The Boeing 737 MAX 10 is certified. On Tuesday 20 October the US Federal Aviation Administration issued an amended type certificate for the largest member of the 737 MAX family, together with an updated Production Limitation Record that authorises Boeing to build it1. Boeing expects to start deliveries in the coming months2. The aircraft was originally due to enter service in 20203.

For pilots the approval matters well beyond Seattle. More than 30 customers have ordered the MAX 10, and the type is flown on the same 737 type rating as every other 73724. Below: what exactly was approved, how the MAX 10 compares with the MAX 8, the MAX 9 and the Airbus A321neo, who gets the first aircraft, why it took so long, and what it means for type ratings, differences training and jobs.

What the FAA approved, and what still has to happen

The amended type certificate confirms that the design meets all applicable requirements; the Production Limitation Record covers the production side1. Before signing, the FAA required the MAX 10 to include improvements that follow from the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act, the law Congress passed in 2020 after the two fatal MAX accidents, and from NTSB recommendations. The most visible change is an updated flight control system with an enhanced angle of attack system1. Boeing says the MAX 10 is the first commercial aircraft to go through every requirement of that law, including deeper documented safety assessments and human factors reviews2.

The test campaign behind it ran to 976 flights, more than 2,060 flight hours and about 1,040 hours of ground testing, with three flight test aircraft often used in parallel and, on several days, all three flying5. Testing included the main landing gear, braking on wet runways and maximum energy stops, the redesigned engine anti-ice system and the enhanced angle of attack system5.

Boeing marked the certification with a short video without narration6. It shows the flight test aircraft on its first flight and in tests for pilot induced oscillations, natural icing, landing and takeoff performance, ground effect, wet runways, crosswinds and cold weather, including deicing at night. On screen text repeats the headline figures: up to 230 passengers in a maximum seating configuration, a 20% reduction in fuel use and CO2 emissions, and a range of up to 3,100 nm (5,740 km).

A few things are still open after certification:

• Flight management software. In late September the FAA paused the approval over an anomaly in the 737 flight management computer that can make VNAV disengage in specific missed approach and go-around scenarios3. It later ruled the issue not safety critical and certified the MAX 10 with it, while Boeing works on a permanent software update78. We explained what happens on the flight deck in our article on the FMC software decision.
• Fleet retrofits. The certification starts a clock for the rest of the family. Under the FAA's implementation plan, 737s certificated from October 2027 must have the enhanced angle of attack and crew alerting protections, and existing MAX aircraft must be updated by October 2029. Among the required changes is a switch that lets pilots cancel stall and overspeed alerts9.
• Approval outside the United States. Operators abroad need their own regulator to validate the type. In June, EASA executive director Florian Guillermet called the MAX 10 one of the agency's top priorities and said the remaining work was mainly documentation10.

MAX 8, MAX 9, MAX 10 and A321neo compared

The MAX 10 is the longest member of the family. It keeps the same wingspan and the same LEAP-1B engines as the MAX 8 and MAX 9, with a higher maximum take-off weight11. Boeing quotes 185 to 210 seats in a typical two-class layout and up to 230 in a maximum density cabin. Range drops as the fuselage grows: 3,100 nm for the MAX 10 against 3,500 nm for the MAX 811.

MTOW is maximum take-off weight. All three MAX models use CFM LEAP-1B engines. Figures for the 737 MAX models are from Boeing11; figures for the A321neo are from Airbus, which offers it with CFM International or Pratt & Whitney engines12. The A321neo is still longer, heavier and can seat more people at maximum density. Airbus quotes up to 4,000 nm, a range it reaches with additional centre tanks in the A321LR version12. Boeing's answer is cost per seat: it claims the lowest seat costs of any single aisle aircraft in service and 365 nm more range than competitors without auxiliary fuel tanks2.

Customers and the first deliveries

Boeing has 1,555 MAX 10s on order from more than 30 customers, more than 30% of the open 737 MAX order book2. According to Cirium fleet data cited by Leeham News, the biggest US customers are United Airlines with 167 aircraft, Alaska Airlines with 161, American Airlines with 112 and Delta Air Lines with 10013. In Europe, Ryanair ordered 150 MAX 10s in 2023 with options on 150 more, and plans 228 seats per aircraft, 31 more than its 197-seat 737-8-20014.

