Boeing confident of 737 MAX 10 certification by 2025
In its Q2 2024 earnings call, Boeing has revealed that it has identified an engineering solution for an engine inlet anti-ice system for in-production aircraft “that will be implemented and certified in 2025 to support the first delivery of [its] -7 and -10 MAX family”.
The as-yet uncertified variants of the 737 MAX have been delayed by a known engine anti-ice system affecting the -8 and -9 variants currently in service, with the issue first formally revealed as part of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directive (AD) in August 2023.
Recognising that the existing engine anti-icing system could potentially lead to overheating of the engine inlet cowl, the AD permitted MAX-8 and -9s to fly without a new engineering solution; essentially instructing pilots to utilise the system for no more than five minutes at a time. Without adoption of a similar exemption, the -7 and -10 variants will face additional challenges to gain certification.
However, in January 2024, Boeing formally withdraw its request to the FAA to adopt the same time-limited exemption workaround, stating: “While we are confident that the proposed time-limited exemption for that system follows established FAA processes to ensure safe operation, we will instead incorporate an engineering solution that will be completed during the certification process”.
Notin that the new de-icing solution is “literally that one discreet item that is [the] choke point” in terms of certification, current CEO Dave Calhoun elaborated during the earnings call in his “high confidence that [Boeing is] going to complete that and probably complete the engineering well before the end of the year”.
“The we’ve got to get through the test certification work and then we’re off,” he continued, adding: “I don’t think there are any other sort of issues that we have to content with other than to get that done and prove it out”.
Although the FAA cleared Boeing to begin certification flight testing of the MAX 10 in November 2023, following the award of type inspection authorisation, the regulator stated that “safety will dictate the certification timeline”.
