Low-key maiden flight for largest Boeing 737 Max model
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The 737 Max 10 landing at Boeing Field in Seattle on Friday, after its initial flight. It is expected to enter service in 2023.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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RENTON (Washington)• Boeing's 737 Max 10, the largest member of its best-selling single-aisle airplane family, has taken its maiden flight, in a further step towards recovering from the safety grounding of a smaller model.
The plane completed a roughly 21/2-hour flight on Friday over Washington state, returning to Renton Municipal Airport near Seattle. The first flight heralds months of testing and safety certification work before the jet is expected to enter service in 2023.
In an unusual departure from the public relations buzz surrounding first flights, the event was kept low-key as Boeing tries to navigate overlapping crises caused by a 20-month grounding in the wake of two fatal crashes and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Boeing's 230-seat 737-10 is designed to close the gap between its 178-to-220-seat 737-9, and Airbus' 185-to-240-seat A321neo, which dominates the top end of the narrow-body jet market that is worth some US$3.5 trillion (S$4.7 trillion) over 20 years.
But the market opportunity for the 737 Max 10 is constrained by the jet's range of about 3,300 nautical miles (6,100km), which falls short of the A321neo's roughly 4,000 nautical miles.
Boeing must also complete safety certification of the plane under a tougher regulatory climate following two fatal crashes of a smaller 737 max version. It was forced to ground the model for nearly two years - with a safety ban still in place in China.
Boeing is working on safety enhancements for the 737 Max 10, including adding a third cockpit indication requested by European regulators of the "angle of attack", a parameter needed to avoid stalling or losing lift.
$4.7t
Estimated worth - over 20 years - of the narrow-body jet market, which the 737-10 is competing in.
Friday's flight also showcased a revamped landing gear system. It raises the landing gear's height during take-off and landing, a design needed to compensate for the Max 10's extra length and prevent the tail scraping the runway on take-off.
REUTERS