WestJet is in line for the first aircraft. Lessor Aviation Capital Group has confirmed that its first MAX 10 goes to the Canadian airline, which targets entry into service in the first quarter of 202715. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said in Brussels on 20 October that he expects 16 aircraft in early 202716. Alaska expects its first MAX 10 in the second quarter of 2027 and plans to fit at least 25 of them with lie-flat suites, while Delta expects deliveries to begin in 202715.

Deliveries can start quickly because aircraft are already built. Boeing reported around 40 MAX 7 and MAX 10 aircraft in inventory in June3. Most MAX 10s will come from the new North Line in Everett, which is long enough to hold MAX 10 fuselages nose to tail71317.

Why the MAX 10 is six years late

The first MAX 10 was rolled out in November 20198, while the whole MAX fleet was grounded after the two fatal accidents of 2018 and 2019, in which 346 people died. The fleet stayed on the ground for nearly two years1817. The MAX 10 first flew from Renton on 18 June 202117.

Certification then ran into the new law. The 2020 act set a deadline after which new designs needed a modern crew alerting system. In December 2022 Congress exempted the MAX 7 and MAX 10, on condition that all MAX models receive an extra angle of attack safeguard and a switch to silence persistent warnings, within three years19. In 2023 the FAA issued an airworthiness directive after finding that the engine anti-ice system could overheat the inlet if left on too long in dry air; MAX crews were told to switch it off within five minutes20. Boeing had to redesign the system before the MAX 7 and MAX 10 could be approved205. In January 2024 a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 and the FAA capped 737 production at 38 a month, which put Boeing under even closer oversight18. The MAX 7 was finally certified in August 202617.

What it means for pilots

For crews, the most important point is commonality. The FAA's draft Flight Standardization Board report, revision 22, places the MAX 10 under the same B-737 pilot type rating as the 737 NG and the rest of the MAX family4. A pilot who holds a 737 rating does not need a new type rating to fly the MAX 10. Delta made the same point when it ordered the type, saying it expected a common training category across its 737 fleet21.

Differences training from the MAX 8 to the MAX 10 is light. The draft report sets both training and checking at Level A4. That is the lowest level in the FAA system: the differences can be learned through self-instruction such as manual revisions, operating bulletins or differences handouts, and no separate check is required at the time of training22. The items include:

• a semi-levered main landing gear and a two-position tailskid, with an extra preflight check of the landing gear strut pressure;
• mid exit doors, with a new non-normal checklist and an addition to the takeoff configuration warning;
• revised flap placard and flap load relief speeds, revised main electric trim authority and higher weights;
• an airport map display on the navigation display;
• the enhanced angle of attack system, with stick shaker and overspeed warning inhibit switches and AOA FAIL alerts on the primary flight display4.

The enhanced angle of attack system has its own ground training requirement, including the differences between checklists for aircraft with and without it4. That matters in mixed fleets: until every MAX is retrofitted, line pilots will fly aircraft with both standards. The FSB evaluated the MAX 10 with airline transport pilots licensed in the United States, Canada and Ireland4.

For job seekers, the MAX 10 means growth at airlines that already fly the 737, rather than a new skill set. When Ryanair placed its order, it said the MAX 10s, together with its remaining 737-8-200 deliveries, would create 10,000 jobs for aviation professionals over the following decade14. A 737 type rating and 737 hours keep their value, and airlines can move pilots between the MAX 8 and the MAX 10 with minimal training. Ryanair currently advertises direct entry 737 captain positions and also captain positions for pilots without a 737 rating. Browse all current openings on our pilot jobs page.

If you are preparing for a selection at one of the MAX 10 operators, start with the airline profile and the selection guide: Ryanair and its pilot selection, United Airlines and its pilot selection, Delta Air Lines and its pilot selection, American Airlines and its pilot selection, WestJet and its pilot selection, and Alaska Airlines. For how the rating itself works, read how a type rating works.