Nearly 1,100 MAX aircraft have now flown over 4.6 million flight hours and over 1.8 million flights. Almost 70 airlines operate the four variants, amounting to over 4,200 daily flights worldwide. Since last year's Farnborough Airshow, Boeing has received orders for more than 1,000 aircraft.
The ultimate Boeing 737 MAX question is always, 'is it safe now? '. The answer to that is a resounding yes. The plane has been described as one of the most scrutinized aircraft in aviation history, with authorities like the FAA, EASA, and many more taking a very close look at the plane.
The MAX airplane has been “recertified” by the FAA, and more than 900 of these planes are now flying around the world.
Because of the sheer intensity of the scrutiny the aircraft faced, the Boeing 737 MAX could be considered one of the safest in the world. In fact, among the dozens of models of commercial airliners around the world, it is likely the safest due to the amount of regulation testing that took place.
2022. Even though no longer grounded, the CAAC has still not given a date when Chinese operators of the 737 MAX can resume passenger service. This Air China MAX 8, registered as B-1225, was seen at Beijing Capital International Airport on 11 March 2019, the day after the crash of Ethiopian 302.
The FAA ultimately grounded the MAX on March 13, 2019 and lifted the flight prohibition order in November 2020 after Boeing made a series of software upgrades and training changes.
As Virgin Australia looks for investors, it has sweetened the pie by adding the first of 33 fuel-efficient and quiet 737 MAXs to its fleet. On Friday, Australia's second-largest domestic airline, Virgin Australia, landed its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 in its hometown of Brisbane.
Boeing and its 180-seat 737 MAX have been dealt a hammer blow after long-time customer Qantas abandoned the Seattle aerospace giant in favour of Europe's Airbus and its A320neo family of narrow-body jets as part of its Project Winton fleet refurbishment.
The move away from the MAX name has been a subtle process and Boeing has begun to use the name 737 MAX and 737-8(7 through 10) interchangeably. This way they are transitioning away from the MAX name toward the normal naming convention of modern Boeing aircraft.
Qantas has confirmed a new order with Airbus that will introduce 12 A350-1000 Project Sunrise aircraft into its fleet, along with 40 new A220-300s and A321XLRs that will replace aging 737 and 717 aircraft currently being operated by the Australian airline.
Southwest maintains the largest Boeing 737 MAX fleet, though the Ryanair Group is close to knocking the US low-cost carrier from the top.
The Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts are returning to the skies. If there is an aircraft that you want to avoid it is this one. The 737MAX has been responsible for the deaths of 346 people in 2 separate plane accidents.
After much modification and extensive testing, Boeing returned with the Max for re-certification. I met an aviation enthusiast last week, and he asked me a direct question, “Is the Boeing 737 Max Safe?” My immediate answer was, “Of course it is!
Boeing estimates that the average 737 MAX 7 aircraft would seat anywhere between 138 to 153 passengers. The MAX 8 would seat between 162 to 178 passengers, while the MAX 9 would seat 178 to 193 passengers, depending on the configuration.
Boeing and Airbus are two of the most prominent commercial aircraft manufacturers globally. They have estimated the lifespan of their aircraft as follows: Boeing estimates that their 737 series aircraft have a lifespan of 90,000 flight cycles or 55,000 flight hours, whichever comes first.
Union officials indicate that pilots like the Max and are confident in the changes from Boeing. Representatives of three unions said that crews were largely happy with the plane and added that, except at a select few airlines, training backlogs were the biggest challenge to getting more pilots in the cockpit.
Looking at the specifics, we can see that the Boeing 737 MAX beats the A320 with a higher max payload (46,040 lb vs 44,100 lb) and a higher thrust power. The 737 MAX 9 can also be reconfigured into a super-dense 220-seater variant (or in the case of the MAX 8, a 200-seater for Ryanair).
After the FAA lifted the Max 8 and 9's grounding in November 2020, Boeing anticipated that both the Max 7 and Max 10 would be certificated by the FAA by the end of 2022. That timeline was pushed back in November of last year, when Boeing said it expected to clear the Max 7 by early 2023 and the Max 10 in early 2024.
The MAX has a new fly-by-wire spoiler system. This is officially to improve production flow, reduce weight and improve stopping distances.
An easy way, for now, to avoid the 737-MAX is to figure out which airlines are flying the plane, and when. If you don't want to fly it, the simplest solution would be to choose another airline. Here's the airlines with firm orders, or letters of intent to fly the 737 MAX, many of which have already been delivered.
“The 737 MAX fleet has operated for 1.8 million flight hours – about 800,000 flights – since November 2020. Fleet reliability is above 99.5% - that is actually where the Next-Generation 737 was at, so it's on par with the airplane it's replaced.” Schedule reliability of 99.5% is an impressive number indeed.
Boeing has told a US court it was not guilty of concealing information about flight control systems on its 737 Max aircraft, which led to two crashes, killing 346 people. Flaws in the systems were found to have led to the accidents, but Boeing avoided a trial by agreeing to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn).
In all, 346 people were killed in the crashes, first in Indonesia in late 2018 and then months later in Ethiopia. The Max was allowed to fly again in late 2020 after Boeing made changes to the plane, including to MCAS, the flight control system behind the crashes.