Boeing 737 MAX 10 Reaches Critical Second Phase Of Testing

Boeing is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, at least for its 737 MAX 10. According to The Air Current, Boeing has reached the second of two phases of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) program.

The FAA actually gave the clearance just before the Christmas holiday, with second phase testing commencing in January. Even though it’s a major milestone, Boeing has chosen to keep its comments for its full-year financial results which it will present on January 27, 2026.

Following the Lion Air and Ethiopian 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 respectively, the MAX program came under heavy scrutiny, and the FAA decided it could no longer rely on Boeing’s delegated authority to safely self-sign new aircraft types. Exceptions were made for the MAX 8 and -9 as they were already in service, but the -7 and -10 did not share the same benefit.

Anti-icing system overheating

During phase one, two major issues plagued the progress of the MAX 7 and 10’s certification. For starters, officials found a flaw in the engine anti-icing system, where under very specific circumstances, the system could overheat and result in damage to various components in the engine, and could lead to the anti-icing system failing over time. Boeing has since redesigned this system, and is awaiting approving in phase two.

Upgraded crew alerting system required

Unlike the MAX 8 and 9, the MAX 10 and 7 were not able to reach certification by 2020, meaning its archaic cockpit alerting systems would not be sufficient to meet new legislative requirements. Boeing would either have to develop a modern Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), similar to what they use on their 777s and 787s, or apply for an exemption.

After years of back and forth, Boeing was granted an exemption, but would be required to build an upgraded flight crew alerting system rather than have a whole new EICAS developed. This was done for the sake of maintaining flight deck commonality across the entire MAX and NG family. The enhanced system would need to feature a synthetic enhanced angle-of-attack system, and also provide a means of disabling stall warning and overspeed alerts.

Once approved, the MAX 10’s alerting system will then be used as a benchmark for the MAX 7’s approval. If all goes according to plan, the MAX 7 should receive approval shortly after the 10. Once the 10 is certified, Boeing will have three years from that date to develop and retrofit the same system across the entire MAX fleet, not just the -7 and -10.

Other setbacks

Besides these two major issues identified earlier, they also faced numerous 3rd party supply quality control issues, which set back certification progress. Every time a significant issue is discovered, it means any corrective changes made have to be re-tested, further delaying progress towards certification.

Over the next 12 months, Boeing will be working with the FAA to conduct numerous flights to confirm that the MAX 10 performs as promised, covering worst case performance scenarios, system failures, flight dynamic characteristics and system redundancy testing.

Phase two really is more a confirmation stage, to cover any discrepancies discovered and fixed during phase one testing. Once everything checks out at the end of the year, the FAA could then move forward to wrap up its review, and work with Boeing to finalize compliance and documentation with the goal of aircraft certification.

Over the past few years, numerous carriers have placed large orders for the MAX 10, including United Airlines with 167 units, Ryanair with 150, Alaska Airlines with 105, Akasa Air with 99, WestJet with 60 and so on. According to Cirium, Boeing has over 1,200 737 MAX 10 orders to fulfill once the aircraft type is certified.

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