FAA Certifies Boeing 737 MAX 10 After Years of Delays, Clearing Largest MAX for Delivery

The Federal Aviation Administration has certified the Boeing 737 MAX 10, the largest member of Boeing's best selling single aisle family, clearing the jet for deliveries after years of delay. Boeing announced the approval on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, at Everett, Washington, where Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited the company's new 737 MAX production line.

The FAA issued an amended type certificate, which confirms the aircraft meets all applicable design and safety requirements, and an updated Production Limitation Record, which authorizes production. The decision completes certification of all four MAX variants. The 737-8 and 737-9 were certified in 2017 and 2018, and the smaller 737-7 received its approval in August 2026.

A long road to approval

The MAX 10 first flew on June 18, 2021, and Boeing had once expected to begin deliveries in 2020. The program slipped again and again under closer regulatory scrutiny after the two fatal MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. A navigation software issue disclosed in September 2026 also threatened to hold up the final approval, but an FAA panel found it did not pose a safety risk.

By the end of the final planned certification flight test in July 2026, the program had flown 976 flights totaling more than 2,060 hours, plus about 1,040 hours of ground testing, using three aircraft. Tests covered landing gear, wet runway braking, maximum energy stops and the new safety systems.

New safety systems come first

Before granting approval, the FAA required the MAX 10 to incorporate improvements called for under the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act of 2020 and by the National Transportation Safety Board. The changes include an enhanced angle of attack system. Faulty readings from an angle of attack sensor were central to both fatal MAX accidents, and the new system uses monitoring software to spot sensor behavior that does not match expected conditions and can stop bad data from reaching other systems. Pilots also get an alert naming the affected sensor and a switch to silence a false stick shaker warning.

An updated engine anti ice system addresses overheating risks in certain conditions. Boeing says the safety improvements will become standard on newly built MAX aircraft, with retrofits available for jets already in service. The company says the 737-10 is the first commercial airplane certified to the full extent of the 2020 law, which required fuller documentation of safety assessments and human factors work.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the decision followed a thorough review of the aircraft's design and safety requirements, and that the agency will continue to hold Boeing to the highest safety standards as production begins.

Airlines have waited years

Boeing says deliveries will begin in the coming months, with entry into commercial service expected early in 2027. Canadian carrier WestJet is scheduled to be the launch customer. More than 30 customers have ordered 1,555 of the jets, which is more than 30 percent of the entire outstanding MAX order book, according to industry reports.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Ryanair and Alaska Airlines are also among the airlines waiting. The jet typically seats 185 to 210 passengers, up to 230 in a maximum layout, and flies up to 3,100 nautical miles. It is Boeing's main answer to the Airbus A321neo, and the long wait pushed some airlines, including United, to order more of the Airbus jet for transcontinental routes in the meantime.