Those exemptions include those related to the jet’s stall management yaw damper, a system that may not meet requirements as currently designed.
Boeing has said it intends first to achieve certification for the Max 7 before achieving certification of the Max 10. When either might reach the market remains unclear.
With the Max 10 in limbo, United has been acquiring more 737 Max 9s.
“We originally intended to be… the first delivery customer for the Max 10,” United’s Nocella says. “We may not be that, and we are perfectly fine with that. We want to see the aircraft certified before we make the firm commitment to convert our 9s to 10s.”
