After years of delays and modifications, the smallest member of Boeing’s 737 MAX family has won certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and deliveries can now begin. Southwest Airlines is the launch customer.
Its larger siblings, the MAX 8 and MAX 9 have been flying by the hundreds around the world for ten years, minus the nearly two years they were grounded after two disastrous crashes that required modifications to programming and sensors. The 7 version, and the soon-to-come 10, were delayed for additional changes to flight-control software, flight-crew alerting system, and a redesigned engine anti-ice system.
The MAX 7 will generally carry 135 to 160 passengers, although 172 is possible in a dense one-class system. While it will allow carriers such as Southwest to fly more economically on shorter routes and retire older 737-700s. It has ordered 269 of the planes in a 150-seat configuration. Southwest also has 323 MAX 8s, with another 177 on order.
The MAX 7 will mostly be used by point-to-point domestic operators in a variety of countries and sales will be lower than for larger variants. But, since it has lower weight and the same engines as larger models, it may have a future on ‘ultra-thin’ long international routes that might otherwise not be profitable.
Southwest and Boeing haven’t announced a specific delivery date or entry into commercial service, but it could be soon; Boeing has already built 30 MAX 7s, and has updated them as the certification work proceeded. Similarly, it has 9 737 MAX 10s built, and expects certification within weeks to months.
